Based on HomePlug power line carrier (PLC) technology, Renovia offers integrators a high-quality whole home audio solution that is much easier to retrofit than traditional systems are.
Atlanta, GA – CEDIA EXPO 2009 – September 10-13– Hall C Booth 1965 – NuVo Technologies, the value leader in whole home audio, announces this week that its game-changing Renovia whole home audio system will ship this fall. In addition, for the first time, NuVo is detailing Renovia specifications and pricing.
Renovia will provide NuVo dealers with an invaluable opportunity to build robust business far beyond the new construction market (where whole home audio sales traditionally have been generated) by enabling them to deliver a reliable and profitable system based on HomePlug Power Line Carrier (PLC) technology to the largely untapped retrofit/existing homes market.
“NuVo believes every household can and should have a quality whole home audio system, no matter if the home is a new build or a retrofit,” said David Rodarte, president and chief operating officer of NuVo Technologies. “Renovia brings that vision closer to reality than ever before.”
System Architecture
Dealers who have installed NuVo’s Grand Concerto and Essentia E6G systems will immediately feel comfortable with the Renovia system architecture. Like NuVo’s other systems, all audio sources (save for any NuVoDock iPod docks placed around the house) are centralized. The Renovia Source Hub (NV-RVM) accepts six sources, including NuVo’s terrestrial and satellite radio tuners (including a built-in AM/FM/SIRIUS-ready dual tuner), NuVoDock iPod docks, NuVo’s new Music Port Server, and legacy devices like CD players. The Renovia Source Hub provides a maximum of 12 listening zones in a home.
Unlike NuVo’s Grand Concerto and Essentia E6G hubs, from which CAT5 and speaker wire must be run to each zone, the Source Hub simply plugs into an AC outlet. From there, using Home Plug PLC technology, audio and metadata is transmitted to each zone over the home’s electrical wiring. In each zone, the Renovia audio and metadata is received and adapted by a NuVo Zone Amplifier (NV-RVZA50S), which fits in a split-design dual-gang wall box and consists of two components: a power supply and an amplifier. An electrician is required to complete the AC connection on the power supply. The Zone Amplifier connects to architectural or freestanding speakers in the room using speaker wire, providing 50 watts of output.
To provide the integrator and the end user with the most flexibility possible, user control in each zone is not built into the Zone Amplifier. Instead, Renovia offers a wide choice of control options, including NuVo’s in-wall Grand Concerto and Essentia E6G OLED Control Pads, the new in-wall NV-CTP36 Color Touch Pad, or the recently introduced, completely portable Wireless Control Pad.
Renovia has been designed for minimal architectural and interior design impact in each zone. The Zone Amplifier sports a clean, low-profile cover and, because user control is not part of the device, it can be discreetly placed near an existing wall outlet behind furniture.
Site Analysis Tool
The great majority of residential electrical systems will be able to accommodate Renovia and its HomePlug PLC technology. However, some older electrical systems may not be up to the task, or the presence of electrically noisy and disruptive devices in a home might compromise Renovia’s signal integrity. To help the integrator know what to expect of a home’s electrical infrastructure before closing the sale and before installing a Renovia system, NuVo will offer dealers its two-piece Renovia Site Analysis Tool (NV-RVSAT).
Much like an integrator would never travel to a job site involving CAT5 wiring without a CAT5 tester, Renovia dealers will feel confident about each installation because of the Renovia Site Analysis Tool. Without this PLC tester to provide valuable feedback on the robustness and stability of a home’s electrical infrastructure in all relevant rooms, an integrator would risk installing a whole audio system that might not work properly, or up to the dealer’s or homeowner’s standards.
The NuVo Site Analysis Tool enables the integrator to test a home’s electrical lines for unusual noise or poor signal strength occurrences. It comes in a blow-molded case and consists of two units: the NV-RVSAT-H, which tests the location where the Source Hub would be placed, and the NV-RVSAT-Z, which tests each location where a Zone Amplifier would be placed. Also included are four NuVo HomePlug filters.
Each testing unit features a clear and easily readable OLED display, along with an “OK” button, a “Menu” button and scroll up and down buttons. The integrator simply plugs the SAT-H unit into a receptacle intended for use as the hub location. When turned on, the unit emulates data and music signals and broadcasts them over the home’s electrical wiring. The integrator then goes to each proposed Zone Amplifier location and plugs in the SAT-Z, which receives and evaluates the signal from the SAT-H. A grade will display on each tester’s screen to indicate the transmission quality.
Based on this feedback, the integrator can determine at a glance if any unusual environmental issues or disturbances exist at each location. In the vast majority of homes, a reading of “Excellent” or “Good” will be delivered, meaning conditions are in place for an easy install. In the rare case of a lower grade that indicates issues at a particular outlet, further evaluation may be required. NuVo will provide documentation on possible causes of these issues, and how to best navigate around them. NuVo also will offer a simple, inexpensive HomePlug filter that can isolate noise generated by a connected appliance or electrical device on an outlet from Renovia communications.
“The Site Analysis Tool is another example of how Renovia is much more than an ordinary product rollout; it’s a new way of doing business,” said Rodarte. “The Site Analysis Tool and other resources we will provide will help our dealers bring Renovia to potentially millions of existing homes across America.”
Dealer education and tools
NuVo has established a dealer-focused microsite that educates and informs integrators about Renovia technology, subsystems and installation: www.nuvotechnologies.com/zebra. To further support dealers and to develop consumer awareness and excitement, NuVo will launch consumer-focused advertising, marketing and public relations efforts for Renovia this fall.
NuVo also recently unveiled an expanded Dealer ProZone, including new features that specifically help with selling Renovia. Additionally, NuVo will educate dealers on how to better sell and market Renovia, whole home audio and their services in general in order to reach out to markets beyond new construction and the referral business that has fueled the CEDIA market for years.
“Not only will we provide our dealers with a revolutionary, high-quality product, but we will also educate them on how to sell and market Renovia and themselves to a whole new market,” said Rodarte.
Why Renovia will greatly expand the market for Whole Home Audio
Due to the challenges of installing whole home audio in existing homes, many dealers until now have limited their whole home audio pitching to new builds only, where they have easy access to open walls. Renovia provides integrators with a much less invasive, much easier-to-install whole home audio solution for existing homes than has ever existed. Renovia does not require home-run CAT5 wiring; instead, it utilizes the home’s existing electrical system to transmit audio and metadata. As a result, the costly, messy and usually unprofitable task of patching holes in drywall will disappear. As an added benefit for dealers, customers will have more money left over to spend on additional equipment and services.
The Renovia system is not an extension of NuVo’s current Grand Concerto and Essentia E6G systems, but a standalone system entirely of its own that has been built from the ground up. Renovia’s design, engineering and development has been greatly enhanced by input and feedback from a trusted NuVo Dealer Advisory Board, which has worked closely with NuVo engineers from the inception of Renovia’s development to ensure Renovia is a reliable, user-friendly and installer-friendly system that delivers the quality and reliability NuVo dealers expect. All told, Renovia underwent more testing than any NuVo product has ever endured.
Renovia pricing and availability
The NV-RVM Source Hub is $1,999 each MSRP. The NV-RVZA50S Zone Amplifier is $499 each MSRP. A Renovia-specific iPod dock, the NV-RVIPD NuVoDock, is $249 each MSRP.
Renovia is also available as a packaged system, including in-wall system controllers. The NV-RVMS4-E6 package ($4,999 MSRP) consists of one NV-RVM, four NV-RVZA50S units, four Essentia E6G OLED Control Pads, and one NV-RVIPD. The NV-RVMS4-I8 package ($5,499 MSRP) consists of one NV-RVM, four NV-RVZA50S units, four Grand Concerto OLED Control Pads, and one NV-RVIPD.
Renovia will be available in the fourth quarter of 2009.