Elan vs Russound

Friend just got out of the full time business, only does side jobs now.

He used both and but preferred ELAN. His whole house is automated with OmniIIPro, System 12 dual chassis, Lutron Radio RA, etc. He was able to integrate all with the ELAN products, but not many dealers do the custom work. Find an experienced and custom dealer in your area and you should be happy.

Ps. Will be installing my System12 and OmniIIPro in the next month or so. Just completing the Home Theater for the Wife and Kids.

Im not sure what you mean by the statement that Elan does not interface well with HAI - because there is a 2 way driver that Elan has written for the Omni and thus it can be controlled via Elan touchpanels.

HAI has updated its touchpanel firmware and the firmware on its panels to support Russound's multi-zone unit. This just means that you can use HAI touch panels to control your zones - but that also means you are spending $700+ for a touchpanel that - at the end of the day - is useless as it cannot actually be programmed worth a squat (yes, i know it can display shortcuts to things you create with its programming software - but the UI cannot be modified).

I dont think Russound's multi-zone audio controller is in the same league as the Elans - The S12 allows you to distribute both composite and HD video via component and of course you can distribute to more zones. If your need is only to distribute audio, then the S12 is overkill and there are better multi-zone products IMO.

There are some other multi-zone controllers that also distribute HD and audio (one CI on these forums recommended the ADA System 16). If you are going to spend S12 type money, you might want to consider that as well.

One suggestion - if you are going to install touchpanels immediately, you might want to stay away from Elan. You ought to look at AMX, Crestron, or Dean's product. If you can wait a few months, my sense is that Elan will finally update its software to support their new house controller device (which is designed to do some of the things AMX & Crestron can do). There are other options of course beyone the 3 I mentioned - Homelogic supports the S12 as well.

FWIW - I have had my S12 for 8 months - and its been rock solid.

What do you mean that Russound has more zones than Elan? What units are you comparing? How many zones do you need?

CJ

What sort of speakers are they including? How many zones in the house are they incorporating? Are they running the wires? If so, are they running component cable or just composite (is HD video distribution important to you)? Are they installing keypads/touchpanels? If so, are they offering to do z-pads or Via! panels? Did they quote you the SS1 and the wireless touchpanel? Which Elan amp are they wanting to install? Do both quotes include the HAI install and wiring of your security system? Does it include HAI touchpanels or their standard touchpads? Installing the RC80 thermostats or the multi-zone thermostats?

It's impossible to say whether you've got yourself a good quote or not - the only way to know is for you to list all the specifics of this install.

PS
When do you want to do this by? Is the drywall up on your house? Can you just do the wiring and be patient for some upcoming products that might allow you to do this at a more reasonable cost? Especially in the control system sphere - even with Elan...they have to improve the implementation of their SS1 controller because they've got the hardware in place to do 2 way communication and I cant imagine they spent this kind of money on the engineering to not dump the SC4. Right now, if you go with Elan, your installer would deploy an SC4 which will become obsolete as soon as the SS1 is properly enabled by Elan.

pm with pricing, please.

Nice!

i am not sure what pricing is for installs since i am just tech support.
but if i recall correctly we do have a few dealers in Iowa. It might be worth it to shop around!

if you are not going to use the via2 with ss1 then a sc4 will do just fine for HAI! and all the via64's and 40's will do fine for control.

please PM with price thanks.

x-tremewire - Please PM with pricing if it is still available

sorry about the slow response... I'll pm pricing today for the elan equipment for those that are interested. I still have it all, should be a heck of a deal, especially off of retail. thanks, Ken

Just sent you a PM for the Elan equipment
Thanks

A purchase request for the Elan equipment has been PMed.
Thank you.

I would look strongly at Crestron Adagio. They have a much broader product line, and integrate better with other manufactrures. You can also use crestron products for audio, video, and lighting. This greatly improves the reliability of the system and reduces programming time.

This thread is almost 2 years old.

good point. I didn't notice that!