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Lutron's Circadian Lighting, UniFi Networks, And High-End Install Realities

• HCA Media • Episode 24

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Sony is partnering with TCL for Bravia manufacturing. Panasonic is handing European TV production to Skyworth. Barco is moving to acquire Focal and Naim. If those headlines made you stop scrolling, you’re not alone, and we wanted to talk through what they could actually mean for premium home cinema, custom installation, and the screens and sound systems we put in real homes. 

We’re recording in a new remote format, so you get more frequent “what we’re seeing right now” updates from the field. Simon and I recap the highlights of ISE Barcelona, including demos that genuinely pushed the experience forward, plus the gear and ideas that feel practical for homeowners. We also get into lighting and control, especially Lutron’s impressive circadian-style approach, and why smarter distributed hardware can matter in high-end apartments and tight plant-room layouts. 

From there, we switch to real project work: a new-build dedicated cinema that’s behind schedule, seating lead times, calibration and OLED installs, and even the kind of curveball every integrator knows too well, like a pool wave machine that suddenly requires Wi-Fi to function. We also talk networking upgrades with UniFi, because a fast, stable network is the foundation for streaming, multi-room audio, control systems, and app-driven living. 

Finally, we unpack the bigger industry shifts: how TV partnerships might affect quality, model ranges, and long-term support, plus what Barco’s move into luxury audio could signal for integrated AV ecosystems. If you care about home theater design, AV installation, high-end audio, and where the market is heading next, there’s a lot here to chew on. Subscribe, share this with an AV-obsessed friend, and leave us a review with your take: which headline changes the industry most?


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Home Cinema Alliance Message

SPEAKER_00

Thinking of building your dream home cinema? Don't know where to start? Start with the HCA. At the Home Cinema Alliance, we connect homeowners with the very best in the business. Our members are trusted designers, installers, and technology experts who know how to turn any room into a breathtaking cinematic experience. Whether you're building from scratch or converting a spare room, our members are here to help you every step of the way. Visit our website to find your local member at homesinamareliance.co.uk.

Remote Format And Podcast Plans

SPEAKER_02

Hi, and welcome to the HEA Tech Talk Podcast. I'm your host, Stuart Burgess, and with me as normal, my co-host is Mr. Simon Gregory. Good evening. A different format for us this time. Yeah, well, first of all, I know it's March the 11th, but happy New Year's.

SPEAKER_01

Happy New Year, yeah, happy new year. Our last one was Christmas, which uh was a long time ago, but we have been very busy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we'll get into that with what we've been up to, but yeah, we've we've been busy, we've been trying to do a podcast, and we've had a couple of times. I mean, we've done podcasts, we've been doing podcasts, they've just been with manufacturers and distributors, and we've just not had time to do it like me and you together type of thing.

SPEAKER_01

No, we've we've almost run out of uh distributors to go to but and showrooms, but uh so that's why we are doing it remotely. Is that is that the technical terminology?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, remotely, I suppose, you know, back to the COVID days where we live remotely. But uh no, I mean I think so. I think we started well I started last week doing a gaming podcast I used to do like six years ago. Uh and we did the gaming podcast because Steve, who I do it with, is in Yorkshire. And I don't mind driving to Essex, but I'm not driving to Yorkshire to do a podcast every other week.

SPEAKER_01

And and it and it's not Cedia Steve, which uh they have this exact same name, and I saw him on the podcast, and I'm like, that's not Steve C Dia Steve.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no, no, this is uh they're both called Mr. Steve and Carter, but they're very different Mr. Stephen Carters.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02

But uh so no, I sort of thought, I mean, obviously we we've had a couple of discussions and uh I sort of thought, well, maybe look, we try and split the podcast a little bit because obviously the ones that we were doing before was like what we've been working on, what we've uh what we've been doing, what we've been working on, a bit of news, and then a topic of the month type of thing. And then um I think it was last week or the week before, I put up the topic of the month from the very first episode that we did, and that's actually seems to have performed quite well on its own. So I sort of thought, well, uh why don't we try and do like a a bi-weekly, almost like inside CI, inside custom installation with you and me, you know, in our own houses on Riverside, which is a platform we're using, affiliate link in the description, and then we'll then do the topic of the month uh in person again. We've still got lots of great subjects to talk about, along with the manufacturers and distributors podcast. So we've got one that went up uh as we record this yesterday with uh Steinway Lindorf, uh, which is probably the funniest podcast I've ever recorded. And then obviously me and you were at Monitor Audio yesterday, and you did three interviews with Michael, Michael, and James, which I'm uh I've been putting together today to put up next Tuesday, the 17th, I think it is, as we record this.

SPEAKER_01

It was a busy, a busy couple of uh a couple of days, and uh yeah, I watched the Steinway one this morning because I had to uh to leave to do family matters, but um yeah, that was very funny, and uh the boys are always a good uh a good laugh, and it's good to get an insight of of their background as well and uh and uh take the mick out of them a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I think it's just again, it's like what we've said on the podcast quite a few times. We we're involved in this every day, and we see people like Charlie and Schino, and we see people, you know, like you know, we did one with Barry for at Meridian a few weeks ago, was it? Well I think it was like this side of this year.

SPEAKER_01

Uh it was. I think it was more uh February time, but uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So it was a couple minutes ago at least. I can't believe March is nearly over.

SPEAKER_01

I know, exactly. So uh so so so so the clocks will go uh it will change soon and uh yeah, they will the the warmer weather will start and the the days will start getting longer and brighter, which is great.

SPEAKER_02

I mean it's already quite nice getting back and it's still daylight-ish.

SPEAKER_01

But uh makes a big, big difference.

ISE Barcelona Highlights And Demos

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so I mean, yeah, going forward, I think we'll try and do these a bit more regular, um, keep them a bit more short and sweet. So, you know, what have you been working on and what's it what news is in the news, you know, what things we've got to talk about, and then we'll save the you know the topics of the month, like you know, what's a home cinema and why it doesn't come in one box, or you know, sit-down conversations with monitor audio or Steinway Lindor for the in-person ones where we use all the snazzy cameras and and all of that. So um, so yeah, so um we've been busy. I mean, I suppose first of all, uh we had our trip to IC for the inaugural five days again this year.

SPEAKER_01

Yep, in Barcelona. Not so sunny Barcelona this year. I was most disappointed, left in the rain, arrived in the rain, saw one day of sun, that was it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I th and I think I think the good thing about actually getting a cab, which I think we're gonna change the place we stay next year, but some of the good things, like that day when uh there was an accident, so we had to go all the way through the middle of Barcelona it felt. It was actually quite a nice morning, so we got to see some sights and we got to see some sunshine. But that was about the only sunshine we uh we saw for the whole week.

SPEAKER_01

It was fifty minutes in a taxi though is uh is is never fun, especially when you need to uh need a toilet break. But uh it it was a good show though, uh really successful for for both of us, I think, and obviously the people that were there. Um I think numbers were up for uh the residential side of things, and from the feedback we got back, uh yeah, I think everybody found it really really beneficial.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean we've done the interviews, which are they're all up on the uh Home Cinema Alliance and the HGA Tech Talk channel. So we did some great uh uh talks with, you know, uh trying to think now, L Acoustics, uh CYP, uh Leith Audio, Trinov, Reiko, Wisdom Audio, you know, they're we did yeah, Priscilla. Uh we've got some interesting stuff hopefully coming up with Brisella where we're gonna hopefully go back over to their head office and how and record some stuff about them putting their immerso video wall and speaker system in their new unit. And uh yeah, I mean it was a really, really good. I mean, it was I suppose my highlight was that um L Acoustics demonstration we saw in Hall 8, which was again that is up on YouTube as a small video, it was only shot on the Osmo Pocket, so you don't really get the full experience. But that was like, what was it? It was a celloist versus a DJ, and the DJ whips out a guitar towards the end of it. Uh that was just mind-blowing.

SPEAKER_01

It was mind-blowing, and something completely different. And uh, we we spoke to Nick from L AQ's team and said, You must go and see this. And he explained to us that there's a guy over the cello and a DJ were like, What do you talk about? How does that work? And uh you you sit down and the cello uh guy's in the middle, and then you're surrounded by the the the DJ sound, and then he kind of mixes in the uh the cello and things like that. So it was a really good demonstration. And Hall 8, all the pro stuff is uh very, very impressive indeed, and uh something a bit different, which uh I I'm all for.

SPEAKER_02

Well, didn't you you went over because I had a meeting on the Cedia stand, didn't I, with a friend of ours, which uh uh I'll get onto on another podcast. But uh I think you wandered off to Hall 8 because you didn't you you went and saw some uh some very, very loud stadium systems.

SPEAKER_01

Very loud indeed. It's uh void, I think, was uh one of the speaker manufacturers, but uh and uh yeah it was some great speakers that they do. They do out of the sort of 20 uh main uh uh areas uh in Ibiza, sort of like the DJ areas and the the events, that that they do sort of like 15 to 16 of them. So they do they do the majority, but uh their speaker sounded good, then they got bigger, the subs got bigger, they got louder, then they got very loud, and then he apologised and said, now we're gonna get very loud. And uh that the first time in my 27-year career, I had to put my hands over my ears because it was so loud. You know, when you go on a roller coaster ride and you're laughing and sort of crying with with with fun but fear. This is what I was doing. I was like, Oh my goodness, stop the noise, it's too loud. But uh it was I wasn't the only one, by the way.

SPEAKER_02

Not that I'm no, no, no. I mean, I I I well I to be honest, once you tell me that I wasn't that bothered about going to see it, but but I think the whole ISE thing, I mean, it's uh it just wandering into some of the other halls. Um and I mean we went and had uh we went and grabbed a sandwich, didn't we, with our friends uh Hidden Wires, and um, you know, and just walking in there and seeing some of the other like digital displays, DJ stuff, um, commercial stuff, stadium speakers, you know, the actually the what we call resi, you know, our industry is literally half of hall one and half of hall two, isn't it? Or something like that, not even that.

Lutron Lighting Control That Impressed

SPEAKER_01

If if that so half of hall two, um obviously certain manufacturers like Sonos and Unify, they kind of went into hall three, I think. But uh yeah, some of the DJ stuff, uh you had cannons going off, you had fog machines, you had ice machines, lasers. It was it was uh uh uh I wouldn't say a treat for the senses, but uh it was an overload of the senses, and uh I I did feel sorry for the people who were in those halls because I would have had uh a massive headache or migraine, and I don't really get those. So uh it was pretty full on. But no, the residential side of things, really good, some really great stands, uh, really good demo uh facilities that we saw. Um, but uh we we actually uh came across well, we got invited to the Lutron uh lighting solution, didn't we?

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah, that was the first thing we saw, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, really, really good. Um, really clever how they they did it. It felt like you experienced 24 hours in the space of 10 minutes, the way they did the lighting control, the sunset going up, coming down, blinds going up, coming down, that kind of thing. Uh the way it worked was was really, really impressive.

SPEAKER_02

Well, it was using the uh Is it Casadia Rhythm, wasn't it? So it was like it was if you turn on the if you turn on the light fixture in the morning, um, it will come on like a nice bright energetic blue, and if you you know go in and turn it on in the evening, it's more yellow to simulate the you know sunrise and sunset. I mean, I do a similar thing here, admittedly, with Philips Hue, but I've got it programmed in so when I turn the lights on in the evening, uh they're more yellowy after a certain time, and I've set the levels, but with the uh the new um Leutron system, it was their light fitting. So am I right in thinking that it was less centrally located and that the brains was actually in the light fitting, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that that that's true. So the way they've done it, uh the way they describe it is is kind of above homework. Um from what we understand, it's about 800 pounds per unit. So uh that's not cheap. Uh they did kind of jokingly say obviously you wouldn't put in every room, which uh for that price, I don't think you would, unless you're a uh a millionaire, stroke billionaire, but uh it it you did it in the dedicated room, so like the lounge, living room, kitchen, that kind of thing, um bedroom. Um yeah, I I was really, really impressed.

SPEAKER_02

I think think it has a place. I mean, especially if you look at like if I go back to my days of looking after uh Lerva in Harrods, you know, going into some of those apartments in Knightsbridge and then sort of thinking, you know, Paris and New York, where you know, and even like Japan and Tokyo and places like that where space in a house is or an apartment is limited. So actually having a like future automation rack in a room, that room might not even exist in that house. So actually, to have the brains in the light fitting means you don't have to have a you know a big cabinet. I mean, we're doing one at the moment, our part of our Beckenham job. Uh uh one, two, three, four. I think there's six future automation racks in there, um, and that's for a crestron system. So, you know, try and put that in a small apartment in New York or you know, an apartment in London. So again, I think it has its place, but yeah, you know, it's you've got raw raw three, is it raw three is the latest one, isn't it? You've got raw three, you've got homework. RA3. I always think it's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we we installed that uh towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, and uh yeah, no, it's really nice, really easy to use. It's it's it's it's more um uh it's better than the RA2, obviously not as expensive as homework, so uh, but no, when we did that, clients are very happy and uh yeah, got uh got all their Christmas Christmas trees out, and we can control that with the uh the homework, so the RAR3, and uh yeah, it was really nice, and the clients are very happy. So we might actually do a case study on the on their house as well, so uh something to look out for on the uh Home Cinema Alliance podcast.

Sonos Amp Multi And Release Timing

SPEAKER_02

That'd be good, that'd be good. Um talking about Sonos briefly, obviously we saw Stephen at the show, uh, but uh for anybody who's not seen it, we have got uh a video up where we had an exclusive literally record the same day as Sonos announced the new Ant Multi, which is their uh eight-channel multi-room amplifier for multi-room amplifying, not for TVs but for multi-room audio. So we had we had that go up with Stephen. Uh I was with Stephen last week at an event in London, and also again, just to say congratulations to John Sutton, who was the uh the winner of the two Euro 100s, because uh Stephen even threw a second one in as well because uh he couldn't get it out to him before Christmas, so he gave him one and then gave him another one.

SPEAKER_01

That's very generous of them, isn't it? We we do like Sonas for doing that, but no, that again their demonstration uh at uh uh uh ISE was very good. They had a discrete room that was circular, I would suppose, with some lounge seating in there, and uh yeah, it really showed off what uh the amp could do, and uh it was uh very impressive. So a nice little uh something different again, which I I think was uh was the main part of their demonstration. And then they went best stand award for that, I believe. I think so.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, they did, yeah, because there was some awards going on when I think we were talking to someone on the Cedia stand, but uh no, I mean that was uh it was yeah, it was a really, really good stand. Um and they were showing off some really good stuff there, including the uh the clear sonos app multi. It was reminiscent of the green Xbox uh um sorry, the yeah, the the original green Xbox limited edition Halo one.

SPEAKER_01

Well I got the crystal, the crystal Xbox. Do you remember the crystal? That was a that was a clear, clear one. So yeah, that's it. That's it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I wonder I want I said to Stephen, and I can show you one if you wish.

SPEAKER_01

I've got one here in my uh in my office.

SPEAKER_02

So uh you're sorry, I'll put I'll put a picture up. Put a picture. But yeah, I said to Stephen, can we can we make the clear one? And he's like, Yeah, I'm not sure it would sort of like survive with not necessarily the really hot heat, but he said it is uh it is a four-zone amplifier, knocking out 150 watts per channel. He said, So, you know, it's really gonna be made of metal and not plastic.

SPEAKER_01

There's a there's a lot a lot of power in that one little unit, that's for sure, and uh yeah, done a done done a good job. So uh look looking forward to seeing those when they're out. They're not out for uh for a little while, are they? I think you went to the press uh launch day.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I I I had a launch day, they they still haven't announced it. Stephen did tentatively say to me when he thinks it might be, which obviously I can't relay on. Um I think now they're hoping that it will be sooner rather than later. But you know, it's like every new product, it's got a it's gone through RD. If you were a sonnet uh um uh beta tester, I think it was. Uh, there are actually some out there in the wild that people have been using, some integrators have been testing them and seeing how they're getting on in their like their office systems or their home systems. So, you know, the last thing, like with everything, the last thing you want to do is release something and it doesn't work, especially as this is a pro device for pros to be installed professionally. You know, the last thing we as installers want is to get a call out to say it's you know it's overheated or it's tripped out or this has happened or that has happened. So I think there's just a lot of um RD going on at the moment, and it it will come out when it's ready.

SPEAKER_01

It will. It's like it's like Grand Theft Auto 6.

SPEAKER_02

Coming to coming in 2029.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Soon. Sooner rather than later, hopefully. But I think it's November. I think they've said November now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, sometime in November.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Current Projects Cinema Builds And Installs

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So uh what else have you been up to um in your uh cinematic life?

SPEAKER_01

Well, after I recovered from IC, because we did do a week, didn't we? Which uh normally we do two three days, but we were there from Monday to Friday. So uh I took the uh the weekend to recover, and then I probably felt even worse the the following week. So uh it was a bit tiring. But uh we're we're working on the uh the eight seat to spunk and cinema that's uh that we're working with in uh collaboration with uh Cinema Lux. So uh that is a new build and hasn't come along quite as far as we'd hoped. So uh uh myself and uh the guys from Cinema Lux went around there to scan the room because obviously it then we get the plans and the design and how it's gonna be, and we we wanted the door moved because we're gonna build out the the the front uh baffle wall uh to house subs and speakers and things like that. But um, yeah, the room wasn't quite ready. It was a bit it was a bit flooded, let's say that, because it hasn't stopped raining since our last podcast. I mean, the last last couple of weeks has been a bit better, but uh so yeah, it was more like a swimming pool uh than an actual uh cinema room. But the roof is now on and we're just waiting for it to be watertight, and then we can start going through all the designs and colours and things like that, and just uh yeah, just really get that uh shored up and uh get the uh the client a really fantastic cinema room uh later in September, I think is uh is our deadline. So um I've got a we've got all of the cinema seats which uh are from front row cinema seating, and they they they quoted me a let I think 11 to 14 weeks, which if they if they ordered in May, I think they will get to us sometime in September.

SPEAKER_02

So that's actually quite good. I mean, we we deal with um uh Andy and Alistair quite a lot with some of our jobs, and um yeah, I mean there was a there's been a few times, I mean ironically, literally sort of like over that way, there's a big house up on the hill where we put I think it was 15 seats in, and that was at that point that was 21 week lead time. Uh b because you know, and obviously at the moment as well, you know, if they're not seats that are in the UK and they've got to be shipped in, um, who knows? Who knows?

SPEAKER_01

There's a few things going on at the moment that uh is suffering some ships uh from moving freely, but uh that's uh another story and another podcast. So hopefully uh they won't take uh as long as they did do your ones, but uh yeah, so that's uh hopefully be uh done in September. So we'll we'll be working on on that for for a little bit, but uh yeah, installing some Sony OLED TVs which uh look and sound fantastic, um, calibrating those and getting those uh up and running. Um and we had the bar on conversion, which I think I spoke about before. Um the client's got a swimming pool.

SPEAKER_02

Uh I was about I was about to say, you're talking about swimming pools. I've seen pictures of you down the side underneath a swimming pool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we were I was back back under there again, so uh uh I was trying to uh crawl my way along and not hit my head or my back, which uh unfortunately I did do a few times. But uh the client's actually got a wave machine in for they do professional training in for swimming, so it's like swimming against the current, I suppose, and build up strength. Um, but it needed an app. So as as as everything nowadays, this machine needed an app to get it working. So we had run a uh a calls uh external cat six cable, the really thin one, which uh is is is uh is a godsend for doing things like that. Um and we believed there was a uh an actual connection for uh a cat six, but it turns out it needed Wi-Fi. So what we actually got in there, we'd already run the cable, but what we actually got was uh the Unify Swiss Army knife, which I don't know if you heard of that, but it it does what it says on the tin. It's a Swiss Army knife and it does everything, so it's uh it's it's it's it's it's it's suited for uh internal and external, it's pretty much bomb proof, it's a nice, decent size, and can do, I think it's Wi-Fi 5, so we didn't need any more than that. It's uh say just to run an app pretty much. So we run one of those underneath the swimming pool, right next to the machine. Um, it didn't work at first, which was a bit annoying. I was like, what's going on? I'm an under swimming pool with about 30 degrees in there, sweating away. And then uh I was like, Well, if it's not talking to the app, it's not even seeing it on the app. And then I opened up this cabinet and uh there's a cable hanging out where the uh antennae was connected to. Plugged in this little and cable that was just dangling around, and uh the client who was right next to me at the time, um, was uh said, It's come alive, and uh yeah, she could see the uh the uh the Swiss Army died, and uh she was very, very happy indeed to uh because it was at 50%, you see. So 50% is is not enough, so she wanted to up it. So it was a little slider to go from naught to a hundred. So I think that got whacked up to about 70 or 80 to create some nice waves.

Home Networking Upgrades With UniFi

SPEAKER_02

Well, so I um well one first of all, I'm jealous because I mean I've got nowhere to put some, but I would love to have one of those. Um but uh but actually I I can't remember if we said it on the last pod, but I uh uh I upgraded at the home uh to Zen broadband, so I get two and a half gig up, two and a half gig down. Down now. Um, so I've actually swapped out my network at home. So, you know, because I like to have a play. So I took out the other brand, which was nothing wrong with the other brand, but I know it, I install it, so it's almost like let's get some unifying. So I've put a uh a pretty much uh I'd say 75% 10 gig unify network in the house. Um, so literally like the APs, there's one above me in here in the office, uh, their Wi-Fi 7 all around the house. Uh, I've got the new G6 doorbell on. I wanted the pro, but once I when I saw that at ISC, it was Mahousif.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was pretty big, yeah. We we did go visit the Unified Stand, didn't we? It's uh some nice stuff on there, and their their slim AP was was very impressive. I think we both saw that and uh was pro was it was that the pro?

Fitness Challenge And Cancer Charity

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so that was uh I can't remember the model number now. I'll put links in the description to all the stuff that I've put in here because uh um yeah, I mean I've put in sort of like um uh I've put in a dream machine fibre because I wanted just to have a play with rather than a rack mounted one, I wanted to have a play with a you know desk mounted one, one that might be more suitable for some of the smaller installs we do, because rather than playing with the top of the range and then putting not the top of the range into a client's house, I wanted to put one that was potentially a bit more you know client-friendly. So I put that in. Uh I have got one of the I think is it is it uh XGS, I think it is, or something like that, the access point. But yeah, they're a lot more slim profile now. Um so done that. Um I did my bicep challenge. Um you raised a nice bit of money for that, didn't you? Did that so the whole of January I did my 3,100 biceps. I mean, I can hardly lift my arms um because the muscles are so big. Um you're like Popeye now, Popeye the Sailor Man. I actually did the 100 bicep challenge for every day in January, but then Andy from Moss Tech also did it with me. He's actually training to do the Cardiff Marathon at the moment. So, you know, um uh if you search Andy Moss, Moss Technical on LinkedIn, uh he's got a uh um uh a charity page up to raise money for that. But he then said, What are you doing in February? He said, I'm gonna do a hundred push-ups every day. So I thought, well, look, I've done a hundred biceps every day, I'm gonna do a hundred triceps every day. So all the way through February, I did a hundred bicep pushdowns every day, and then in March I have been doing um seated rows, but uh I just sort of like life took over. So yeah, so with the bicep, we raised 650 quid.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, congratulations. That's uh all for a good cause as well. What was the call? What was the cause again?

SPEAKER_02

Uh so it's Costa Cancer. So Nikki's charity, who is uh Andy's uh wife, who does uh so it's called Costa Cancer. Basically, um she lost her best friend in 2009, uh, unfortunately, due to cancer. And one thing that became apparent to her was that there very is very little sport when you have cancer to you know pay your bills, your gas bill, your water bills, your council tax. So what they do is they take it on a case-by-case basis and they basically help, if they can, people that are struggling to pay their bills while they're going through treatment for cancer.

SPEAKER_01

A w a worthwhile call, so uh well done.

SPEAKER_02

So the other thing I did before Christmas, uh, because I just can't stop working, is uh I actually created a website for the podcast and the videos and the blogs and everything like that. So if you now go to www.hcatectalk.com, uh we've got a website on there now, which basically is a home, let's say, for the podcast, for the videos, for the audio, for the blogs, uh, and then we're also doing um news for the industry as and when it comes. So it's almost like if we say a news story on here, it will be on the website. If we've recorded a podcast or video here, then it will be on the website. So it's uh just a bit of a home for some of the stuff that we're doing.

SPEAKER_01

It's uh it's a base for us to to home in on, and uh you can find us all on there. And you've even there's a lot of news on there as well, which is really good. And uh you were telling me that uh you've even you you you tried to AI yourself uh at one point, didn't you?

SPEAKER_02

I I AI'd myself, but I I got to I got your voice, not not your not your face, just your voice. Not yeah, not yeah, no, not Max Headroom. But I got um I yeah, I used a I used a website called Eleven Labs because I always I'm always one of these people where I listen to podcasts pretty much all the time. So if I've got like a an article on you know uh a website or on Apple News, I want a little button that I could press where the news article's read to me. Because if it's like if it's a scrolly up, you know, like ten times you've got to scroll up, I'm I I'm probably not gonna read it. So what we sort of decided to do, or what I decided to do was when I get that press release in for you know a Steinway Lindorf new product or um you know something from uh Perlison or something like that, then I will take that uh news article, that press release, and I basically change it a little bit to make it a bit more presenter-friendly, and then I put it through a leather labs to record it. So that way it goes up as a podcast, it goes onto the platform as a news article, but then you could just press the little tab at the top of it, which basically reads it back to you. So if you if you've not got a chance to read it, you can listen to it.

SPEAKER_01

It's quite handy, actually. I quite enjoyed it when the uh the kids were uh were bugging me. I just sort of put it on my phone or my iPad or whatever I was on and press play, and I could still interact with them, but also listen to the news article as well, rather than trying to read it and being interrupted all the time.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's always good putting your headphones on when the kids are around because then they think you can't hear them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I didn't have headphones on, I just always played it next to me. Oh, okay. I knew there would be no swearing or anything else, so uh I was like, press play. Yes, what would you like? And then I could hear it in the background while they were doing other stuff. So um, but yeah, so there's more news, any news?

Monitor Audio Experience Center Visit

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah, so um we have some news to get on to. Um, just all whilst we're having a chat, I just wanted to say a big thank you to Monitor Audio because we were both at an open day of theirs yesterday where they've just launched their new um experience centre and training centre, and uh said the podcasts were hopefully well it is gonna be out next Tuesday, the 17th. And um, yeah, I mean that was a stunning facility, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, it was a fantastic day, and uh yeah, thank you to the Monitor Audio Group for for inviting us, and it was good to see uh a lot of the uh the press guys that I haven't seen for uh a number of years, but uh yeah, no, it was a really good open day. Um James Brown and the group have done a really good job uh getting that demo room together and the facilities together. Uh I think it was like five months in the making, but uh they they did a good job. So uh but no, it's really good because obviously we're based in Essex, so and monitor audio have always been there, but as I described to them, you're a bit like a submarine. You've you've always been there, but you've always been a bit under the radar. So uh now they're sort of submerging and uh coming coming to uh to to their own kind of thing, and uh yeah, you can go there and get trained on on all their products, they do designs for you. So there's more on the podcast and uh the interviews that we did yesterday. But uh yeah, no, really good day and uh great facilities.

Subscribe Reviews Patreon And Feedback

Sony Bravia Teams Up With TCL

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well hope I'm hoping to get this one up before next Tuesday um and then uh and then that one up. If it's the other way around, it will be there now. Go and have a listen. Um but yeah, so before we get on to the news, um if you could please uh rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're listening or watching on. It really does help. Um if you've got any comments or you want to give us any uh feedback or any questions, you can text the show within the podcast or leave a comment on YouTube. Um I've also tried something, I want to try and do some sort of giveaways this year, but rather than doing it the way we did it with the Sonus one, I've actually started a Patreon channel up. Uh, and on the Patreon channel you can join from as little as a pound a month uh or a dollar a month for our American friends, where you might be included in some giveaways and some competitions with some of the merch we get or some products that we might be given uh to give away. So uh nip over to Patreon, search uh HGA Tech Talk, and then sign up to be included in any future competitions. Um but yeah, getting on to the news, the uh the first news story, which might lead into the third news story, um, is about is with you and it's about TVs.

SPEAKER_01

There's a we're pretty TV heavy this uh this podcast, that's for sure. But uh I think the the the breaking news uh was uh Sony has majority control of its TV business, the C T CL, um which uh I think took us all a bit by surprise and how that was all gonna work. It's uh it's a joint venture. Um Sony uh have let go, I suppose, of uh 51% of their uh of their their shares, so 49% are left to them. Um but uh yeah, I I don't think anybody saw that coming, did you?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, I've I suppose from our point of view, we've seen for years that from our point of view, there's no money in TVs. You know, often if a client turns around to you and says, I'm gonna get a TV from John Lewis or from Ayo or something like that, very rarely as an integrator do we then argue with the person because there's no money in it. Uh, and you can't help but think the same with the manufacturer aside as well. It is they're expensive things to produce, uh, they're always I've always seen them as a little bit like games consoles, I suppose. I've always seen them as a bit of a loss leader. I mean, it's quite for me the the fact that they've gone into bed for want of a better word with TCL, I think is is actually quite good. I mean TCL do make some really good TVs, um, and if you watch like Vincent on HD TV, uh his YouTube channel, you know, he's done some good reviews on TCL TVs, and TCL are quite a popular brand in America, uh, and I think you can get some over here now. So I don't see it as being negative. I think it could actually be beneficial because I think we might get more models, we might get a uh a bit more of a uh a spread of the brand, um, a bit more, but Sony are still keeping control of the look and you know the the the name, and they're still they're not just sort of licensing it out like you know, maybe like your JVCs or your sharps and that have done before. Um they are still it is a joint venture between the two of them, so it's a they've basically formed another business. So I I think it's better than them just going, look, we're not gonna do it anymore.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because that that would be a it'd be a cry and shame. So uh I'll just read you a bit here. But the products developed by the new company are expected to continue carrying the Brava and Sony names with the stated goal of creating new customer value across televisions and home audio categories. Uh stripped of corporate phrasing, the reality is straightforward. Sony is handling control of its Brava TV business to TCL, a move that fundamentally alters how Sony branded TVs will be designed, built, and brought to market going forward. So that that's the only thing for me. Obviously, T TCL is more of an entry-level brand, while Sony uh is a bit more of a premium brand for me. Um but obviously TCL have been bubbling away under the surface. Um, I think somebody did describe it either last year sometime, the uh the kind of new LG. LG wasn't a big name until they invented something called OLED TV. So once OLED TV come out, then they started uh to get more and more popular. So the TCL have always been bubbling away, as I say, and uh that some of their TVs do look look pretty impressive. Um but my my only concern is will that premium uh brand stroke market be lost with Sony TCL? What are you buying? Am I buying a TCL uh TV? Am I buying a Sony TV?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean I I potentially see it because obviously Sony um Sony the is a bit down here because the collateral damage may fall hardest on a LG, whose TV business remains heavily focused on OLED panels. And if I'm right in thinking it was Sony that bought the OLED panels from LG, and then they just put then they just Sony fied them. So I I that could be the biggest thing. I mean, for me, I sort of fell out of love with Sony TVs a few years ago because of the control element of them, trying to get them to work with control for and things like that. And for the last few years, including down here in my own lounge, I I've gone with LG because they seem to work.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean I I've always gone with Sony, I've always liked Sony. So uh I mean both both brands are pretty fantastic, but um, yeah, we we're we're uh we like Sony and uh just the way they work and the way they look.

SPEAKER_02

And then I suppose really to to carry on with this, you know, as the the next uh article sort of says, the global breaking news yeah, the global TV business just tilted again weeks after Sony sent shotways through the industry by negotiating a manufacturing partner with TCL. Panasonic have now done the same with Chinese-based Skyworth.

SPEAKER_01

Skyworth, yeah, so Panasonic XX TV manufacturing, but uh they are not stopping, which is a good thing, because that would have been a crying shame. Because again, I know we just mentioned LG and uh and uh Sony, but Panasonic TVs have always been a a fantastic brand in TV manufacturing. So I remember when we were in retail, we used to sell quite a lot of those TVs, but yeah, so they're they're stopping production and uh hands it to uh Skyworth, and uh which I think is gonna be pretty pretty soon starting in 2026, which obviously is now.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, for me, the only re one of the only reasons I got the 77-inch LG downstairs was because before that I had a 65-inch panor and I loved it. I mean, I I will be the first to say, you know, for me, the picture on a Panasonic TV is better than any other TV out there. It's just it's more like the director intended from a cinematic point of view. Um, but when I went to change my TV, as you do, you generally, if you can, you go up size. So I wanted to go to a 77. The only problem with Panasonic 77 was it came with all the Atmos stuff, so the soundbar and all the other speakers, which obviously I don't need because I have a Atmos system in my lounge, it's only a 5.2.2, but I didn't need it. So again, a little bit like Sony, if they could keep the quality in the Panasonic TVs, but actually manufacture more models because of the partnership with Skyworth, and but just abut keep the quality, then that might actually mean that they might make some models in the 77 inch, in the 83 inch, you know, how even in the 96-inch market, because everybody else is making bigger TVs. So for me, I think I'm looking on the positive rather than the negative on both these stories, where hopefully it will mean there's more investment in the brands, and hopefully it means that the consumer will get a big, bigger selection of TVs from you know the cheaper TVs to the premium TVs that we might put in our clients' houses.

SPEAKER_01

But do you want some more breaking news to it? Go on Ember. More clickbait for you. Go for it. Panasonic cease production in Europe. Oh no. Only only available in the US market.

SPEAKER_02

See, that's weird because for years you couldn't buy Panasonic in the US, and I was always talking about how good Panasonic was with our US friends, and they're like, it's brilliant. We can't even buy it. It's a bit like I can't think what it is now. Is it something like it's the Toyota Yaris, the GR Yaris? You can't buy that in America. Yeah, you could buy it over here, and it's considered to be one of the best, like you know, um rally car, road rally cars ever made.

SPEAKER_01

I was I was gonna describe it close to the Hershey's chocolate over here. You can't get it over here, but in America is everywhere.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but sometimes that's not a bad thing. I had a Reese's peanut thing from Sainsbury's like about a year or so ago. I took one bite of it and spat it out. It was so sweet, it was disgusting.

SPEAKER_01

It's not chocolate as we know it. But whether that is true, I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I have seen reports this week that uh they are ceasing production in Europe and it is for the US market only. So that might change by the time this podcast comes out. It might be something they're looking into in further on down the line in the new year. But as as of today, uh middle of March, uh, yeah, production has ceased in Europe. Or distribution, sorry.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, well we'll see. I mean, the good thing is, I mean, I suppose it's a little bit like I mean, we always analogise our industry with cars. It's a little bit like cars. I mean, we've got a proliferation of Chinese and you know, car EVs over here now. And you know, maybe we might see more brands like I mean, obviously, you know, pre-was it pre-Olympics or something like that. I can't think now, but no one really knew who Hisense was. But Hisense is quite a big brand in the UK now. Um where I think is it Korea's biggest TV brand. So, you know, maybe it might be like the EV market with cars where we might just start to see names we may not re like know, but we might start getting. I mean, looking at that article that you've got the link for, you know, Skyworth have got a is it Skyworth 100 CE1 Canvas Elite Art TV. So they've got an art TV a little bit like your Samsung frame, which actually the picture of it looks stunning. Um actually it's the it's a they do an outdoor version as well.

SPEAKER_01

So who knew eight an 80-inch and a hundred inch art TV? So uh which uh to I've never even heard of them to be fair.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, maybe we might start to get a few more brands like that over here. And uh, you know, I'm still trying to finish the studio off uh my office, so you know I'd like to do some unboxings or you know, have a look at AV Forums or Vincent's HTTV YouTube channel because they're they they're quite good on TV, as well. They're quite good, they're very good on TV reviews and they generally get in front of the new models that are coming in. So uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I mean you if you remember sort of the uh the the pioneer plasma, the pioneer Kuru that uh that everybody raved about and uh were totally gobsmacked when they stopped making that. It was uh it was it was almost groundbreaking that uh that they they had stopped that and weren't going to make it anymore. But obviously things change and things move along, and say TV manufacturers are now changing. So this time next year, who knows? You'll you'll see a Skyworth TV coming out, maybe a branding as Panasonic, who knows? Uh and HySynths, as you say, that that their TVs are looking pretty impressive, uh and a big size as well, sort of 100 inch, 110 inch. Uh I was quoting a client for the other day, but they are still about 15 to 20,000 pounds. So uh uh I think the client went with a projector instead, project to the screen system.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, once you get once you get over 100 inch, they are still, but again, you know, LG 65-inch OLED was 24,000 pounds at one point.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly. So they'll all come down, but uh then so will micro LED, mini LED, micro LED TVs, uh they're gonna get more and more popular. So uh in the next two or three years, I think you'll be seeing more and more of those, uh hopefully uh more officials.

SPEAKER_02

And then obviously we also out at IC saw like immerso from Procella. Um, we yeah, we've got like um you know Chris and the guys at 1A V are distributing A-Wall, um, so modular TV again, it's not it's not cheap, but it's it's not it's about half the price of the Samson Wall or um you know other brands like that or those modular TVs, so they they are starting to come down in price as well. And I've seen a couple of reviews on YouTube about the A-Wall, and um, and yeah, you know, it's still a 60, 70, 80,000 pound TV, but actually it they'd really looked good. So it's gonna be an interesting couple of years for the TV stroke, you know, fixed panel screen market, I think.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, 100%. It is offering the client a different solution, and uh, if they see worth in uh uh spending that money on a TV screen, um then uh yeah, it's fantastic.

Barco Moves Into Luxury Audio

SPEAKER_02

Excellent. Right. So my first story is um actually from yesterday from uh from Inside CI's website from Steve May. Um it's about our friends of Barco. So uh uh big screen Belgian behemoth barco bags uh focal and name.

SPEAKER_01

That is breaking news. Even I only saw that uh this morning and uh actually told somebody the other day I met met met uh while I was shopping earlier, but uh who loves his loves his brands and speaker brands and uh name audio and things like that. But uh yeah, Bar Barco have uh have uh brought them out, take them over.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, so taken from Steve's article, it says in a move which uh has huge ramifications for the luxury audio market, Barco has agreed in principle to acquire 100% of Vervent Audio Holdings, the French British uh premium audio group that owns high end brands, Focale and Name. The proposed acquisition signals a uh significant strategic move by the Belgium big screen behemoth as it broadens its present beyond a visualization into integrated audio visual solutions. Um they reckon that is an approximate value. Value of 135 million euros, um, which Barco will be financing through its own funds. Vervent generally generates annual revenues around about 110 million. I I mean it's not one change, that's for sure. No, I mean it's it's not the 75 billion that Microsoft paid for Activision, but um uh and there's another one going for at the moment which it uh it blanks me at the moment that someone's trying to buy. Oh, was it's Netflix, isn't it? Not Netflix anymore. That one, yeah. But uh I won't get political on that one with my. Is it Paramount Paramount that's right? Paramount, yeah, so it's Paramount buying Warner Brothers.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but they they they they Netflix pulled out of that and uh my shares went up because nobody really wanted it, so uh I was quite happy with that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, there's uh let's just say there's I I I think that there's some play there with the American administration with that one. But anyway, we won't go there because we're not a uh we're not a political podcast. But uh no, I mean for me, you know, I spent uh I spent uh that day, if not two days out of Barco last year. Um to me, it's very exciting. I mean, we saw Barco again at ISE. Uh I'm uh you know I'm a big fan of Barco. We saw uh Runar, uh their um LED Wall. Uh sorry, Bart, I can't say it as good as you. Um, but Runar with um Ascendo, I think, out of ISE, and that screen was stunning. Yes, it was half a million euros, but it was stunning. So just for me, my biggest takeaway from my trip to Belgium, as I've said on this podcast before, was the fact of like what Barker do beyond what we know them for in projection. Uh, and for me, this is just this is really exciting. This is really exciting for me. I think that these are two very, very good brands. Uh, maybe not a lot of people of the consumer side may not know of them. Um, you know, they are they are brands that you need to know about. I mean, obviously name a bit more, but I think it's gonna go into good hands if it goes there. And after seeing what I saw at Barco, uh, I'm quite excited by this.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head, really. It is gonna be looked after. Um, I think what you saw at Barco and it's a well-known uh brand, I think uh, I mean I I I quite come into the industry with with name. Um we we did a lot of name high caps and everything like that that uh that was sold um by the hi-fi side of things, and obviously then uh focal came on board. Um and I think that you changed the sound of name a little bit because name was a bit bright, focal's a bit bright, two bright products together doesn't really make a great sound, so I think they did change those slightly. But uh under under the Barker umbrella, uh I hope and think they will be looked after very well, and uh yeah, it's uh makes it a much more stable um uh entity for all involved.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it would just be it'll be it'll for me, it'll be really excited to see how they're gonna integrate those because obviously um you know they've got the projection side, they've got the medical side, they've got the uh you know uh immersive sort of like 3D environment side of the business. So it'll be quite excited to see whether they how they integrate it into that or whether they do indeed bring out their own, you know, brand sort of you know, speakers and that to uh accompany their runar displays and their uh their projectors. So uh no, very, very exciting.

SPEAKER_01

As you were saying that I could just visualize like I was sitting there having an operation with the Barco medical thing, listening to really nice hi-fi music while being operated on.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, let's play some dubstep while we're having a knee operation.

SPEAKER_01

Don't talk about that, Stuart.

SPEAKER_02

No, not not that's the source subject, literally.

SPEAKER_01

Literally a source subject for you, literally a source subject. There's a lot of breaking news in this podcast. What's next?

JBL Synthesis Expands Immersive Line

SPEAKER_02

So next um is uh from our friends at Hidda Wires. Um to be honest, it's a brand that I need to look at a bit more, but JBL Symphysis expands immersive cinema ecosystems with new speakers and processors. Um JBL Symphysics.

SPEAKER_01

Is that for commercial? More commercial or residential?

SPEAKER_02

So it's residential by the looks of it. So it's um JBL Symphysis uh has expanded its uh immersive ecosystem with a generation of custom new custom loudspeakers electronics intended to deliver greater system flexibility. Uh the update introduces nine new speakers to the Symphysis custom loudspeaker family alongside three next generation processors and amplifiers. The new electronic components and speakers included the JBL Symphysis SB SBP 7024, sorry, 24 channel immersive processor and a 16-channel immersive processor. They were support formats like Dolby Atmos, DTS X Pro, IMAX Enhanced and Auro 3D. I mean, looking at the um so um Carl has gone to C UK who are the UK distribution for um for uh JBL, and we were talking to him. Unfortunately, sorry Carl, we didn't get back to you at IC to come and do a video, but um they look to me like you know, the the look of them is very similar to you know the brands that are the other brands that are out there. So if you look at like yesterday, like at um Monaster Audio, if you look at KEF, if you look at Paradigm, um they're a similar-looking speaker with like nice big chunky, by looks of it, in-wall speakers and then um in-ceiling speakers. I can't quite work out whether they're angled in-ceiling speakers or not.

SPEAKER_01

But um, I think they are. They look they look like they are, aren't they, from that picture, which uh I'm sure we'll put up here. But uh no, it look very, very, very nice. So uh yeah, called the SCL range, so uh part of the family, which is a bit easier to see.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and I mean I suppose I mean I suppose it's a little bit like going back to Barco briefly. Like a a lot of people have sat in a cinema and watched a film on a barco projector but not realised it. And it's the same with JBL. A lot of people have sat in a cinema and listened to a JBL system but not realised it's a JBL system.

SPEAKER_01

So I think 95% of uh cinemas that I've been in have got have got JB or had JBL, so uh I think a lot of people have experienced what they sound like. So uh yeah, no, very exciting.

SPEAKER_02

So for me, I mean I I do need to reach out to Carl. So, Carl, if you're if you're listening to this, give me a shout. Um, because I do want to go up and see they've got a new demonstration facility, or it's not new anymore, but they've got a demonstration facility. I think it's in Ascot. So uh hopefully uh maybe the both of us can go up there and do a podcast from there. Uh you can come my side of the river for once.

SPEAKER_01

I come your side when there's a bit of racing going on, I will be there. So uh Cheltenham's on at the moment. Oh yeah, yeah, Cheltenham's on at the moment, but I'm not doing very well on that in that uh little little one pound bets I put on here and there. But uh yeah, a bit of uh bit of Ascot racing will be good.

Where To Find Us And Wrap

SPEAKER_02

Well, so that's it, really. That's our sort of quick, quickish podcast, fifty minutes on the on the counter at the moment. So um so that's just a little bit of a round up of what we're up to and what news is uh as of today, the 11th of uh March. So um so is there anything else you want to touch on before we wrap up and uh go back to our family lives?

SPEAKER_01

Nope. Nope, it's time for a beer, time to at the Champions League, and uh yeah, crack crack crack on. So uh no, it's been a fun, fun podcast. Uh I haven't really done many of these uh remotely, so I'll hopefully it comes across well and uh everybody enjoys it. But uh yeah, give us your feedback and uh yeah, anything any comments then uh yeah, click on click on the links below and uh yeah, let us know.

SPEAKER_02

So, where can people find you? What's the best way for them to get hold of Mr. Simon Gregory and Cinema Rooms Limited?

SPEAKER_01

So, all the socials, we're doing a bit more on LinkedIn now as well, so you can find me personally on there as well as my company Cinema Rooms. Uh, the website is uh all the WscinemaHyphenrooms.p. So we've got a new website which uh we're trying to add some more news to uh on a on a more regular basis, but uh it's never easy when you're doing social media as well. You're like, oh, I need to add some news on the website, just in case. But uh yeah, so keep keep an eye out for that. And we've got our own YouTube channel as well, as well as the uh the Home Cinema Alliance uh affiliation. So uh we have got our own uh little uh case studies on there with a little motion capture uh of the barn conversion cinema that we did. So uh yeah, that was good.

SPEAKER_02

That was that was really good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, it's a little uh motion stop camera uh unit again. Cinema Lux helped us uh along with that, but it just shows you what can be achieved in uh uh almost an outbuilding, I suppose. But uh it was a barn extension, and uh yeah, the client is very happy. So yeah, click on uh on YouTube or even on our website and uh yeah, see that uh that that little little video we put up.

SPEAKER_02

Excellent. So for me, I mean you can find me on the company channel at Mercer Cinema Rooms, but I'll be quite honest with you, that's probably the one that I'm terrible at putting stuff on. So the the best place to really find me on most socials is uh at my name is at Mr. Stuart Burgess um or at home cinema alliance or at hca tech talk. Um I seem to spend my life revolving around different social media accounts at the moment, and uh although I like our new HCA Techtalk uh dot uh com um news channel, it is a little bit of a fawn in my side, especially the new stuff. It takes me freaking ages to put it up.

SPEAKER_01

Takes you a while, but it's it's worthwhile though, and uh say the effort you put into the editing, I think, does come across very well. So uh hopefully everybody's impressed by that and uh what you do. So yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and I enjoy it, and I think I think you found especially like we had our we had our one of our uh listeners come up to us at ISE and talk to us about the podcast, and and like even yesterday we seem to be getting a lot of uh traction and a lot of feedback on the podcast, and people seem to be enjoying it. So, hey, this is why we're here doing this tonight and trying a new platform so we can talk to you a bit more and a bit more so I can spend more of my life editing podcasts as well as recording podcasts.

SPEAKER_01

You can, but we're here to uh educate and uh uh keep people uh entertained, so uh that's what we're here for. But uh yeah, that's been been fun.

SPEAKER_02

Awesome. So, yeah, so thanks for everybody for tuning in and watching. Um, as I say, pop over to uh YouTube at Home Cinema Alliance or at HGA Tech Talk and both of those uh social addresses to see the member videos, our podcasts. Um if you've got any feedback for us, uh you can email us at tech talk at homesinamaralliance.co.uk or leave a comment on one of the videos or text a show within Apple Podcasts, the Spotify thing as well. So uh so yeah, hopefully we'll be back in a couple of weeks to do another one of these. I think Simon, you're you're planning to guest star with on our gaming podcast last week, next week as well.

SPEAKER_01

So uh yeah, I've actually done a bit of gaming as well. I haven't I've not played it for such a long time, but uh yeah, I've uh I've I've dusted off the uh the the the Xbox controller. I've drop dropped my subscription because that shot up, so uh I've now gone gone gone a tier lower, but uh there's still some games that I can play on there uh as and when I've I find Titan for it. Yeah, looking forward to that podcast.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so anybody who wants to go to that is the podcast is called Gamers of the Lost Spark, so that's Gamers of the Lords, Lost Spark. Really easy to say. Um I inherited the name, uh, but I'll put a link to that in the description. But yeah, thank you for uh Simon, thank you for your time, and thank you for everybody who are listening or watching, and uh we'll catch up with you on the next episode.