About Sound Design Systems, Inc. When I created Sound Design Systems five years ago, it was with the belief that there was both a need and an opportunity in this marketplace for someone who could design and install unique and complex residential electronics systems. From the outset, it was my goal to evolve and position the company as a specialist in the area of large scale projects, catering to the needs of people building upper bracket new homes in Chicago's affluent western suburbs. I certainly lay no claim to having invented the custom installation business, nor even making an attempt to reinvent it. What I do have, however, is a very clear and specific sense of the type of work that I want this company to be known for, and for the level of customer service that we will always provide. Of the many things that I have learned in developing this business to meet the very high standards that I have set for it, one of the most significant has been to understand that even more important than doing custom work is the ability to do very personal work. To accomplish that requires making the commitment of time and effort to really get to know my customers, in terms of understanding how they see themselves living in their homes, and what they would ideally like their various electronics systems to do for them. Guided by my lifelong passion for high performance music systems, a definite common denominator for any SDS designed system is going to be an emphasis on performance, and the insistence upon using quality components. As an incurable junkie for all things A-V, it is a constant pleasure for me to explore the vast ocean of manufacturers building equipment specifically for the custom installation marketplace. I do still occasionally get the "can you be competitive with Best Buy?" question, and the reality is that Sound Design Systems and Best Buy are simply not in the same business. SDS is about as far from providing an "out of the box" solution as any company selling consumer electronics could be. The other area where I have strived to create an identity for this company's design strengths is with regard to aesthetics. In some cases, this might mean finding a way to make a system invisible, and in other instances, looking for a way to integrate various components into other aspects of a decorating scheme, all while managing the balance between interior design and system performance, with the least amount of compromise possible on all sides of the equation. At the end of the day, I really only have one simple objective, and that is to fully understand each-and-every customer's expectations...and exceed them. Ken Walker President CEDIA Certified Installer

About Our Design Philosophy Simply stated At the end of the day, the one person who is always the client in this equation is the homeowner. Without consumers building and buying homes, the need for architects, builders, and certainly systems integrators would be greatly reduced. Our goal, therefore, is to be a partner in the process of understanding the entertainment and communications needs and wants of the homeowner, while working with architects and builders to integrate that into the process of designing and building a home. Our goal, simply stated, is to create systems that people will USE, because we know that if they really do use them, they will be very glad that they included them in the design of their home. Not every element in a system is going to have the sizzle of a 60" plasma panel, but what they do have in common is that they all contribute in some way to the enrichment, the comfort, the enjoyment of living in a home. We try to find a balance between maximizing the tremendous technological capabilities available today, (and growing by the day), with a desire to create a system that satisfies its owners needs as absolutely simply as possible. Integration and simplification have to be important goals, because your teenage son may not always be available to operate the system, and we can't have you interrupting him in some other important activity. We genuinely appreciate the importance of aesthetics in the design of our systems, not just from the standpoint of whether or not the system is "visible," but also in the aesthetics of how it performs. We take great pride in our design capabilities, and believe that no detail is too small. A whole house audio system has speakers everywhere, but are they the "right" speakers in the "right" rooms. What we want to hear our homeowners say, a few months after they've lived with their systems, is "We're so glad we did this," or "We use this every day, and can't imagine how we ever lived without it." When we hear that, we'll know that we've done our job properly. Sound Design Systems is a proud member of the following organizations: Creative Solutions For Smart Home Design See our work as featured in Electronic House Magazine! Feature 1    Feature 2 Managing the balance between performance and aesthetics

Home >> About Us >> Systems Overview >> Articles of Interest >> Contact Us

© 2007 Sound Design Systems, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. Sound Design Systems Web Site Development: ProPlanet Internet Solutions, Inc.