Each year CEPro, a leading industry magazine, survey's the top 100 dealers in our industry to see what the most popular product lines are. Each year a few brands surprise us but for the most part the leaders tend to do well each year. The reason for this is that some brands unterstand the Custom Electronics market and others do not.

In the custom electronics industry there are many factors that go into choosing a "best brand." Some factors seem obvious, such as price and quality. Other factors, such as ability to be controlled with a 3rd party control system (like Crestron, RTI, or Colorado vNet) don't seem so obvious. To a custom integrator, if you cannot control the product it can be a nightmare to integrate. This causes a loss of reliability and customer dissatisfaction.

Case in point - TV's. Samsung sells three lines of TV's. Let's call them "good", "better" and "best". The "good" TV line might be available at big-box retailers and cost $900. The "better" model might also be available at big-box retailers and custom electronics dealers and cost $1000. The difference may lie in how that TV is controlled and if it will accept control from a 3rd party control system. In our industry, this is the biggest factor (after price and technical performance) in choosing a product line. Some manufacturers, like Integra in the surround-sound receiver category, are extremely "custom installer" friendly. It is for this reason that Integra is the top choice of Custom Installers with a margin of almost 2 to 1 to the nearest competitor.

Digital Home Lifestyles is proud to carry almost every "top brand" in the survey. Here is a rundown of what we carry from the list:

Top A/V Receiver, Top CD Player, Top Pre-Amp/Processor - #1 Integra

Top DVD Player - #2 Integra

Top Lighting Control Platform - #1 Lutron & #2 Crestron

Top Telephone System - #1 Panasonic

Top Whole-House Automation Platform - #1 Crestron

Top HVAC Platform - #1 Crestron

Top Power Conditioner - #1 Panamax

Top Outdoor TV - #1 Sunbright

Top System Rack - #1 Middle Atlantic

Top IT/Broadband - #1 CISCO/Linksys

Top Security Line - #1 GE

Top Structured Wiring Products - #1 ON-Q, #2 Channel Vision & #3 Leviton

Top Media Server - #1 Kaleidescape, #2 - Escient, #3 ReQuest

Top Wire Manufacturer - #1 Liberty

Top A/V Furniture - #1 Salamander Designs

Top Lifts & Mounts - #1 Chief, #2 Omnimount