[Villages Kahuna]

I own a Lantana with raised interior ceilings. When I called my audio contractor to install a Bose surround sound system in the large front bedroom in the house, he came down from the attic after an hour or so and told me it couldn't be done. This was a division of the electrical contractor who was a sub-contractor on the construction of my house, so he knew the house (and others like it) intimately.

With that, I was left with the choice of having the speakers, sub-woofer, etc. sitting on the floor with wires around the perimeter of the room or the choice of a less sophisticated system. I opted for a Bose 3-2-1 system which was about $3,000 cheaper and performs as well ams y old ears can appreciate anyway.

A similar issue exists if you intend to have a satellite dish installed instead of Comcast cable. Villages houses are wired with high quality video cable, but have only one jack per room. The digital video recorders currently being offered by DirecTV, as an example, require two jacks in order for you to record one program while watching another. In my house the electrician was only able to get the second jack into my "TV room" by coming thru the garage, tunneling under the front walk, and then thru the wall into the room from the outside. It's not terribly unsightly, but not the way I would have preferred if there was sufficient space between the exterior roof and the interior ceiling to permit a contractor to get up there with tools and components.

I would be very careful before making any assumptions regarding home theatre in a house with raised ceilings, particularly a Lantana where you wish to use the front bedroom as a TV room.