OTHER TECH

Because Dan and Margie are world travelers (when we visited them, they'd just returned from the Galapagos Islands), Dan wanted to use photos stored on his home-office computer to create slideshows on the family room's 50-inch screen. John's solution was to hook up a D-Link media player, which allows the photo files to be sent wirelessly between the two spaces.

With the Sonos system in place and the master-bedroom system up and running, the Rosenfields' installation is doing everything they want it to. But Dan and John have been thinking ahead. A black-belt karate expert, Dan had a 16 x 24-foot studio dug out beneath the patio. At the moment, four Monitor Audio Radius 90 speakers placed near the ceiling let Margie and him listen to music while he's working out or she's doing yoga. "But I also had John wire the room for 7.1-channel sound and a flat-panel TV, for whenever my knees go and I can't use the room for karate anymore," says Dan. The wires for the TV are behind a large painting, while the wires running to the locations for the surround speakers are indicated by thumbtacks stuck in the ceiling, painted to match the room.

•Photo Gallery

It's only 24 miles from Irvington to Manhattan, but it would be hard to imagine two more dissimilar places than that sleepy suburb and the volatile, driven world of New York rap - in this case, the world of master rapper Jay-Z, who is also president and CEO of the Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella record labels. His office - with its dark wood floors and paneling, black-and-white photos, silver accents, and spare, elegant lines - stands in sharp contrast to the Rosenfields' sun-drenched, comfortably lived-in interiors.