If you have been in the New York luxury smart-home market for any length of time, you know the name Audio Command Systems. Founded in 1976, ACS is one of the longest-running and most decorated custom integration firms in the country — a Crestron Integration at Home Award winner, a CEDIA Best Home Theater winner, a Lutron Hall of Fame dealer, and a CE Pro Top 3 Company in the Nation for seven years running.

ACS now operates out of four offices — New York City, Connecticut, South Florida, and California — and serves luxury clients across the Hamptons, Manhattan, Palm Beach, and Los Angeles. They are, in every meaningful sense, a regional peer to Restrepo Innovations on the East Coast and one of the firms we keep in mind when a project's geography, scale, or schedule calls for collaboration.

Fifty years of standing power

Per the ACS company page, the firm was founded in New York by Robert Kaufman (CEO) as both a control-system manufacturer and a custom system provider — an unusual origin that gave the company a deep understanding of how AV systems are designed from the inside out. Jonathan Flamm (President) opened the LA office nearly 50 years ago and was joined by Barry Cayton, the driving force behind ACS in that market. The Florida location followed.

That fifty-year run is rare. Most custom AV firms do not survive the technology transitions of the last five decades — from two-channel audio to high-end home theater, from analog matrix switching to AV-over-IP, from Crestron Cresnet to fully cloud-managed networks. ACS has navigated every one of them.

Luxury residential living room with circadian lighting scene set to movie-night mode — Audio Command Systems Lutron lighting control
A residential living room set to a movie-night lighting scene — one of dozens of dedicated lighting moods configured per home by the ACS team. (ACS Lighting Control)

The technical credentials

ACS's credentials list is one of the most complete in the industry — and a useful reference point for any luxury homeowner trying to understand what a serious integrator should look like:

  • Crestron Certified Gold Master Programmers — the highest Crestron programming credential.
  • Lutron Black Diamond Dealer and Lutron Hall of Fame Dealer — the top tiers of the Lutron dealer program.
  • Savant Certified Programmers.
  • Cisco Certified Technicians and Ruckus WISE Certified Technicians for enterprise-grade networking.
  • Polycom Certified Technicians for video conferencing.
  • ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) Certified calibrators for projection and display work.
  • CEDIA Certified Designers and CTS (Certified Technology Specialists) on staff.
  • CAD Certified Architects and Lighting Electrical Engineer Specialists in-house — meaning ACS produces real construction-document-grade drawings, not just sales sketches.
  • HTA Certified — Home Technology Association certification, which fewer than 10% of integrators earn. (ACS HTA certification)

Their awards shelf includes the Crestron Integration at Home Award, CEDIA Best Home Theater Winner, Electronic House Best Grand Space Winner, the Lutron Excellence Award, and the seven-time CE Pro Top 3 Company in the Nation.

The ACS Process

What distinguishes ACS from most national integrators is a formalized, five-step design-build process used identically across all four offices:

  1. Initial Consultation and Discovery — A bespoke needs analysis covering lifestyle, performance priorities, and constraints, before any equipment is even discussed.
  2. Custom System Design — A room-by-room high-level proposal covering lighting control, multi-room audio, video, motorized window treatments, and networking.
  3. Advanced Engineering — CAD-generated documentation with hardware models, labor needs, low-voltage wiring, lighting loads, shading control designs, custom engineering schematics, and rack elevations.
  4. Precision Implementation — On-site installation using the engineering documents, with as-built documentation updated whenever a change order is issued.
  5. Ongoing Service via AfterCare — 24/7 remote monitoring, network performance evaluations, and priority response times under tailored service plans.

That standardized process — design before procurement, drawings before installation, documentation before close-out — is the same operating model Restrepo Innovations runs internally. It is also, in our experience, the single biggest predictor of whether a high-end smart-home project finishes cleanly.

Luxury residential daytime lighting scene with motorized shades — Audio Command Systems integration
A daytime lighting scene with motorized shades raising to natural light — part of ACS's dedicated solution lighting library. (ACS Lighting Control)

The portfolio

ACS's published project portfolio includes the Hamptons Dream Home, a Westchester Waterfront Residence, a Tribeca Penthouse, and a Continuum South Beach Residence in Miami. The same firm that programs a Tribeca penthouse one week is calibrating a Continuum South Beach unit the next — a workload profile that very few East Coast integrators can match.

Their client roster also tells a story. Endorsements on the ACS site include Jerry Cobaugh of Hobbs Inc. (one of the most respected luxury builders in the Hamptons), Bob Hurst (a Hamptons homeowner), and Marc Desiderio — names that travel inside the small world of high-net-worth construction.

Commercial automation install — Audio Command Systems commercial integration project
An ACS commercial automation project — the firm's New York office also delivers commercial AV, signage, and control for high-end office and amenity spaces. (ACS Commercial)

AfterCare and ongoing service

ACS treats post-installation service as a core deliverable. Their AfterCare subscription program offers tiered support plans covering 24/7 assistance, proactive system monitoring, network performance evaluations, and priority response. Like Restrepo's service program, it is built around the premise that a luxury smart home is not a one-time install — it is a long-term relationship with a system that needs to evolve with the homeowner.

They are also members of CEDIA, InfoComm, ASID, and AIA — the four trade organizations that define the integration / interior design / architecture conversation in this market.

ACS equipment rack with Kaleidescape Strato movie server — Audio Command Systems custom home theater install
An ACS custom-built equipment rack featuring a Kaleidescape Strato movie server — every wire labeled, every connection documented, every component serviceable from the front. (ACS Custom Home Theatre)

How Restrepo Innovations works with ACS

Restrepo Innovations and Audio Command Systems serve overlapping geography — NYC, the Hamptons, the tri-state — and we share the same operating philosophy: process-first, drawings-first, certified programmers, and a long-term service relationship. We watch the ACS portfolio carefully because it reflects the standard of work the high-end client expects, and we maintain a healthy professional respect for any firm that has been delivering at that level for fifty years.

Michael Restrepo on the regional landscape: "ACS is one of the firms that defined what 'high-end custom integration' looks like in New York. When I see an ACS rack — every cable labeled, every component documented, every system serviceable from the front — I see the standard the industry should be holding itself to. We focus our practice on the same standard. The high-net-worth client deserves nothing less, and there is more than enough work in the tri-state for serious firms to coexist and raise each other's game."

If you are planning a luxury smart-home build in the New York, Hamptons, Connecticut, South Florida, or California markets and want a Crestron-Gold, Lutron-Black-Diamond, HTA-certified integrator with a 50-year track record, contact Restrepo Innovations — and if your project's geography or scope is better served elsewhere, we will tell you honestly.