We were recently on a project where the homeowner had the electrician take care of the A/V system. This was a good electrician, and he did an admirable job proposing and installing the one system he was familiar with. When he started getting in over his head, he brought us in to help.It very quickly became evident that the system the electrician planned for, was not the best system for the client. When the client asked him why he did not consider other options, he found himself in a very uncomfortable situation.The builder took me aside and asked me “What is the best A/V system on the market?”It can be confusing, as there are a lot of A/V and control systems to choose from: Sonos, Savant, AMX, Control-4, Crestron, Elan, Niles, Nuvo, Speakercraft, Russound, Colorado-VNet, URC , Harmony, HAI, Insteon, Lutron, RTI, etc.Each of these products are great. If you talk to the manufacturer, or believe what they say online, every one of them will meet your needs.However, we have had the opportunity to work with every one of these product lines, and we have discovered that they are not interchangeable, and there is no “One size fits all”.In this case, we were able to remove the system and install a less expensive, more flexible system that the homeowner is thrilled with.We have 13 years of experience using all of the major A/V and control systems on the market. We are constantly having in-house trainings and attending seminars to stay current on all the major technologies.We are fortunate enough to work with very good architects who know that you can’t shoe-horn every customer into the same design. They have a process where they interview the client, introduce them to various concepts and help them determine the best design based on their preferences.A good electronic systems contractor should have a similar process.When you are considering a new system, let us show you what is available so you can see which solution is best for you.
