Every project we undertake is different and individual. They range from simple equipment reinstallation for two or three hundred dollars, right up to a complete pre-wire through to equipment supply and installation in new construction with a bottom line of tens of thousands of dollars.

When wiring, whether in new construction or retro-fitting, we use high quality components. This includes multi-stranded loudspeaker wire from Tributaries and other specialist manufacturers, in various gauges as appropriate to the specific use. As far as possible we use gold-plated connectors for high quality and long life.

All on-site terminations use modern compression systems for audio, video and TV signals and crimpers for phone and computer systems. Again, this is to ensure the highest quality, longest-lived wires and connectors possible.

Home theaters range from surround sound systems in living rooms, to basement theaters in multi-purpose rooms, to dedicated theater rooms. The video can be a television using any of the major technologies or a projector and screen combination.

Many people today like to have music available throughout the house, often including outside over a deck or patio. There are various ways of configuring a system to provide this, each having different levels of quality, flexibility and cost. As with all our other projects, a distributed audio system starts with a free-of-charge consultation, after which we can put together a plan that provides the level of sophistication you want at a price you want to pay. Whether you need entire systems, have a house that already has loudspeakers or are wired but have no equipment already in place, we can help.

Even in the twenty first century, when the majority of systems are surround sound and optimized for television and movies, we have found that there are still plenty of people for whom music is the main focus. In these cases we provide systems that are particularly well suited for music-lovers who want to hear the highest quality they can. These systems are often based on Arcam electronics and loudspeakers from Monitor Audio or Definitive Technology.

More than any other type of project, this type of installation is totally customized to the home-owner's specific requirements.

We start with a series of meetings, using the house plans as our guide but concentrating firstly on what the home-owner or builder is ultimately looking to achieve and secondly on what we agree will be of value in the future as his needs change or if he chooses to sell the house later.

Wire is inexpensive to buy and install in new construction but, while the cost of the wire may remain the same, installation costs are enormously higher when retro-fitted. We therefore look to include all wires that we can anticipate will be used. Of course, there is no difficulty terminating wires subsequently so in order to keep the short term cost down, we will often only terminate those wires for which the home-owner has an immediate use.

This approach ensures maximum long-term flexibility while keeping both short and long term costs under control.

Examples of wires that we install are:

• Structured wire serving television, computer network and telephone in a single outer case. Laying one piece containing four separate wires keeps labor costs down while making provision for all necessary equipment in many rooms.
• Structured wire containing loudspeaker and control wires for distributed audio. This same wire serves both simple and complex distributed audio systems, allowing low cost systems to be put in initially, and later painlessly upgraded to more sophisticated equipment if desired.
• Main feed wires for phone, cable, satellite and antenna.
• Repeater wires to allow additional televisions. For example, in an open-plan living room / kitchen, it may be desirable to have a second television in the kitchen area but this will never be called upon to show a different channel from the main TV in the living area. By installing appropriate wire, the two televisions can share a single cable or satellite box, keeping monthly subscription costs down.
• Control wires for infra-red repeaters or screens.
• Wires between living room and basement systems, designed to allow whole-house systems to be driven from either point.

We often find that home-owners would like to distribute audio — and sometimes video — around the house but that no provision has been made for this when the house was built. In many cases we can retro-fit the necessary wiring invisibly, using specialist tools, training and experience.

The Universal Remote Control — Home Theater Master and Logitech Harmony ranges of products are fully programmable, work with infra-red and radio-frequency transmission and can control multiple pieces of equipment. One example of their sophistication: for the sports fan with two identical televisions in a single room or over a bar, each connected to a satellite or cable box, the Home Theatre Master range allows the channel to be selected on each one individually, without the other TV responding to the signal from the control. No TV, cable or satellite control can do this, neither can many other “universal” controls. These remote control systems also have sophisticated macro capabilities, this means they can be programmed so that a single push of a button can (for example) turn on a television, turn on a receiver, turn on a cable or satellite box, select the channel and set the volume. The ranges include conventional button and touch-pad models.