Blog

SEE ALSO: Limited Space in Your Media Room for Big Screens?

A World of Display Options

Because media rooms often pull double duty as living rooms, installing a projector and screen isn’t always practical. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to an immersive picture. Ultra-short throw projectors are a great alternative for a life-size picture in a flexible space. These compact projectors sit just inches from the wall atop your media cabinet and project an impressive 100+ inch display. Enjoy 4K HDR models that produce a super bright picture for rooms with lots of ambient light.

TVs are undoubtedly a common choice for media rooms because of their ease of installation and ultrabright displays. The latest 4K and 8K models offer impressively large and detailed images from 55 inches to 86+ inches to bring your movies, sports, and TV shows to life. Choose a display that transforms into artwork to blend with your décor when turned off or make it the center of attention with custom-color LED backlighting. Motorized mounts can also adjust your TV to the most comfortable viewing position.

Discreet Yet Powerful Audio

If you want serious audio to go along with your display, you’ll need a better solution than the speakers that live inside your TV. Consider a soundbar to install below your display. Avidia delivers high-fidelity soundbars that feature Dolby Atmos surround sound, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatibility, auto-tuning and speech-enhancing technology, and voice control. We can also expand your soundbar with a wirelessly connected sub and surrounds for an even more immersive listening experience.

SEE ALSO: 8 Common Misconceptions About High-End Audio Systems

MartinLogan: An Introduction

MartinLogan was formed in the late 1970s by founders Gayle Martin Sanders and Ron Logan Sutherland. The two music enthusiasts met at a high-end audio store in Kansas and discovered their shared passion for electrostatic speakers, which were known for their impressive sonic purity.

Unsatisfied with electrostatic speakers’ formidable challenge to produce bass frequencies and deliver an even dispersion of sound, Sanders and Sutherland set out to reinvent the electrostatic speaker so that it could produce adequate bass, output, and sound dispersion while maintaining the sound clarity that made electrostatic speakers popular among audiophiles.

In 1983, Sanders and Sutherland did just that. The Monolith, a full-range hybrid electrostatic loudspeaker, came to life and was the catalyst that eventually launched MartinLogan to the top of the list of world-renowned high-end audio brands.

SEE ALSO: How to Boost the Holiday Season with Whole-House Audio

Tech Gifts Under $100

iPhone 12 Pro Wallet Case - $19.99

This ultra-light and durable wallet case protects your new iPhone 12 and safely stores your cash and credit cards so you have everything you need in one go. Just don’t forget your keys! Check it out here.

Sky Viper Journey GPS Drone - $99.99

Discover the Difference Gigabit Internet Services Make

A modern home can only be as smart as the internet connection that supports it allows it. Luckily, there is one solution that can bring a strong and reliable connection to any home. Gigabit internet installations, also known as high-speed internet or gig-speed internet, transmit data up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). This means that you are downloading 1,000,000,000 bits per second or 1,000 Mbps. That rate of speed is 100 times faster than the average internet connection in the country!

Gigabit internet runs on fiber-optic cable, which transports data using light signals instead of electrical currents. Because light is faster than electrical pulses, fiber can transmit more megabits per second than copper cable and offers higher bandwidth. Plus, while signals over copper lines worsen as you travel farther from the source, distance knows no bounds with fiber.

Popular broadband internet providers like Xfinity and AT&T have made gigabit internet available for homeowners from coast to coast as a reliable connection in the home is becoming more of a necessity than ever before. So, what can you expect if you decide to make the switch to gigabit internet? Keep reading our blog to find out!

SEE ALSO: Interested in Control4 Home Automation?

Ring Video Doorbell Overview

Ring, bought by Amazon in 2018, manufactures several standalone video doorbells that offer the same purpose: to allow you to see, hear, and speak to visitors from anywhere via an integrated mobile app. As of now, homeowners can choose from six doorbells that increase in reliability and performance.

Most of Ring’s video doorbells are powered by a rechargeable battery but can also be hardwired into an existing doorbell system. These doorbells, which range from $99 to $249.99, feature single-band or dual-band wi-fi for connectivity, adjustable motion detection zones, HD video, two-way audio, up to 160-degree field of view, and cloud storage with a Ring subscription plan.

Ring also has a professional-grade video doorbell system at $349.99 that offers more reliability than their popular DIY-style solutions. The Video Doorbell Elite is hardwired via PoE (the doorbell draws power from the ethernet connection) rather than wi-fi enabled and features customizable motion detection zones, HD video, two-way audio, up to 160-degree field of view, and cloud storage with a Ring subscription plan.

SEE ALSO: How to Enhance Your Home Theater with Smart Lighting

Choosing the Room

Many homeowners may think that bigger is better when choosing a room for their home theater. And while size does matter if you want a fully immersive movie experience, the most important aspect of the room you choose is its dimensions. Square and oval rooms will distort your audio. The ideal room for balanced surround sound should be rectangular, with walls longer than they are wide, and high ceilings.

Placing the Display

Comfort and perception significantly enhance your viewing experience, which means your display must be placed in such a way that prevents eye or neck strain. The image on the screen should appear naturally as your eyes would see it in real life. While a general rule of thumb is to place your screen 24” to 36” inches above the floor and 1.5 to 3 times the screen height distance from your seating, the ideal measurement will be unique to your room dimensions, screen size preference, and seating options.

SEE ALSO: Wondering If a Professional Home Network Is Worth it?

The Problem with Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks are over-advertised as the Holy Grail for improving internet connections in the home. While they can be a passing solution for entry-level applications where wi-fi connection isn’t critical, homeowners who rely on an internet connection for their business need a solution they can trust around the clock.

In a mesh network, every hop between access points around the home decreases the bandwidth by half. The more hops, the worse the bandwidth becomes. Several hops also increase network latency, which results in buffering and dropouts in certain applications, such as streaming audio and video.

Plugging in mesh repeaters around the home simply won’t offer the same guarantee for reliability as professional solutions, and that matters when a few minutes of downtime while working from home means thousands of dollars lost.

SEE ALSO: Why Residential Lighting Control Makes Sense for Your Projects

We’re with You from the Beginning

A comprehensive smart home starts with a strong foundation. By partnering with Avidia at the start of your builds, our team will be able to properly wire and install a robust smart home foundation that ensures reliability, scalability, and seamless integration of your clients’ home technology. This step also allows us to lay the necessary network infrastructure that will ensure your clients receive the best results from their smart home system.

From start to finish, our team follows a standardized design-build process that ensures your home builds are equipped with a high-quality, reliable solution that matches your clients’ performance expectations. You and your buyers will know exactly what to expect throughout all phases of the project and will have a clear understanding of how all technology goals are brought to life. Plus, we offer 24/7 service and support after the installation so your buyers can be confident that we’ll be there when they need us.

SEE ALSO: Internet Down? We’ll Handle It with 24/7 Comcast Xfinity Monitoring

Design and Installation

It’s easy enough to purchase a broadband modem and router and install them in a centralized location of your home. But how can you be sure the hardware you choose will support your needs? Especially now, more families are working and learning from home, which requires robust internet support for video conferencing. What if you experience weak spots and connectivity issues down the line? Should you install a second router, and if so, where should you place it?

When you work with a professional, you can put these questions behind you. After discussing your connectivity needs, our team will conduct a site survey using Wi-Fi visualization tools that allow us to identify potential dead zones and locate optimal locations for your access points. Your network will be custom-designed to provide exceptional performance and reliability in every corner of your home. 

Coverage and Speed

Dependable network performance shouldn’t be a luxury—especially for growing smart homes. Just like you rely on your car to start in the morning, you should be able to rely on your network to support your virtual work meetings, and your kids’ online learning, and all your internet-connected devices. It’s one thing to be faced with buffering video and slow download speeds, but it’s even worse when vital home devices, like your security system, lose connectivity. 

The ideal home network uses both wireless and wired networking methods for optimal coverage and speed. Our team installs CAT6 and fiber wiring to serve as a strong backbone for your home. Additionally, we use high-performance access points that extend reliable coverage to all corners of your home, including your outdoor living spaces.

SEE ALSO: Spend More Time Outside with an Outdoor Speaker System

Summer Won’t Be Here Forever

The Midwest summer is not known for its length. As we get into the height of summer, make the most of it with outdoor audio. Avidia has outdoor audio solutions to fit every backyard and budget. If you only want sound on your patio, we can install ceiling or surface-mount speakers for glorious stereo al fresco for outdoor dining or relaxing.

Have a pool? Add sound for more fun in the sun and water. Rock speakers blend into landscapes and look natural around pools. You can also surround landscape areas around your pool with spike mounted bullet-style speakers and buried subwoofers. You will hear your summer tunes and not notice the speakers.