Yesterday Matt and I installed the best garage system we have ever done. This customer has worked with us on building some truly spectacular sound systems for the past 27 years. We have installed systems for him now in 5 homes. He has an uncompromising approach to everything he does and obviously loves his music. When he recently built this garage we had originally planned to do a much more “basic” system, but as usual we found ourselves getting carried away.

We have another client in Texas that has similar tastes and is constantly on the path of upgrading. He decided to trade-in his Krell amps and preamps which he purchased from us several years ago. I approached my client on buying these and he said “why not?”. So now he has a system about 150 feet away from his main house with no neighbors in ear shot. This gives him a place to go and enjoy listening to his music and movies at any volume levels he wishes.

We are using a Meridian/Sooloos system for the music library. This is also tied to several rooms in his main house. For the movie processor we use the Anthem AVM 60. This ties in to a Anthem p5 amp and drives the the Focal Sopra center channel and surround speakers. So we are taking the main left and right channels out of the AVM 60 and sourcing them to the Krell dual mono preamps, which in turn source the big Krell amps and drive the main left and right stereo speakers. The Sooloos now provides an independent music source on a secondary input source to the Krell preamps. For the speaker system we are using a pair of Focal Sopra 3s, Sopra Center and surround speakers. For the subwoofer we employed one of our favorite bass buddies, a JL Audio F113 series 2.

The acoustics in the garage are very interesting to me. To look at the concrete floor and plywood walls you would not expect it to work that well. However when we fired it up for the first time, we all three couldn’t quit grinning. I got a text this morning from my customer and he spent almost 3 hours playing some of his favorite tracks and confirms it is amazing. We have now decided to take it to the next level.

Stay tuned.

Over the years we have had the pleasure of transforming a basic surround sound room into the ultimate home theater room. Our customer recently remodeled his entire room to optimize the listening experience.

With the risers and theater chairs, every seat is perfect. For the viewing experience, we are using a Reference JVC projector and a Screen Innovations 152″ wall mounted screen.

The audio/video processor is the top of the line Marantz 13.2 channel AV8805. To make sure that the speakers have all the needed power, two Anthem amplifiers are being used to provide the juice.

For the main speakers, what else would we use, but two Focal Sopra 3’s with a Sopra center channel in Imperial Red? The surround speakers are PSB’s that were installed in the past. For Dolby Atmos enabled in-ceiling speakers, four Focal 300ICW8’s handle all of the immersive sound. To tie all of it together, a pair of JL Audio Fathom F113 subwoofers.

It has been fun to see the transformation of this room over the years and the friendships that have been formed. Can’t wait to see the next steps.

This week we finished a home theater system for two of our long term friends and clients. This is a relatively small room but fortunately has overall nice acoustics. I feel we reached a very nice balance of a large, engaging viewing-screen, along with exceptional sound to go with it.

For the speaker system we used 2 JL Audio F113 series 2 subwoofers, which normally might be considered a bit overkill for this size of room, but that being said there is not an unexciting place to sit anywhere. For the main speakers we installed a complete Focal Aria front, center and on-wall surround speaker system. We used the new Marantz SR 8010 top-of-the-line receiver. This was our first installation of this tank of a receiver. Both Adam and I were very impressed with it’s easy set up and effortless sound.

For Video we installed the new JVC projector and Screen Innovations wide-ratio wall-mount screen. What a great place to escape into a movie.

Thanks both of you for allowing us to help you have this.

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of helping two of our favorite customers dial in their listening system. We recently upgraded their speakers with a beautiful pair of Focal Sopra 3’s.

Because of the large room volume we also installed a stereo pair of JL Audio F113 subwoofers to fill up the low frequency to allow for a huge believable sound stage. We also replaced all their cabling with Nordost Heimdall 2 series.

What fun it was getting the speakers placed perfectly and then experimenting with dialing in the subwoofers. When we were done we all decided it sounded as if we were at a live concert. Thanks you two!

In our main listening room today, we installed a custom made rear reflection diffuser panel. The artist, Mr. Jim Armeni, has been a good friend and client of ours for several years. Jim is a true audiophile and has been experimenting with many forms of acoustic treatment. His personal listening room is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure to experience.

This sound-wave inspired panel literally transformed the rear reflections in our showroom. As many of you are aware, reflections off walls, ceilings and floors can dramatically affect the way a sound system performs.

Thank you Jim for a beautiful and well-executed addition to our room.