We’re grateful to announce that Audio Advice has won three awards of local and national recognition. First, in the July issue of Metro magazine, we won the Standing Ovation (1st Place) Metro Bravo Award for Best Place to Buy a Home Media System. This is the 5th year in a row we have been recognized in this category. Also for the first time, Audio Advice has been recognized for our Home Security division by Metro magazine with the Metro Bravo award as Best Place to Buy a Home Security System. See the complete list of Metro Bravo winners online.
On August 23rd, we were extremely pleased to be recognized as one of five national winners of Dealerscope magazine’s 2010 Retail Excellence Awards. The Dealerscope editorial staff determines the winners.
Audio Advice was the only winner from the Southeast United States.
Selections were made by the editors of Dealerscope based on how companies “applied proven best practices and new strategies to reposition themselves and thrive in an incredibly difficult retail environment.” Practices emphasized included education, new product lines, expansion, and online initiatives. Read the complete article on us at the Dealerscope website.
We want to thank all of our clients for being the reason we’re able to receive these kinds of awards, and we greatly appreciate your continued support of your local audio/video retailer.
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Most of us think of a security system as something we arm when leaving home or going to bed at night, giving us peace of mind and acting as a deterrent to intruders.
Did you know today’s technology can let your existing security infrastructure give you much more?
- Imagine your kids come home from school around the same time everyday. Would you like to get an email when they disarm your security system? Better yet, an email if the system isn’t disarmed by a certain time?
- Imagine getting an alert that your front door has been opened and being able to check a video feed from your security camera (see picture above).
- Imagine you’re away from home. You forgot the HVAC company is coming and needs to get inside your home. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to disarm your alarm system from your iPhone, Blackberry, or Android device?
- Imagine you leave home and forget to arm your system. You can also arm your system from your phone, just like you can disarm it.
All these options work through an alarm.com system. We can typically reuse 90% or more of your existing security system. If you have cameras we can usually add technology allowing them to communicate with the alarm.com system. Or we can install the latest cameras to communicate with the system right out of the box. The possibilities are really unlimited.
The alarm.com system uses an encrypted GSM cell system to access secure alarm.com servers. From there you can control and receive information on the web, or almost any web enabled portable device. Your own personalized web page lets you set up your alerts-including email alerts.
All Audio Advice clients with alarm.com upgrades to their security systems love the control they now have.
We invite you to contact us with one of our contact forms, or call Raleigh at (919) 881-2005 or Charlotte at (704) 821-4510, and let us meet with you about how to best implement the advantages of alarm.com for your home and family. Our visit will be no charge and no obligation.
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Trade in your old power conditioners of any brand toward new Transparent Power Conditioners with MM2 Technology.*
Audio Advice and Transparent Power want to help the sound and picture of your home entertainment system achieve a whole new level of vitality and impact. Noise-free with no current limiting, Transparent Power Conditioners are a cost effective, major upgrade for your system that will result in improved performance now and in days to come. By participating, you will become a part of the Transparent family and will be able to take advantage of Transparent’s upgrade program at any time in the future.
For information, call your Audio Advice system consultant in Raleigh at (919) 881-2005, or in Charlotte at (704) 821-4510, or e-mail us with your questions at the Contact Us page of this website.
*North America only, offer valid only until October 31, 2010
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My son called me into our home theater room the other night. He said: “Dad, sit here and listen to this.” First of all, I was proud to hear him talk in those terms. Then I noticed there was a video game on the screen. He started the game, cranked up the volume and proceeded to have me smiling ear to ear. The game was Dirt 2, on PlayStation3. It flat out has incredible effects! When the car slams into a wall (which happens all the time when I drive) you really feel it. On dirt and gravel tracks the surround is done so well you hear rocks flying over your head as you spin out.
My message here is two fold. First, if you have a great theater and have not put your gaming system into it, you really need to. More importantly, if you are into gaming and don’t have a great theater, you are missing out on a ton of the experience. My son is home this summer from college. Being an avid gamer, he tells me the sound system adds a complete new dimension to his gaming experience. Previously, he used a pretty good set of high end gaming headphones, but he says this is a world better. We’re going to hook up some consoles in our stores to show everyone there is another way a great theater can make you grin from ear to ear!
I’ve been watching a ton of movies in my theater lately, and thought I would share some of my favorites with you from the last few weeks. There is the blockbuster Avatar, which sounds great and is a ton of fun, but the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is another fun movie with an awesome soundtrack. Plus, it’s in 2:35 for those of you with the new widescreen technology. The Book of Eli is another great sounding film and if you are a lover of wine, the movie Bottle Shock, while not as polished from an audio or video standpoint, is really enjoyable. (Leon)
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I’ve had my Runco LED projector for a few months and have put quite a few hours on it. As you many know, LED projectors are brand new to the marketplace. What amazes me (though I knew it would be true, but still…) is that the picture looks just as good as it did the day I hung the projector.
I did an earlier blog post that goes into more details on the technology. All past video technologies we have used have a gradual degradation of contrast as time passes. This is really noticeable when you replace the lamp in your DLP or LCD projector (either rear or front projection). Well, let me tell you, with LED that issue is just gone! Add to that fact that LED in a dark room has the best picture you can imagine, and it’s a real winner. (Leon)
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As many longtime Audio Advice customers know, for years Pioneer Elite plasmas were our favorite flat screen displays. They won all kinds of industry and consumer awards for great picture quality. Pioneer worked closely with Panasonic to provide the glass for the Elite panels. When Pioneer left the TV business, Panasonic hired many of their video engineers. We’re now seeing the result of this.
The new line of Panasonic Viera plasmas has the picture quality of the Elite Kuro sets we all knew and loved! As an added bonus, they do 3D. We have the Panasonic Viera VT25 Series 58” 3D Plasma set up in our Raleigh store with a demo you need to come in and experience. The new Panasonic sets with the Kuro technology are in many sizes including 46”, 50”, 54”, 58”, and 65”. Pricing is just amazing for the level of picture quality you get. For example, the Viera G Series 54” TVs are only $1999! The Viera G and VT Series are their best: we invite you to visit us and take a look. (Leon)
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My mind has turned lately to all of the times during the year here in North Carolina that it is just gorgeous outside. (Even though as I write this, today’s high temperature was 104 degrees!) If the trend continues, it looks like we may have the ability to entertain outside almost year round. And what better way to entertain outside than with great music coming from great speakers!
Audio Advice has an incredibly wide selection of outdoor speakers for you to choose from. We’ve got many types of simulated rock speakers, conventional rectangular speakers, and our premium system that looks like landscape lighting: James Loudspeakers Landscape system. Any one of these will add a new dimension to your outside parties and get-togethers. The James system is particularly impressive, with a subwoofer you bury in the ground as shown above. (Yes, it is possible to get full deep bass outside with the James system!) We have James Landscape speakers set up in our parking lots in Raleigh and Charlotte and several other examples at each store of other options. Our installation teams can get wires just about anywhere, so why not drop by to hear how we can make your back yard a whole lot more fun! (Leon)
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Audio Advice has added Sonos Multi-Room Music System to our lineup of home entertainment options. I have to say, it’s pretty darn cool. Their concept has your music coming from either your computer or the internet. Sonos systems can play back music files from your computer, let you hear thousands of different internet radio stations, or most music services like Pandora or Rhapsody. All of those choices are really all most people need. The Sonos system is all wireless and very cost effective. If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, you can control it with a free app! It’s really easy to add to an existing system, so we invite you to come and take a look. We’ve got demo systems in both of our Raleigh and Charlotte stores so you can experience how easy and affordable it is to bring all of this new music into your home. With Sonos you can put your money where it really matters-better speakers! (Leon)
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As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, there are lots of new products and technologies available in the world of home entertainment and automation. In many construction trades, most of the people involved are unfamiliar with these audio. video, and automation products, and with the range of technologies outside of their areas of expertise.
Home Theater Specialists of America, or HTSA (Leon is the 2010 president), has prepared a great guide for helping you ask the right questions when it comes to building a new home or remodeling your current one. This Home Technology Planning Guide contains sections on the following areas: Home Control, Home Lighting, Wiring Your Home (Infrastructure), Networking, Home Theater, Mobile Device Integration, Stereo vs. Surround Sound, Whole-House Music, and Video & Video Distribution.
This guide is available for pickup at both the Raleigh and Pineville showrooms of Audio Advice. If you’d like to receive a digital copy by e- mail, just go to the Contact Us page of this website, or e-mail us at web@audioadvice.com. (Please mention HT Guide in your e-mail or header.) You can also find addresses and links to our Google map pages on that page.
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Scott Newnam, President and Leon Shaw, Founder and Chairman (Photo by Steve Wilson)
There’s a very nice profile of Audio Advice in this week’s Triangle Business Journal (June 4, 2010 issue). If you have the chance, take time to check the article out. The complete article is behind the TBJ subscriber wall.
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