JS Audio Video

Multi-Room Audio! (Not Just Sonos)

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Multi-Room audio is changing the way we listen to music. It’s never been easier to control what you’re listening to from smart devices most of us have today. Streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, SiriusXM radio and many more are giving listeners an almost endless amount of music right at their fingertips. TuneIn radio gives you local, national and even international FM/AM radio stations. No static, no white noise, clean clear digital radio. To achieve multi-room audio, there, of course, must be a speaker(s) in the room. There are a few ways to go about it. If you’re framing your house, running speaker wire and other types of A/V wires to have in-wall or in-ceiling speakers, it’s your best bet. If your house is already sheetrocked, our professional installation team will guide wires inside the wall with minimal to no mess. In-wall and In-ceiling speakers’ grill can be painted to match the décor of your room, no wires to be seen. Driven by an amp controlled by a streamer (in which there are many, see below), they can sound as good as the traditional box style speaker and can be used for a complete surround sound system.

The alternate root is to have a plug-in, networked speaker(s) throughout your house. But there is a caveat. These types of speakers still require power to operate, and really are not aesthetically appealing. That said, they can be used in the right situation. There are many Wi-Fi and networked streamers out there, such as Sonos, BluSound, Heo’s and Play-Fi just to name a few. Each has its own sound, operation, and compatibility. Some can support High-Resolution audio with accurate reproduction; some can be used as background music with good sound quality. They all operate from your Wi-Fi system, which vastly increases the amount of data instead of being sent by Bluetooth, giving you much richer sound. There are usually different sizes of networked speakers, some for smaller rooms, some for serious listening. You can group them together, or separately and play music in one room or speaker, and play something completely different giving you great flexibility. You have complete control of your audio, with ease.

So there it is, a brief insight into home audio.

It’s changing the way we live!

 

Growing Technology: Fiber Optics!

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What’s the deal with Fiber Optics?

Unlike copper, fiber optics has the capability to pass tremendous amounts of data. Fiber optic Internet service has been growing exponentially over the past few years. I am sure you have heard Verizon touting a “100% fiber-optic network”. That may be the case on telephone poles, underground cables, and even into their distribution panel in your house. But once it leaves that distribution panel, it’s converted back to copper. Their network is built on fiber, but most homes, even newer homes, still rely on copper such as coaxial cable to transmit and receive data. So you may ask yourself if they ran fiber optics everywhere but my home, what’s the point? The answer is simple, a future-proof infrastructure. They are gearing up for what will inevitably be a massive demand for speed and bandwidth, not only for the Internet but cable TV and phone lines as well. With more Internet-connected devices coming into homes such as thermostats, doorbells, home automation and door locks (just to name a few), the number of connected devices is growing. But the use of fiber optics is already here. It’s being used for audio/video cables that can be run long distances copper just simply can’t. As far as what you pay for fiber or copper, they are pretty close in cost.

So What’s the Verdict?

Simply put, fiber. It’s the future!

What can you do to take Advantage of this Growing Technology?

Building a new home or remodeling? Looking for the proper cabling for your new advanced devices? Come in or give us a call today to discuss what fiber can do for you! We guarantee you’ll be amazed.