A First Floor Remodel with Audio and Video Upgrades

By Mark Jones

When our client first reached out to us, he was in the process of remodeling the entire first floor of his house. As part of the project, he wanted to upgrade the family room's surround sound and distributed audio systems — and that's exactly what he got: an advanced, flexible audio system that was easy to use and blended in with the home's new decor.

Upgrading the family room.

The first update on our list? Replacing the 60-inch plasma TV with a brand new 75-inch Sony XBR-75X900E 4K LED TV. Since the room has large windows and, as a result, gets a lot of ambient light, an LED screen was the best route to go since it can get really, really bright.

Then it was time to handle the audio. To complement the new TV, we mounted Totem Tribe III speakers around the TV for the center and front channels. With stealth and power in mind, we knew architectural speakers would be the best option for our client. So we installed Totem in-wall speakers for the rear surround channels, and completed the setup with a pair of slim Totem Tribe on-wall subwoofers to handle the low end. This package delivers big sound via a Sony STR-ZA3100ES 7.2 Channel 4K AV Receiver, while maintaining a small footprint in the room.

Ease of use was a high priority, so we custom-programmed a Universal Remote MX-890 to simplify the controls and eliminate clutter. With the MX-890, our client would be able to control everything from the TV to the speakers to the receiver from a single remote.

Different tunes in every room.

Our client also had an existing multi-zone distributed audio setup, but this had some limitations: he could only listen to music from one source, and the same song played in every room. To give him more flexibility, we replaced this with 5 Sonos Connect Wireless HiFi Players, paired with an Audio Control Architect 1260 amplifier and Bowers &Wilkins CWM663 in-wall speakers. To keep it all discreet, all of the equipment was hidden away in a central location. With this new system, our client could listen to different music in each room, just like he wanted.

Our client couldn’t be happier – the new system sounds amazing, is easy to use, and looks awesome, too!

Interested in learning more about our expert design and installation services? Learn all about them here and contact us today!