• Email a Friend

Cost effective home theatre

Display Room

This happy household was able to get a future proof home theatre setup with serious savings.

Researching your needs for a home theatre system can be confusing, and a well-intentioned desire to do it yourself can bare hidden costs - not to mention the stress of cabling up the system. When John was in this position, he chose to turn to an expert, with brilliant results.

"We thought it was time to upgrade our home entertainment system," says John. "We had a 20-inch TV, but I wanted a flat screen mounted on the wall." With a background in IT and a job as a researcher, John started searching for his best options.

"It was terrible. I read a lot, but ended up finding so many options for various systems that I got confused," John says. "I went to stores and got 10 different stories - LCD TVs are better, plasmas were the best - all these contradictory statements and all we wanted was to mount it on the wall."

As soon as the couple spoke to Jo, from CSV Audio Visual, they were reassured by his depth of knowledge.

But John soon discovered the difficulty with his plans. "The house has single brick walls," says Jo. "This makes things very messy, especially for fully furnished homes. The fine brick dust gets everywhere, even when you cover and tape plastic over your furniture. Plus, you can never move it, and what will you do when you move?"

John was swayed by Jo's arguments and chose to keep the screen on a custom-built cabinet, which also houses their other equipment. They also decided on a plasma screen because at the time they had a better refresh rate. Jo's in-depth knowledge meant he was able to find a screen for John that saved him thousands while maintaining the quality he desired.

John was particularly happy with Jo's choice in speakers. "John's home has plaster detailing and ornate cornices, so we couldn't use flush-mounted speakers because it would have destroyed the look of the ceiling," Jo says. Instead he used small speakers with a relatively low profile that tuck into the corners.

John found the installation period a breeze. "It took maybe two days to install the whole thing, which included running cables into the roof," he says. "And the amount he charged in labour was considerably less than the amount he saved us on discounted prices for the equipment."