Audio & Video Installation near you

Whole-home audio divides the house into zones, each able to play its own source at its own volume or join the others for a party. A zone might be the kitchen and dining room together, the primary bedroom, the basement or the deck. Settling the zones first determines how many amplifier channels, cable runs and controls the system needs.

In-ceiling speakers spread sound evenly and all but disappear, which makes them the usual choice for background music in kitchens, hallways, bathrooms and open-plan spaces. In-wall speakers aim sound at the listener, so they suit living rooms where music or TV sound needs a clear left and right, and they're easy to place at ear height beside a screen. Angled in-ceiling models are a compromise where walls are taken up by windows or cabinets.

Location changes the specification. Speakers near a shower or bathtub should be rated for moisture, and speakers on a covered porch or deck should be built for outdoor use, since humidity, sun and freeze-thaw cycles wear out indoor models. Pot lights, smoke alarms and heating registers already compete for ceiling space, so laying out the speakers alongside the lighting plan avoids a cluttered ceiling and speakers pushed into poor positions.

Every cable hidden in a wall or ceiling should carry a rating for in-wall use printed on its jacket, which shows an inspector or a future buyer that it's code-compliant cable rather than cord meant for a shelf. Speaker wire also comes in different thicknesses: longer runs and more demanding speakers call for heavier wire, which the installer chooses zone by zone.

A whole-home system needs one home for its amplifiers, streamers, network switch and video sources: a closet, a basement utility area or a cabinet with a door. Choose a spot with room for air to circulate, access to the back of the equipment, and a network connection close by, well away from the furnace, the water heater and anywhere that could take on water.

Settle each TV location early, because it decides where video, network and power are needed on that wall. Choosing the bracket, anchoring it and setting the height are covered on the TV mounting page; for AV planning, what matters is a recessed box behind the screen for connections and a conduit linking it to the rack or to the cabinet below.

Amplifiers for several zones, subwoofers, streaming gear and a network switch add up, and an equipment closet often has a single outlet on a circuit shared with other rooms. A dedicated circuit to the rack, a recessed outlet behind a wall-mounted TV or a weatherproof outlet for a powered speaker on the deck all involve the house wiring and aren't do-it-yourself jobs. In Ontario, the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) says homeowners may legally hire only a Licensed Electrical Contractor for electrical work; in Quebec, the CMEQ says electrical work for others requires a licensed electrical contractor. Speaker wire, AV cable and network cable remain the AV installer's job, so plan both trades together.

Music in the kitchen shouldn't keep a child awake upstairs or bother the tenant in a basement suite. Ceiling speakers send sound into the joist space as well as the room, so enclosures behind them help limit what reaches the floor above, and per-zone volume limits and subwoofers kept off shared walls help too. Stopping sound from travelling between rooms or units takes changes to the construction itself, not better speakers; the soundproofing page explains the options, which are best planned before the drywall is closed.

Streaming amplifiers, wireless speakers and TVs all depend on the home network. Wire what you can: a network cable to each streaming amplifier, TV and the equipment rack is more dependable than Wi-Fi, and it helps grouped speakers stay in sync. Where speakers stay wireless, check the signal at each location, and see the Wi-Fi installation page if coverage is patchy.

Putting connected equipment on a separate network from your computers, as Get Cyber Safe suggests for smart devices, takes some planning here: many audio apps only find speakers on the same network as the phone, so the installer should arrange things so control still works. Smart speakers with voice assistants also have microphones, so decide which rooms really need one, and keep every device's software updated.