Can't Choose a Supplier!

[TedRoyalLiverpool]

Hi all,

I'm new here and I'll be honest my research into home cinema and smart houses has been all of two weeks. I'm getting my flat renovated and want a pool and a cinema. I've been to so many AV and home cinema installation companies and have either got the CEO who know's everything but is going to palm me off to the tea-boy or a load of dodgy subbies, I've been quoted 'the dentist price tag' which is almost DOUBLE what my friend who said he was a teacher was quoted for the same work and I'm just at my wits end.

Who are the honest, trustworthy professional planners, installers with the best stuff. My budget is unlimited but I'm a businessman myself and the quality of individual selling this wonderful stuff has been average at best.

Can anyone offer any recommendations? Or even websites I can visit? Flashy websites don't always mean a good job and some of the 'our work' is actually on more than one website saying they did the lot??? It's crazy.

I only want four seats (20k each nice ones) and then big screen filling the wall, smart surround speakers and a decent acoustics setup because it's in the top of the house which is the eaves and the acoustics are strange with all the angled walls and ceiling.

I want a clever project manager who I can trust with all this money. please help us.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I could recommend few pro A/V installer companies, but best ones are usually smallest ones.
Is Liverpool, England is where you're located?

p.s:
Flat as in apartment? You're trying to add a POOL into an existing apartment? Must be some flat... Is it one of these central London underground pools?

 

[TedRoyalLiverpool]

Hi there, I'd love some recommendations. I don't think it's a massive job and there's no tight timetable. Pool's going in the garden. I know - it's never going to get used but that's a different story. We're on the Wirral and it's really a house but we started off with only the top floor so call it 'the flat' Manchester seems to have some great people. And I'm sure people would make the trip from London or Birmingham.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hi there, I'd love some recommendations. I don't think it's a massive job and there's no tight timetable. Pool's going in the garden. I know - it's never going to get used but that's a different story. We're on the Wirral and it's really a house but we started off with only the top floor so call it 'the flat' Manchester seems to have some great people. And I'm sure people would make the trip from London or Birmingham.

thanks. this makes more sense now.
Unless someone else chimes in, for now I could recommend you to post your request and questions on these forums : https://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-buying-building.246/
Most regulars are from UK so you would have more chances to find some with local knowledge.

 

[rojo]

Ya, or maybe @TLS Guy can recommend a quality vendor for your project? (Tagged him to call his attention to this thread.)

 

[TedRoyalLiverpool]

Thanks @rojo and @BoredSysAdmin , I really appreciate your help with this. It's my dream and I want to not mess it up. So I figure like all the best stuff I do at work if you spend 90% of your time thinking and planning and 10% doing, you'll get a good result. You've been a real help.

 

[psbfan9]

Hi @TedRoyalLiverpool,

You could also try the forum section at What Hi-Fi. They are based in Europe, I think they are in the UK.

https://www.whathifi.com

Forums;

https://www.whathifi.com/forum

Good luck.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Other than recommendations for local installers, you're more than welcome to run by us their recommended equipment vendors/models. Most of this stuff is actually available on both sides of the pond or at the least broad knowledge about good chunk of UK a/v brands. like Rojo had mentioned above, TLSGuy is most British AH regular and one of most knowledgeable people in audio and engineering around here .

 

[TLS Guy]

I thnk being up in the Wirral the wrong side of the Mersey tunnel will preset problems finding a good installer.

As you now the UK is very SE centric and getting worse. You can't move down there.

I have done a search, and as I expected, the vast majority are based in the SE, and some say they only service the M25 beltway and inside.

It is quite a journey up to your parts from London. Whether you go up the M40 and swing round Birmingham (Awful) or go west on the M4 to the M5, marginally better, it is a problem. Your work will not be done in a day, and so if a crew came form far away, then they would have to stay in a hotel for a number of days. This would be hard to find somene willing to do that.

I did find one outfit that has a site in Cheshire, which is getting a reasonable distance.

For US readers, moving about the UK is nothing like moving about the US. It is major hassle with Kent the worst, with huge accidents on almost a daily basis blocking either M2, M20 A2 and M25 for hours. Kent has the highest serious accident rate in the UK. Just follow KentOnline for a few days.

Anyhow I have done some research. Richer sound offer HT. They will come to your home and advise but do no work. Of course they are UK wide. I would not recommend that route.

This outfit is CEDIA certifified and at least slightly NW of London in Berkshire, so close to the M40. You would have to aks them if they would go to Liverpool. I would not go with small outfit, that is not certfed unless I knew the guy well and or knew good frinds that had used him and be able to look at his installs.

This outfit is in Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent. Lots of money about there. There are the wrong side of London and not CEDIA Certified. Doubt they will be any use.

This outfit is the right side of London, off the North Circular road which is a pig. They are not CEDIA certified.

This outfit is in Sevenoaks Kent, so right off the M20 but the wrong side of London. They are not CEDIA Certified.

This outfit is more promising for you as they have locations in London, Leeds, Cheshire and York. They are not CEDIA certified, but I would check them out given that they have a presence in Cheshire.

Kent Home Cinema, I'm slightly familair with. They are CEDIA Certified and high end. I have no idea if they would go to Liverpool, but I would guess unlikley. If they would go to Liverpool they are likely your best bet.

This outfit is in Middlesex and so the right side of London, and CEDIA Certified.

I have just found this one, not CEDIA certified but in Manchester which is close to you.

I would call the CEDIA certified outfits first and then the one with the Cheshire location and the one with the Manchester location.

Good luck. Getting this done at your location may not be easy, even though you are in a major metropolitan location. I assume you have looked at your local Liverpool environs.

For what you want you do need a well healed and experienced outfit. Make sure they give you references to contact. You can waste a lot of money doing what you want to do, so be very careful.

 

[Irvrobinson]

For US readers, moving about the UK is nothing like moving about the US. It is major hassle with Kent the worst, with huge accidents on almost a daily basis blocking either M2, M20 A2 and M25 for hours. Kent has the highest serious accident rate in the UK. Just follow KentOnline for a few days.

Amazing. I would have ignorantly guessed that British drivers were better than US drivers. I work in SoCal and the Bay Area and even in those two areas, known for lousy traffic, it sounds better than Kent.

 

[TLS Guy]

Amazing. I would have ignorantly guessed that British drivers were better than US drivers. I work in SoCal and the Bay Area and even in those two areas, known for lousy traffic, it sounds better than Kent.

That would have been true once, but there are now lots of foreigners let in because of EEC mmembership.

An even bigger problem is all the trucks from Europe that are left hand drive and not right.

The drivers are very blind on the right overtaking side. They fequently pull right out and it is easy to be broadsided. I get past them as fast as possible. However in Kent, which takes all the conitnental road traffic from the ports of Dover and Folkstone it seems over half the trucks heading along the A2, M20, M26 and the south part of the M25 are foreign trucks. This is very dangerous. I think those trucks should be confined to the left lane only or unloaded at port of entry. This issue is the root cause of a lot of bad accidents, especially in Kent.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Probably it has to do with driving on wrong side of the road

 

[TLS Guy]

Blame the French, they reversed it. The Romans built roads all over Europe. Good long straight roads, which still exist today, especially in the UK. The Romans marched on the left and not the right. Since most are right handed, their swords were on the right. So the left side of the road was chosen so the swords could be easily swung at an approaching enemy.

In the UK tradition dies hard, and so the UK has retained established Roman practice, although the Romans left Britain for good in 450 AD.

Boris Johnson recently proposed a bridge form dover to Calais. This is a humerous response.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

I would check the PinkFish forum, it's UK-focused and someone there can probably put you on a reputable local installer.

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/

 

[TLS Guy]

I would check the PinkFish forum, it's UK-focused and someone there can probably put you on a reputable local installer.

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/

The only two installers I could find in Liverpool were Sound Smith and Electic Orange. I don't think they offer what he is looking for.

From his post he did not seem happy with what he could find locally.

This may be a problem, as HT is not big in the UK, due to small homes and lots of terraced and semidetached residences. Things are very different over there.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

The only two installers I could find in Liverpool were Sound Smith and Electic Orange. I don't think they offer what he is looking for.

From his post he did not seem happy with what he could find locally.

This may be a problem, as HT is not big in the UK, due to small homes and lots of terraced and semidetached residences. Things are very different over there.

True, but there are some larger homes in the UK and people who can afford a HT Theatre. I know that to a UK resident London is the far side of Hell distance-wise from Liverpool (220 miles by road), but there are almost certainly people who cater to this kind of thing in the capital.

Someone over there has the answer I'm sure.

 

[TLS Guy]

True, but there are some larger homes in the UK and people who can afford a HT Theatre. I know that to a UK resident London is the far side of Hell distance-wise from Liverpool (220 miles by road), but there are almost certainly people who cater to this kind of thing in the capital.

Someone over there has the answer I'm sure.

Yes, look at my post. I listed numerous suitable vendors, only two were close, Cheshire and Manchester. I highly doubt a vendor will do a job from London and the South East in Liverpool, but he might get lucky.

 

[panteragstk]

Blame the French, they reversed it. The Romans built roads all over Europe. Good long straight roads, which still exist today, especially in the UK. The Romans marched on the left and not the right. Since most are right handed, their swords were on the right. So the left side of the road was chosen so the swords could be easily swung at an approaching enemy.

In the UK tradition dies hard, and so the UK has retained established Roman practice, although the Romans left Britain for good in 450 AD.

Boris Johnson recently proposed a bridge form dover to Calais. This is a humerous response.

You learn something new every day...

 

[highfigh]

Amazing. I would have ignorantly guessed that British drivers were better than US drivers. I work in SoCal and the Bay Area and even in those two areas, known for lousy traffic, it sounds better than Kent.

If you want a real experience, come to Milwaukee. It's as if most people went to the Stevie Wonder School of Driving.

 

[highfigh]

Hi all,

I'm new here and I'll be honest my research into home cinema and smart houses has been all of two weeks. I'm getting my flat renovated and want a pool and a cinema. I've been to so many AV and home cinema installation companies and have either got the CEO who know's everything but is going to palm me off to the tea-boy or a load of dodgy subbies, I've been quoted 'the dentist price tag' which is almost DOUBLE what my friend who said he was a teacher was quoted for the same work and I'm just at my wits end.

Who are the honest, trustworthy professional planners, installers with the best stuff. My budget is unlimited but I'm a businessman myself and the quality of individual selling this wonderful stuff has been average at best.

Can anyone offer any recommendations? Or even websites I can visit? Flashy websites don't always mean a good job and some of the 'our work' is actually on more than one website saying they did the lot??? It's crazy.

I only want four seats (20k each nice ones) and then big screen filling the wall, smart surround speakers and a decent acoustics setup because it's in the top of the house which is the eaves and the acoustics are strange with all the angled walls and ceiling.

I want a clever project manager who I can trust with all this money. please help us.

How you word the search matters, a lot. I googled 'Home theater sales and installation in Liverpool, UK' and found a lot of links. FWIW, some are CEDIA members, which is a training/certification organization. Doesn't mean they're going to be great, though (I say this, having attended CEDIA conventions and attending some of the training classes- some of the instructors were there simply for the paycheck and to tell us how cool they and their company were). However, some of the trainers ARE excellent and it was worth learning from them. This organization teaches everything from basic installation, system design, project management, code compliance, audio/video technology, networking, basic acoustics, lighting, control- you name it, they offer it.

If you have local or regional entities like our Better Business Bureau, contact them, ask people in your area, call a few builders, do whatever you can to learn about the people in the business.

This company, http://audiolux.co.uk/ is across the river from Liverpool. If you use the search words I did, you'll find many places who should be able to do this.

I'm not a fan of overly expensive cables, so watch out for the ones who sell them as 'totally necessary'.