With the release of their new EA series of controllers, Control4 has put the rest of the automation world on notice. No longer does installing a smart home system come with a huge price tag. In fact, just the opposite is true…
You Don’t Need to Spend A Lot to Achieve Great Sound- Groundbreaking Products from Magnepan and Paradigm Prove Performance Can be Had for Less
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get excellent performance and value from your music playback system. We were recently presented with two perfect examples of this reality – by two different manufactures – in two completely different product categories.
3 Unique Media Room Options for Your New York City Apartment – Let the Experts at Audio Den Design a Getaway Space Just for You
As New Yorkers, we talk fast, walk at a quickened pace and are determined to cram as much as possible into each day. Fueled by the mobile phone culture with instant access to information, email and text messages, we feel compelled to be producing and active at all times. In order to maintain life in the fast lane we need somewhere to retreat for some solitude – a space where we can relax with family and escape the moment. While you may not have the space within your New York City apartment to build a dedicated home theater, there are other options. We can repurpose any room in your home into a multi-purpose media room. Read on to learn how we can transform your living room in three unique ways.
5 Reasons to Add Motorized Shades to Your Home in the Hamptons – Audio Den Reveals the Benefits of this High-Tech Amenity
From vacuum cleaners and hair dryers to clocks and washing machines, the list of items with electric motors that we use every day is endless. Appliances with electric motors add convenience, save us time, and make life a little bit easier. But is there any reason to have motorized shades in your Hamptons, NY home? Why yes there are! Read on to learn five excellent reasons to consider adding this high-tech amenity.
Audio Den – Long Island’s Analog Audio and Turntable Experts- The value of shopping locally for your turntable on Long Island
I took a call last week from a local gentleman inquiring about turntables, phono cartridges and preamps. After speaking with him for several minutes he readily admitted that he was picking my brain so he could make an educated purchase from an online retailer.
“I’d buy the turntable from you,” he said “but there’s no way you can compete with the prices I’m seeing online.”
I assured him that as far as price is concerned, Audio Den is competitive with most of the online retailers. There are always going to be a few bad actors that will drop their pants for a quick sale. As our conversation continues, I explained how Audio Den has been dealing with these types of resellers in our local market for decades.
Our conversation having finished and his analog higher education course complete, we cordially wished each other well and ended the phone call.
Not surprisingly, the same gentleman stopped by Audio Den yesterday to purchase a turntable, an upgraded cartridge and a phono preamp.
While our lead turntable technician Bob was in our shop mounting the cartridge, the gentleman explained how after we spoke he made a few more calls to some of the online retailers he was considering.
“Not a single person I spoke to had half the knowledge – or patience for my questions – as you did. And none of those companies was willing to mount the cartridge for me. They told me I would have to set up the turntable myself…or find someone local to do the set-up for me.”
“At that point,” he explained “I was willing to drive the 45 minutes to your shop and purchase my system from you.”
Bob soon emerged from the shop with the turntable set-up and ready for action. We promptly hooked it up to one of our many demo systems and dropped the stylus on the first side of Dire Strait’s seminal work Love Over Gold.
The look on the gentleman’s face was priceless. The performance of the table was beyond what he thought possible – and we explained that it hadn’t even broken in yet…
“Just wait,” we told him.
The kicker came when he discovered that the price for this kind of carriage service was basically the same as he found online. As we packed up his turntable for the drive home, he flipped through our LP display and picked out a handful of choice selections. He thanked us and told us he’d be back with a friend who is also looking for an analog set-up.
“You guys even have Okki Nokki record cleaning machines. Cool! I’ll grab one of those next time I see you.”
The internet is a wondrous thing – one that makes buying goods and services as easy as a few clicks of a mouse. We should know – Audio Den has an ecommerce website.
However, if you’re looking to purchase a turntable, there is nothing better than having a local shop to help you navigate through the somewhat daunting process.
Now imagine there is a local shop that has a wide selection of turntables, cartridges, preamps and accessories on display. Better still, what if that same shop has 40 years of analog expertise at its ready and an electrical engineer on staff to answer even your most esoteric, geeky questions…
Good news – you don’t need to use your imagination to find such a shop. Audio Den is conveniently located at 2845 Middle Country Road in Lake Grove – and we look forward to spinning some vinyl with you.
How the Mighty Have Fallen – A Case Study – Via International’s Recipe for Success Missed the Key Ingredient
The recent announcement that the giant A/V integrator Via International is shuddering it operations got us to thinking. How is it that a company boasting $73M in annual sales ($200M in sales projected within five years) can fail? The creation of Via International was touted as the portent for the future of audio video integration – the benchmark for how all custom A/V firms were going have to do business, if they want to survive.
Not so fast…
It’s easy to understand why all of the industry experts were falling all over themselves to pump up the Via International narrative. The story was quite compelling. Combine six of the CE Pro Top 100 Technology Integrators from all over the United States – with their capital, manpower, extensive customer databases, product knowledge and sharpened business practices. Centralize all operations under one gigantic tent, unify financials, operating systems and vendor relationships.
With a full-time staff of nearly 400 people, 20 locations nationwide and a customer roster comprised of the ultra-wealthy, Via International was poised for greatness. The only thing missing was the glass slipper.
Sadly for the Via International staff, whose employment was unceremoniously terminated, there was no fairy tale ending. All that remained was a case study in the scalability of successful A/V integration firms.
In theory, wildly ambitious plans to take over the world are all well and good – In theory. Just ask the Romans, the Mongols or the British Empire…
By contrast, for the past 40 years Audio Den has embraced a slow and steady, organic growth business model. Where it lacks in sex appeal and excitement, this methodology has helped Audio Den weather three major economic recessions. What started as a modest two-channel tweak shop in a strip mall, has evolved into a full-service technology integration firm – housed in its own 7,000 square foot facility and retail showroom.
Growth is good – but not when it comes at the cost of your founding principles – the very essence of what made your firm great in the first place. At its core, Audio Den is a customer service company – the electronics, speakers, accessories and programming just come along with that relationship.
There are countless places to buy A/V hardware these days, on-line and in-person. However, there is a rapidly shrinking number of companies who care about you after you’ve clicked “Buy Now” or walked out of their store with your hardware. Audio Den cares – walk into our showroom, call us on the phone or invite us into your home and let us prove it.
Audio Den is prepared to take over the world – one installation, one household, one relationship at a time. Steady as she goes…
Audio Den & Control4 Presents “Single Room Automation Made Simple” Event – Join us on November 13, 2015 from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
You are invited to attend:
Single Room Automation Made Simple Brought to you by Audio Den
Friday, November 13, 2015 from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Single Room Automation Made Simple Brought to you by Audio Den
Join us at Audio Den Friday, November 13th as we feature the power and simplicity of single room automation solutions from Control4.
We will show you how easy and affordable home automation can be. Control your TV, cable box and Blu-ray player – dim your lights and lower the temperature all from one remote.
There will be fabulous door prizes, special offers, food and drinks! Please mark your calendar. We look forward to seeing you at Audio Den on Friday November 13th at 5PM.
We’re Tickled. Vote for Audio Den in the “Best of LI”! – Audio Den is Nominated for Best Home Theater Specialist
We Need you Help.
We are excited to announce that Audio Den is nominated in the 11th Annual Bethpage Press’ “Best of Long Island.” Our clients are our greatest advocates and we thank you for getting us this far! But we need your help to bring home the gold. Please Vote for us in the Home & Garden Ballot under “Home Theater Specialist.” You can vote daily ad the polls run through December 15!
Todays Home Network Requires Enterprise-Grade Equipment – HD Video and Hi Res Audio Requires Robust Home Networks
With the increasing demand of home networks due to multiple users, HD video streaming and high-resolution audio streaming, the days of using $49 routers are over. Consider home networking upgrade Long Island NY and home networking upgrade NYC to enterprise-grade or small business solutions for better speed, enhanced function and more security. As a matter of fact, when you toss out your ancient AC router, you’ll be able to surf the web about twice as fast with an upgrade.
Can only one person in your home stream Netflix at a time? Are there rooms in your home where Wi-Fi cannot be accessed? Ever wonder who else is using your network? Is your basement or backyard a dead zone? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, it’s time for a home networking upgrade Suffolk County NY, home networking upgrade Hamptons NY and home networking upgrade Nassau County NY. Audio Den offers both wireless and wired network infrastructure upgrades to meet the demands of today’s home networks.
Beyond speed, enterprise-grade routers are designed with lots of connected devices in mind. Behind the scenes, these routes operate three networks while older and cheaper routers only have two. This translates to no competition between your devices. Laptops and tablets can live on one network, a smart TV on a second and a bandwidth-hogging Xbox on a third network.
Interested in getting the best overall performance from your home network? Turn to Long Island’s premier audio, video, automation and home theater specialist Audio Den. Audio Den can upgrade and optimize your home network system using the latest technology in enterprise-grade or small business solutions. And with Audio Den at the helm, you don’t have to worry about downloading software or using apps for the installation. Audio Den takes care of everything for you. Plus, you’ll get impeccable customer service. Visit our website today at AudioDen.com.