Let’s face it – New England winters were made for TV binge-watching, from Netflix to the televised events we gather around: The Golden Globes, The Oscars, the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and March Madness. 

Our viewers guide is below, but first let’s talk TV. What do you view your favorite programs on? Then we’ll talk about where you watch and finally, all of the extras that enhance the television experience.

TVs

We are big fans of Samsung’s The Frame TV in either 43” or 55” because when you’re not watching it as a television, it appears as a framed piece of art on your wall. It looks phenomenal. But don’t take our word for it – come see it for yourself in our newly renovated interactive Home Technology Design Center.

We also love the Sony OLED line and recommend the 65” or 75” or 85” 4K models. They are utterly reliable and offer a beautiful picture resolution.

Finally we highly recommend the Seura mirror TV in several sizes and styles – in your bathroom mirror perhaps? Watch the morning news while shaving? Watch Big Little Lies while bathing? And for outdoor locations, we can’t say enough good words about the Seura Storm line. Simply made for viewing by the pool or hottub!

Welcome to Brad’s Wine Corner! I’m the owner and president of AVD and I’ve been a wine guy most of my adult life. It’s crazy now to mingle my two passions, electronics and wine, because they are integral to my love of life!

I’ve been drinking, buying, collecting, selling and yammering about fine wine for a really long time. I’ve written about it in social media venues and a few local magazines. It’s time to have a quiet little corner on the AVD website for those of you who are also wine geeks because it’s who we are, passionate about wine, loving the sub-culture of being cork dorks and sharing our reviews and bottles!

I will post here periodically, enough to keep it interesting and fun but not too much to drive anyone crazy or to begin to think I’m drunk all the time. AND, at AVD, we will have regular wine events. Just because. I think there’s a large percentage of our customer base, both “end-users” and “ABIDs” (architects, builders, interior designers) who are into wine that we will have really fun regular tastings. I have a very large collection that I’m opening up for this purpose. No, I’m not opening crazy expensive Petrus, DRC and Screaming Eagle on a weekly basis. But I’ll be opening lots of really good wine.

My posts will be things you’re interested in I hope. They will be about mostly new stuff that you can still get but also old stuff that’s hard to find but great to hear about. I have a few irons in the fire. The main one of course is Audio Video Design, where I spend 50+ hours, but I’m also a wine advisor and writer and have access to all the trade tastings in which to try great wines, from dirt cheap to crazy money, and I’ll write about those and tell you where to find them if you’re interested. I’ll arrange buying deals for groups when there’s a lot of momentum so my customers have fun buying together at a big discount.

This is purely for fun! I don’t think I’m Gary Vaynerchuk. I’m doing this from a very humble perspective. I’ve been doing this a long time and friends say I know a lot but in the context of other knowledgeable wine geeks, I feel like a babe in the woods. Perhaps they do too. In the company of friends with incredible palates, I shy away from expressing my opinion. I suspect some of you are in the same boat! So talk to me, let me know what you like, don’t like, would like to hear about, etc. I’m manic about wine and will take it as a challenge!

Audio Video Design won the 2018 Integrator of the Year Tech Home Mark of Excellence Award from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) last night at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES)  in Las Vegas. AVD Vice President, Bob Riddle, accepted the award on behalf of Audio Video Design.

The Integrator of the Year Award is presented to a company for their overall contribution to industry. AVD has been serving New England for the past 45 years, providing design, installation and maintenance of smart home systems.

“We gratefully accept this award on behalf of all of the employees and clients of Audio Video Design,” said AVD President, Brad Smith. “We are honored to have been selected for this recognition. We strive for excellence and this award is an acknowledgement of those efforts.”

One of AVD’s recent projects, Cape Cod Cinematheque, was also recognized as a finalist in the home theater category.

‘Tis the season for giving gifts. It’s not too late to present the technophile in your life with something special from Audio Video Design! We even have great ideas for technophobes, too, because AVD makes your digital home easy.

Listen Up…

• May we recommend speakers from Bang & Olufsen? AVD now carries B&O products and can set them up for you. Our staff has recently finished B&O training, so our customers can relax and enjoy the holiday with great sound.Mid-century modern design lovers rejoice! We think this Beoplay A9 speaker is very cool. It offers 480 watts of powerful sound and wirelessly connects to everything! (B&O) Comes in a few color choices (black, white, and smoked oak. Covers are available in a variety of colors). 
• We have often touted the fun products from BlueSound. We think their wireless speakers bring the party to wherever you are! And we’re excited about their Pulse Soundbar. “The PULSE SOUNDBAR delivers a fully immersive sonic experience that brings any soundtrack to life in vivid, cinematic detail. Designed specifically to fit perfectly under your HD TV, the PULSE SOUNDBAR is the world’s first multi-room high-res soundbar to feature crystal clear, 24-bit resolution and audiophile-grade bass response – without a subwoofer. This is the soundbar your TV deserves.” (BlueSound)

• One of our new product lines, we recommend Golden Ear speakers. For this holiday gift giving season, why not give the Aon2 or Aon3 – exceptionally compact, ultra-high-performance bookshelf speakers that were originally developed for use a near-field monitors in professional mixing applications. Audiophiles, contain your happiness!“The design goal was to produce modestly-sized shelf or stand-mountable speakers that would achieve  accurate high-definition sonic reproduction, with superb three-dimensional imaging, comparable to that achieved by Golden Ear’s award-winning Triton Two Towers. Although they don’t have quite the awe-inspiring bass of the floor-standing Tritons, great care has been taken, and extensive technology has been incorporated, to ensure that the Aons can deliver a remarkably satisfying listening experience without the need for a separate subwoofer.” (Golden Ear)
  

Watch in Style

• Speaking of Bang & Olufsen, we love the BeoVision Avant model from B&O. A celebration of movement, this product is an unforgettable fusion of Ultra High-Definition (4K) picture and the iconic Bang & Olufsen sound that engages your senses.

• We’re also fans of the SonyXBR55930 TV. With its slim backlight Drive+, 4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme and Triluminos display, it looks as great as it works. Design conscious homeowners will love it!
  

And…more to love and share

• We’re also big fans of the products from Paradigm. This Millienia CT2 is high-performance design inspired by the award-winning Paradigm Reference MilleniaOne speakers, winners of Sound & Vision’s Product of the Year. It’s a fully powered audio/multimedia system, no receiver required! (Paradigm)

Happy shopping and happy holidays from everyone at AVD!