So Your New Home Came With An A/V System

You just closed on your new home and you are excited to get moved in. You are especially interested in using that awesome theater room you saw in the open house. The movers aren’t coming until tomorrow and it has already been a long day. You decide to take a break from unboxing the few items you brought with you and watch a movie on the folding chair or beanbag in there and break out you favorite bluray disk for the family to watch. You quickly find out that some of the components weren’t part of the sale and were taken by the previous owners. It’s time to contact your friendly installers at Dynamiq A/V. Perhaps everything is there, but you just have no idea how to use it. There is no remote and the equipment is in a separate closet. As a matter of fact, you’re not sure if the system works at all.

Ask the previous Owner

In some cases, you may be able to contact the previous owner of the home and simply ask if the room was working properly. They may be able help you with starting everything up or tell you where the remotes are. We recommend confirming these details before you purchase the home. Dynamiq A/V offers a consultation service where we can verify the functionality of the a/v system before you purchase the home. This may be helpful if the selling party is offering to sell you the system when purchasing the home. This is similar to having a vehicle you are considering purchasing to a mechanic for an inspection. We can evaluate that it is functional and if it is outdated and provide an estimated account of what it is worth. You may use that info to make an offer or decline the purchase if the system is out of date.

The Basics

If you did not purchase the system from the previous owner, it is likely that it will not be complete. Typically anything that is not bolted down or built-in is not included in a home’s standard sale. This means you may not have a subwoofer, speakers, projector or a/v receiver. If the speakers were in-ceiling or in-wall, it is likely that they are still there. This rings true for other parts of your home’s audio environment such as volume controls and speakers in the patio, kitchen, dining and game room. Expect the amplifier and other components to be in the living room for those rooms as the theater or media room is considered to be independent.

Advanced Systems

If your home has a centralized rack or closet where all of the components are housed, there may be other small parts that are missing. These can range from small inexpensive adapters to expensive video distribution systems along with HDMI extenders that use network wiring to extend the length of a HDMI cable past its normal capacity. It is highly recommended you reach out to a professional at Dynamiq A/V. This rack system will likely contain power management components, network components as well as home lighting control.

Conclusion

With smart homes becoming more popular, the equipment needed to support these systems can add up. The best thing to do is to contact us before the sale to make sure you are getting what you expect.