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Why This Kitchen-Cinema Partnership Broke All the Rules

• HCA Media • Episode 19

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Start with a kitchen. Add music that follows you from the garden to the hallway. Tap a single button and watch the room shift from cooking to dining to late night. That’s the feeling we set out to build with our new showroom: a real home experience that quietly hides the tech and elevates daily life.

We share how a partnership with a high-end kitchen studio became the perfect backdrop for demonstrating smart home systems people can actually live with. Walk through multiple kitchen displays to compare in-ceiling, pendant, and on-wall speakers. See how lighting scenes change the mood in seconds. Learn why a wired backbone beats “wireless will do,” how prewiring during a renovation saves thousands later, and where a robust network underpins everything from streaming to gaming. We dig into privacy-first security too, showing why local recording reduces latency, subscription bloat, and risk while unlocking clearer night vision and smart features like ANPR.

Inside the media room, we explain why a 98-inch TV outperforms projection in bright, flexible spaces, then lift the curtain on what you can’t see: in-wall and in-ceiling speakers in a 7.2.4 layout, Anthem amplification, and layered acoustic treatment behind warm, fabric-wrapped walls and custom joinery. It’s cinematic and calm at once, and it’s adaptable—swap in projection for light-controlled rooms, replicate fabric panels in a lounge, or add floating cabinets with seamless cable management. Along the way, we walk through our process from first ideas to CAD, renders, wiring schedules, commissioning, and handover, so you know exactly how a concept becomes a finished space.

If you’re planning a new kitchen, extension, or full build, this conversation will help you prioritise where performance matters, where discretion wins, and how to future‑proof with smart lighting, multi-room audio, and secure, subscription-light surveillance. Ready to experience it yourself? Book an appointment at the showroom, subscribe for more deep dives, and leave a review with the one feature you’d add to your dream space.

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Origins Of Paul James Audiovisual

SPEAKER_00

So, Paul, thank you for inviting me down to your stunning new showroom in Berrison Eppins. Tell me a little bit about Paul James Audiovisual. Tell me a little bit about the history of the company and how we came to be in this new showroom in 2025.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, well, thanks very much for coming, Stuart. I started the business back in 2002. I'd worked in construction, was my history behind that, sold to the building trade, and uh had a year off and then was looking for something to go in. My college background was electronics, so this was kind of what I felt was a growth industry at the time. So we started the company, and back in the day, the typical job was a pioneer plasma, five speakers, fancy remote control and an amp, and that's what we did. But as the company grew, uh we then got more involved in multi-room audio, obviously, in the last 10 years, I guess, networking, CCTV, etc. And we've had a couple of showrooms over the years, but the last four or five years we we haven't, but it was always something I wanted to get back to, but it was always finding the right space.

Finding The Kitchen Showroom Partnership

SPEAKER_00

So, Paul, how did you sort of come about being where you are now? Obviously, you're part of a kitchen showroom. Yeah, you're on a pretty main road. I know when I came in, first time I've ever been up this way, but it was pretty easy to spot the bright orange sign of Paul James Audio Visual. But it's we have a few people I know who are part of a scenario and a showroom, and it works quite well, I think, for businesses. How did you sort of get into being part of this kitchen showroom and being a facility within the main facility type of thing?

SPEAKER_01

Well, we'd been looking for space for uh several years, which and I'd always imagined that being within a kitchen style environment would work twofold. One for us, and also one for the for the kitchen company themselves. Uh, traditionally, you know, most people will put in media systems, cinema systems, have new kitchens installed when they're either re-refurbishing or building a new home. So that was the ideal type of scenario we wanted to get into. And we found this particular space purely by luck. We were we were driving up the road on a Saturday afternoon. Um, we noticed where they had an architect's practice within the area, they'd moved out, so it was literally a head-in-the-door job, made an introduction, and uh here we here we are now.

SPEAKER_00

As you said earlier, it was almost it was almost like written in the stars, you know, it was like saw the empty facility from outside, you know, it's a nice little entrance that came in, and the owner of the business was like, we got plans for that. But actually, have a look at this section. And I think for me, it was you know, walking into the the showroom was it's lovely. I mean it's a beautiful kitchen showroom, and then you know, seeing your entrance, you've got a nice set of double doors behind us, all branded up, and it was almost like another department of the kitchen. And you and you're right, it's I suppose, you know, I I we did a job years ago which was I still don't know which was the most expensive, the cinema we built or the kitchen. Yep. And I suppose if you've got a client coming here for a cinema room, media room, multi-room audio system, there's a good chance in the markets that you work in that they're also going to be looking for a kitchen, and and vice versa.

Demonstrating Tech In Real-World Spaces

SPEAKER_01

Exactly that. And I think this is this is where the synergy comes from, you know. But we're that we're not clashing if that makes sense. You know, Lee, who runs the kitchens, he's doing his thing. I respect what he's doing because I have no knowledge about what he does. And equally, you know, he said to me, Look, Paul, we've got a fantastic space. I don't really understand what you do, but here's an opportunity to do with my stuff what you can do. So, you know, we've opened the space up, so as well as our media room here, uh, we've put in multi-room audio through the kitchen displays. Um, we've put in some lighting control, we're gonna we're gonna expand the control side of it. Um, but it gives us the chance to demonstrate our equipment in what I call a real-world environment.

SPEAKER_00

That I mean, and you're spot on, that's perfect because so, like the guys have got the kitchen outside, you've got a real-world environment here. So rather than walking into a space where you might have a dark cinema room off of a place with lots of control and lots of fabrics and lots of paints, people can see it as something they can imagine. So they can be in here and imagine this media room in their home, but they can also be out there and imagine them, you know, making a spaghetti bolognese whilst listening to a set of gallo speakers on the wall, yeah, whilst having different lighting scenes.

SPEAKER_01

And that is exactly what we wanted to portray. You know, one of the most important spaces in a home is a kitchen. And the ability to walk someone into different scenarios of kitchen and go, okay, we're talking about audio. We've got in-sealing speakers, we've got small footprint in-seiling speakers, we've got little hang hanging gallop pendant speakers, we've got on-wall speakers. So we can demonstrate all of those different options, literally walking from room to room to room. In a real-world environment. In a real world environment. And then, of course, in the large kitchen at the back, you know, we've got eight, nine different circuits of lighting, and that is the ideal space to demonstrate lighting control, where a client can go from a dining scene to a cooking scene to an entertaining scene, all from the press of a button. So it's the ideal space, and it works really, really well for us. But it works well for the kitchen company, and it works well for us because it allows them to add value to their business, but equally for us to demonstrate what's available now and what can be incorporated in their existing project.

SPEAKER_00

And did you say at the at the moment we're recording this, you said about you're also looking at adding some light fit ins and some lighting fixtures of the space out there as well?

Building A Home-Like Experience

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. So the the front demonstration area, um, we've currently done nothing, nothing in there bar putting some multi-room audio, but um, we're gonna be putting some new hanging pendants in there. Um, we're gonna be putting in some silent glis, automated blinds and curtains. So it becomes more of a home environment because at the moment it still feels a little showroomish. So we're we're gonna try and eliminate that and you know really give it a cozy, a cozy feel that people go, actually, I get this. This was gonna work in my new home.

SPEAKER_00

So fundamentally, someone can come here, park outside ample parking, which I can concur. There is ample parking.

SPEAKER_01

There is two minutes from the from the historic core of Bury St. Edmonds, so you couldn't be any nearer nearer town. So it works, it works really well for people.

SPEAKER_00

So when you walk through the front door, we've got some garden audio. So even before we get into here, which is technically the showroom, you've got garden audio as soon as you walk through the door, you've got multi room audio throughout the the multiple kitchens, you've got lighting throughout the multiple kitchens, and then you're going to be adding other homely elements like shading control, and just try to make those showrooms into that homely feel.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly that. That's exactly what we're aiming for. So we're trying to bring people on a journey. So as soon as they walk in, a bit like if you arrive home and you walk through your garden, there's your garden speakers. You walk in your hallway, there's a little bit of background audio. You know, as you walk through to your kitchen, the lights automatically come on, you know, giving the space a feeling of occupancy. You know, it's it that's what we're that's what we're aiming at.

SPEAKER_00

And I suppose there's people's sort of like um knowledge of the smart home in averted commerce has grown in recent years because of the off-the-shelf devices. Yep. And I suppose coming here, people might have an idea of uh, you know, a voice-controlled lighting system or um a speaker that sits on the countertop. But I know in my experience of being in this industry for 20 years, people don't understand how you can hide the technology away. So you can have a, I don't know, 30,000, 40, 50,000 pound kitchen with invisible speakers that you that you just don't see. So it doesn't detract from the decor. And I think what you're doing here, and I think what is key to this industry is the fact of that you're showing people potentially things they know about, but then you're just showing a the professional way of doing it where they get the support and they get the experience of a professional integrator.

Pro Integration vs Off‑The‑Shelf

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and that that I think that's a very important factor. You know, you do see people and they they buy stuff and it's stuff dotted around the house. We try and integrate everything so that it's discrete, um, easy to use, reliable, and value for money. That's that's what we're getting at. And we always say to clients, you know, while you're doing your build, while you're doing your renovation, let us have a look at this for you. Let us get some cables in. Even if those cables sit there for five years down the down the line, it doesn't matter. It's there, it's always there to use. And the facility here allows us to show people, well, hey, I can't see any wires. Is it going to be complicated to use? Well, no, here's the iPad. You know, you you you have a go. You know, lots of people want this stuff, but they're frightened by technology. You know, most of our customers aren't techie people, they just want to be able to pick it up and go, oh, great, it works. There's my playlist.

SPEAKER_00

I suppose what's what's the classic saying most expensive cable you will ever put in is the one you forget to run.

SPEAKER_01

And we've said that for a very, very long time.

SPEAKER_00

And I think right, you hit an L on the head. There's no cost in giving an integrator like yourself a set of plans. What could you do for me? It's a bit like going to a car showroom or a one of the builders on the website and spec in the most expensive car. You don't have to buy that most expensive car, but you know that's an option. Okay, don't really need that. I'll scale that back. But let's get the wiring in because we can add that later.

SPEAKER_01

Well, the infrastructure costs nothing, Stuart. In the early doors, when you're building, infrastructure costs very little. You know, with the with the modern quotum packages we have, with the modern design packages we have, as integrators, we can literally pick up a set of plans in a very short space of time. We can give clients their heat maps for their Wi-Fi. We can come up with schemes for their lighting, we can put together budgets for the media systems. So a client can sit there and go, I like the look of that. I want to do that now, I want to do that later on. So I think it's important that you know people trust in our process that you know we can we can show them what's going to add value. And one of the biggest myths we find at the at the moment is we still get people go, I'm just I'm just gonna do it wirelessly. Okay, so you're building a 5,000 square foot house. How's that gonna work for you? Well, just it'll just be wireless. So, you know, the first thing we pick up on is we need some hardwire infrastructure to give you your whole house Wi-Fi. And while we're doing that, we might as well run some data cables out to TVs so that they're on the network. And little Jimmy, who's got his Xbox, we might as well get that connected. And all of a sudden, for very little cost, the customer has added value to their property, but they've also added scalability. So off of that backbone we've put in, we can then go, right, let's add some multi-room audio. Let's bring in the lighting control. You know, so there's there's a whole world of discussion there. But unless people can come in the door in the first instance and experience it, it's very hard to sell, you know, if you're just flicking through pages with a client. They need to be able to see it, they need to be able to touch it and understand what it's gonna do for them in their own environment. And this is why this works.

Networking, Privacy, And Local Storage

SPEAKER_00

And I think one key thing to point out about the off-the-shelf solutions, as you said, wireless, you've got to have a robust Wi-Fi network. So you're gonna be getting involved in it anyway. But also, I think one thing that's very important that a lot of people don't realise so much with the off-the-shelf solutions is privacy. Yep. And also the scalability and subscriptions. I I think we worked out years ago that if we were to do a whole house with a very famous off-the-shelf or off-the-internet uh camera system, and then you were to pay your, I don't know, two weeks worth of recording subscription fee, within something like 18 months, you would have actually started to supersede the amount of money you would have spent if you'd bought an off-the-shelf system. Also, a lot of people don't realize that when you ring a doorbell that is part of a cloud system or you want to see footage off a camera that's part of a cloud system, you've got to go to the cloud first before it comes back down to your device, which adds latency. So I think are you finding lately that more people are putting in hardwired non-subscription where the data remains within the premises?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we are. So potentially cloud backup, you know, if needed, but in essence, we try and keep everything within the property itself. It offers security, like you say, subscriptions very quickly run away. And of course, quality of product. You know, if we're putting in a dedicated hardwired camera system, you know, we can give you cameras that see colour in virtual pitch black, you know, and clients like this, this sort of scenario.

SPEAKER_00

And from a security point of view, you've got things like automatic number prate recognition. Yep. Within lighting, you have Casadia rhythm. So, you know, as you say, if you walk into a wonderful kitchen like we've got out there and it's the morning, it comes on bright blue. But if you walk in there at 10 o'clock at night, it comes on nice and dull and doesn't sort of affect your sleep and how you live your life.

Lighting Control And Daily Routines

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly exactly that. And I think this is, you know, I think the classic when it comes to lighting control is, you know, we always put PIR sensors in in bathrooms. And a lot of bathrooms don't have outside, don't have outside windows. And of course, if you do that with a traditional mains PI, you walk in the door, bang, it's on. Whereas, you know, when you walk in on a controlled system, the lights gently come on. Up until 10 o'clock at night, all the lights come on. After 10 o'clock at night, you just have low-level lighting. So it sets a different feel to what is exactly the same space. Um, and I've always found with lighting control, it's the system that no one truly gets until they've got it. But once they've got it, if you were to say, can you do without it? I'd never get rid of that. Every every time. You know, people like the facility of walking in the front door, they press the home button, and there's a pathway of light through the hallway, into the kitchen, they drop the bags on the sides, five-amp circuits are on in the living room, you know, there is your welcome home scene. Likewise, when they go to bed at night, they press one button, everything shuts down into the overnight setting. And I I think that's one of the most important products out there in terms of the solutions that we sell, because it is something that benefits any every everybody. And certainly when we're talking, you know, high-end kitchens, you know, some of the kitchens here, we're sort of into the£100,000 mark. To have a bank of switches on the wall and you're going pendant, downlight, no, not that downlight shit. I want to be able to dim it from there and I can't, you know, to go to something that's intuitive and just says dining, cooking, why would why would you not do that? It just doesn't make sense not to do it because the amount of budget it's going to cost to do that is negligible when you're spending four and a half, five thousand pounds on your hot water tap.

One App, Unified Smart Home Control

SPEAKER_00

Well, I quite often say sometimes that our industry is almost like the conductor of an orchestra. Yeah. You are you have lots of trades on site who are there to do their own thing. Yeah. Especially if they're not a business owner. They're there to do a job. Where we find as an integrator, we go into the okay, so you're doing A, you're doing B, you're doing C. Mr. Klein, did you know you can integrate this all onto one control system? So actually, you don't need to worry about that. You don't need to worry about this, or you can just go to a touch screen and and just do it. Or you don't have to app jump. So you don't have to go to your heating app, which then goes to your good CCTV app, which then goes to a lighting app, which then goes to your multi-room audio app. Yep. So that's the smart home, connected home side of uh the business. Obviously, the name of the company is Paul uh Paul James Audiovisual. Yep. Let's talk about the stunning showroom that we're in now, and which is very much audio-visual. Yeah, it is. Tell us a little bit about the system you've got in here. Obviously, to the right of me here, we've got a 98-inch Sony TV. We have. First of all, how come, how did you end up on a TV rather than a projector-based system? And then tell me a bit about the rest of the room and the look and the feel and the the equipment that you were using in here.

The Media Room: TV Over Projector

SPEAKER_01

So, what we wanted to create here, Stuart, was a crossover space. Rather than just having a dedicated projector-based system, which you can only use when you're controlling the light, we wanted to create a system that could be integrated into any room, hence the system we've we've put in here. So, what we've done quite rightly, we've got a large format Sony TV, 98-inch. We've then used monitor audio in-wall speakers and in ceiling speakers to create um a 7.2.4 system, which is then running on anthem amplification, and then we've got a colliderscape video server in here as well. Um in terms of the structure of the room, when we inherited this room, it was a foot wider. Than it was, and it was two foot higher. This was formerly a bathroom showroom, and it was like, right, okay, what are we going to do with this? It doesn't, didn't, didn't quite work, and uh the existing stud work walls were just stud work with no insulation, etc. So we found this was the ideal opportunity to bring in elements from dedicated cinema rooms. So, you know, we built independent stud walls, we lowered the ceiling, you know, we've put in acoustic absorption into the walls to stop sound travelling outside the space.

SPEAKER_00

So didn't you you did like there was a picture where you put a load of tech sound up, didn't you? So yeah, so we started off whole room.

Acoustic Design And Fabric Walls

SPEAKER_01

The whole room was tech sound to help, you know, sound traveling outside the space. We then built an independent stud wall. We used acoustic rock wall in there to dampen, dampen the sound. Um we've then put in fabric onto the onto the walls, and there's absorption behind the behind the fabric as well. So you know, we've we've taken elements that you would use in a dedicated cinema room, and then gone, hold on a minute, we can put this into more of an everyday living space. Because one of the things we see is, you know, people will go, well, I've got this great 20-foot square living room, I want these speakers, I want this, I want that, but no thought is given to how it's gonna sound outside the space, or equally how we're gonna deal with the sound inside the space, which is what we wanted to show people here. So, you know, here every wall is fabriced, however, we can build fabric modules, we can build fabric panels, so we can we can roll this out into anything you you subsequently want to do. And you'll notice the light boxes we've we've put in here. You know, all of the joinery was done by the kitchen company. So, you know, we've now got facilities effectively in-house where we can say to clients, we can do the whole thing. We can create your joinery, we can create floating cabinets, we can give you an invisible door like we've got, you know, over over on the wall there. Um, so we're trying to demonstrate that we are this one-stop shop now that you can come to and you know just say, just get on with it, guys.

SPEAKER_00

I think you know, if you look behind you there or look to the left-hand side of me here, you wouldn't think there was a speaker behind there. And and I think that what you've done to add that bit of warmth to the space is you know, introduce like the wooden textures. And that even more acts quite well in the shared facility you're in because there is a there is a uh a join, a link between high-quality kitchens and high-quality media rooms. Yeah. And it's very easy to sit in this media room and say to a client, okay, well, let's look at your plans. So, okay, so let's imagine we're here, so we've got a big TV on the wall, but you're gonna have a window there. So we could do a similar thing. Or you could have someone come in who is very much like, okay, so we've got no windows, maybe a couple of skylights. Yeah. Um, so what we would probably do in your room, you know, Mr. James, is take the big screen out and we'll put a bigger projector screen in because we're not dealing with ambient light and things like that.

Joinery, Hidden Tech, And Finishes

SPEAKER_01

100%. And I and I think this is this was this this whole concept of this space that everything is one room, you know, we can take elements of it and we can adapt them into the client's own own environment, you know, which is what we've been doing for 20 plus years. You know, we've we've been doing media rooms, we've been doing cinema rooms, but to be able to show people, you know, the facility here and go, this is what it will look like, this is what it will feel like, you know, give them a proper experience. I think that's really, really important.

SPEAKER_00

And I suppose from a design point of view, you the room we like with this room, probably you designed on paper. Yep. We can then, or you can then get 3D renders and things like that drawn up for the client. So as far as they want to go on a financial point of view of the the pre-build, you can give them photoreal realistic renders of what their space could look like, but also topographic wiring diagram showing that it confides to RP22 from Cedia or Dolby's recommended uh guidelines for speaker layout.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and that and I think this is it's it's all about, I think, in the first instance, for a client to come in and understand what's possible is the first part of the process. And then to sit down with them, go through their plans, talk about their expect expectations of what they want to achieve, talk about, you know, budget, you know, where do you want to where do you want to go with this? Uh, and then exactly what you just said, you know, we would then take the CAD designs. Once we've got beyond budget stage, we then do proper plans, we can do the 3D renders, we can do the cable schedules, you know. Then we provide all the cables colour coordinated to what we've shown on the drawing. Site electrician runs the cables. We'll then do a visual inspection once the cables have been installed. We then go in and do the second fix and the commissioning and and final handover to the to the client, is is is the process we we go through.

Adapting Designs To Any Room

SPEAKER_00

So tell me about obviously in the room you've used things like you've you're sitting on a lovely sofa here where you chose not to go for a cinema seat. Obviously, that doesn't mean you can't supply cinema seating, but is that another element of you wanted to make this room attractive to I suppose the people you're getting through the door if they're coming to look on the kitchens, you're gonna generally have husband and wife. Well a room like you've created here, you are appealing to both parts of the relationship, you know, whether it's husband and wife or you know, whole family, it's something that I think is important for to come and book an appointment with you guys because I think a lot of people have never experienced a room like this, and they've never sat in a dedicated room that's got a full Dolby Atmos cinema system around them, and they've maybe experienced the commercial theatre and then maybe a soundbar.

SPEAKER_01

A soundbar, that's exactly what I was exactly what I was gonna say. So, you know, within the space here, you know, you are getting a proper immersive experience. And, you know, coming back to the seating, yes, we can produce, you know, and provide cinema, you know, dedicated cinema seating. But we wanted to, you know, the important factor is we wanted this crossover space. You know, where we sit in the middle of Suffolk, what we find is most of the properties we're carrying out installations in either have big open plank kitchen living areas full of light, but that knocks out the you know, cinema projector-based system, um, or they have general living spaces, general living rooms. So by doing what we've done here, you know, we're saying, you know, we can literally do anything you anything you want. If you want cinema seats, we'll do that. But that's a different conversation according to the space you've got available with within your house.

SPEAKER_00

So as a an entity, as um as the business, as Paul James Audiovisual, best thing for people to do is reach out to you. What's the best way for them to get in touch with you?

Seating Choices And Everyday Use

SPEAKER_01

So they can get in touch with us uh via the website um Paul Jamesaudiovisual.co.uk, nice and nice and simple. Um via the website, there's an inquiry form, they can fill that in. We'll get straight back to all back to them within within 24 hours, and then we'll look to a book and appointment. Ideally, uh, potential clients, if they can send any plans or ideas through in the first instance, it just means when we sit down here and have the proper conversation, we've got a little bit of an idea as to what they want to achieve. And I always say to clients, no matter how daft you think your idea is, let us know what you're thinking. Because we can we can accommodate, you know, we've we've done it before. We're many, many years ago, very early project. I had a client uh in an old rectory in his drawing room, and he said, uh, I want a new TV. And he had a B and O TV in a bay window. You can do anything you like, but you can't change the furnishings, you can't move the pictures. Um but apart from that, you can do anything. And it was like, what the hell are we gonna do? And uh we used a future automation in floor lift, so a little trapdoor disappeared into the into the into the floor, and the pioneer plasma of the day came out and filled the space where the BLO was. The customer loved it, it was a very, very expensive solution for for what we were doing. But any idea, you know, always always talk to us because someone somewhere hasn't done it. You know, we're we're members of the HCA, the Home Cinema Alliance, and you know, all of us guys talk. We're all you know, you know, we are a group of individuals based around the country, but you know, we are somewhat of a a team as well. And you know, we have our WhatsApp group. Hey, we're thinking of doing this. Has anybody done it? You know, these ideas are there, so it's not about my 20 years knowledge, it's it's not about other people's knowledge within the company, it's it's the knowledge within you know the groups we work with, you know, and that goes into hundreds of years, and of course, we're all showing our age now by saying it, but but it but it's true. So, you know, and I I think this is the important thing. Come to us with an idea and we can we can run with it.

SPEAKER_00

I think you've hit Nan on the head. That the whole idea of the HCA, the Home Cinema Alliance, is exactly that. You know, just this week we've had conversations from anything from video matrixes to control systems to, you know, lifts and to seating. It's something where, yeah, I mean it's gonna make all of us feel old now, but there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years of experience in that group. And people that may visit this showroom don't realise those little things like you can have a bed with a TV that comes up or drops out the ceiling, yeah. You can have an automation system that as soon as you walk through the door, you may be carrying your carrier bags, but all the lights come on, or hell, the TV even comes on. And I think you know, yourself being in the industry for 20 odd years and everybody else around us who've been in it for uh collective of a hundred years plus, yeah, there's a lot of information there that some clients you may not even realise that's a possibility.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I think you know it does make a world of difference because you get scenario, you know, several years ago now we we had a project, and the client had a disabled son who was gonna be in the wheelchair for all of his life. So it was okay, we're gonna put pocket doors through the house. So the architects drew in pocket doors, it's gonna make it easy for the for the boy to maneuver around the house. And we said, well, why don't we automate those? You know, so now all the pocket doors, it's a very simple solution. But the lad now has got his mobility back, you know, he can he can press a button and the doors open, you know, and that simple idea, you know, was just born about of thinking outside the box.

SPEAKER_00

And I think, yeah, you're quite right. It's those we we live in a world which is so rich in ways that we can address issues or lifestyles that reaching out to an integrator like yourself, we can maybe think of solutions that you may not even know what's possible. And that can be helping the family to live in the house better, or as you say, helping someone that may have disabilities to be able to get independence back.

How To Get In Touch

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, exact exactly that. So, you know, by all means we always say, come talk to us. You know, we're good guys, you know, we're we're very much a family here. The the kitchen showroom is a is a family-run business, you know, it's not about bottom line, it's about finding solutions, you know, all of our work uh and and Kater B's work largely comes from recommendation and word of mouth, you know, so we know we're doing something something right, you know. Um and you know, that's the point we want to get across, really.

SPEAKER_00

So is the show the showroom's open by appointment only? So yes, is the room open? If someone comes in to look at a kitchen, is the room open for them to look at? But obviously the best beneficial is going to maybe speak to the people here to say, look, we're coming sh on Thursday afternoon to look at a kitchen. Could you ask Paul if he's gonna be around as well? Because we wouldn't mind looking at the media room.

Creative Solutions And HCA Network

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly that. So, what we've done, the general kitchen spaces, which has got the multi-room audio, lighting control in, the guys here will demonstrate that freely. They're fully competent with everything and how it works and what it does. Um, because it's simple to use, it's it's there for clients to press a button. Hey, the music comes on, hey, the lights have changed. Um, the media room, because it's a bit of more of a discussion, we run that on an appointment basis. By all means, people can turn up, they can have a look, uh, but we do ask for appointments because then we can explain what we've done because we've hidden all the technology. You know, people can't fully appreciate what we've done in here. You know, they they don't know what's behind the fabric, they don't know what drives it, they don't know the benefits of having a kaleidoscape um video server over having an Apple TV. You know, so we can demonstrate that, but we can also discuss the reasons why. And I think that's when our experience comes in and that people need to fully understand, you know, where we're trying to get them.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, what's possible in in all scenarios, listen to what they want to achieve and then be guided in in those different types of services and solutions, whether they want you know a high-end cinema or a high-end media room.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly, exactly that. And I think you know, the first point is to have the discussion, throw the ideas around, catch their ideas, you know, and one of the things we've always done with multi-room audio, the first question we've asked is, what do you listen to? Because what is the point of selling a£2,000 set of speakers in a kitchen where the only thing that goes on is Radio 2 or Radio 4 in the morning for the news? You know, it's all about managing the expectations, exceeding them in the right places, but being cautious of clients' budgets, you know, rather than just spending for the for the sake of it. You know, and we've always had this balanced approach. Hey, in the kitchen you listen to radio two. Let's put something simple, something very discreet in there. That will tick that box.

SPEAKER_00

But hold on a minute. And then spend the money elsewhere.

SPEAKER_01

You know, you wanted an immersive cinema room. Okay, well, let's use what you could have potentially done there in this space, and we're actually not going to change the spec of the speakers. But what we're going to do is we're going to add some fabric walling. We're going to acoustically treat the room because you know, you get to a point, as you well know, being in the industry, you know, what's the point of having 50 grand worth of equipment if you're putting it in a room with a tiled floor, hard walls, you know, blinds, no soft furnishings. It's it's not going to work. And you know, we've we've learned this very much that it's about the whole package.

SPEAKER_00

Awesome. Well, anything else you want to touch on before we wrap up? Or I think we've pretty much talked about the majority of things that you do and what you can see here.

Accessibility And Quality Of Life

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think we've we've pretty much wrapped it up, Stuart. You know, um, like I said, we're we're we're a friendly, you know, friendly team here. Come down and have the conversation with us. Um, have a cup of coffee, experience, experience what we do, um and then hopefully we can we can look to do something for you in the future.

SPEAKER_00

So uh Paul Jamesaudiovisual.co.uk. Yep. I'm not gonna give your mobile number out on camera, although if you go to pauljames.audiovisual.co.uk, you'll probably find your landline mobile number.

SPEAKER_01

The landline number's on there, so 01284-768676. Um social media? Social media, you'll find us on Facebook, you'll find us on Instagram. So uh by all means have a look at what we what we do there. We you know post most of our job updates and stuff on there. You'll also find us, you know, for architects, builders, developers, developers, you'll find us on LinkedIn, you know, so you can make contact with us through all those different mediums.

SPEAKER_00

Excellent. Well, uh, thank you for taking the time talking to us. And uh yeah, it's a stunning showroom. Um, you should be really proud of yourself. Um, you know, I got to see some photographs as it was going on and we had a couple of conversations. But yeah, if you're watching this and you're in the Berry St. Ebbons area or you know, uh around that area, do pop in and have a look if you're doing a project because uh yeah, congratulations. This is a phenomenal place.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you very much, and thank you very much for your time, of course.

SPEAKER_00

No worries, buddy. Thank you.