CAVD Explains Why Great AV Systems Start With People

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A home cinema can be the most exciting room in the house, or the most frustrating, and the difference often comes down to choices that nobody sees: the right speaker approach, the right support, and a system that matches how you actually use your home. We’re back at CAVD Distribution in Marlow with Jamie and Mel to hear what they’ve changed since last year, how they rebuilt parts of the showroom, and what they think matters most as the custom AV world moves through 2026.

We talk through two complementary philosophies in home theater and home audio. On one side, Origin Acoustics brings architectural and invisible speaker options that keep rooms clean while still delivering real impact, from living rooms to outdoor audio to dedicated cinema. On the other, Leon Speakers leans into interior design, with solutions that can frame a TV, blend with finishes, or even present audio as functional art. If you’re thinking about upgrading an existing home, we also get into why retrofit-friendly ideas and “single-room” setups are becoming more common, especially as people accept app-based control and want fewer layers of complexity.

Then comes the big news: CAVD is appointed as the new UK distributor for Crix, a cinema-focused speaker brand with a strong build-and-test culture. We unpack why Crix fills an important gap, how CAVD is streamlining its portfolio to stay sharp, and what integrators need most right now: reliable stock, responsive help, and design support that saves time on real projects.

If you enjoyed the conversation, subscribe, share it with an integrator or home cinema fan, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s your priority in a media room: invisible tech, design-forward hardware, or maximum performance?

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Transcript

Home Cinema Alliance Message

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thinking of building your dream home cinema? Don't know where to start? Start with the HCA. At the Home Cinema Alliance, we connect homeowners with the very best in the business. Our members are trusted designers, installers, and technology experts who know how to turn any room into a breathtaking cinematic experience. Whether you're building from scratch or converting a spare room, our members are here to help you every step of the way. Visit our website to find your local member at homesinamareliance.co.uk.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Mel, Jamie, we're back at CAVD Distribution in Marlowe. The year is 2026. It's been about a year, three quarters of a year since we were last here doing a podcast with you. Tell us a little bit about what's happened in the last sort of six to twelve months with CAVD. I know you've done some upgrades to the showroom, and then we'll get on to some uh some exciting new news that uh we want to mention to all the people watching this. So, Jamie, tell us a little bit about what's been going on. Thank you.

Showroom Upgrades And Brand Momentum

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Um, so we've had a busy, busy uh period uh of late. Um, I think 2025 was a challenging year for a lot of our industry, I believe, you know, um speaking to people out there that various things go on the world affecting what people are doing in terms of buying habits and investing in property and that sort of stuff. But it was a real real building year for us, 2025. And I and I think we've laid some really good foundations, which we're already seeing the benefits of now as we move into 2026. So we work we worked really hard last year, you know. Um, one of the hardest years we've ever faced in terms of just like doing what we have to do. Um, but it's starting to uh yeah, reap the rewards of that as we move into 2026. So so we had some um a full year of origin, obviously last year, very key brand for us, Origin Acoustics. We've revamped the whole showroom here with Origin. A lot of it you can't see, which is the whole point of origin. It's like it's discrete architectural audio. Um, and then last year we also signed Leon speakers, um, almost the opposite, whereas it's all very you know artistic led, interior design led, and makes a feature of what you're doing with those things as well. So the two brands are very complementary. So two, yeah, um, yeah, key, key, key brands for us um going into this year as well. Um, we've got momentum with both, and yeah, the team's growing slightly, the brands are growing slightly as well. We'll come on to in a minute. And you're right, we did do a revamp of the showroom, and we put a lot more speakers in here. Not that you would know, which is kind of like the whole point of what we do as an industry, but we spent quite a bit of time and money getting this uh reven regenerated last year, and again reaping the awards of that. So it's it's it I'm we're in a good place, you know. I'm actually really, really happy with the team, the um and what we're doing.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Literally two feet away from you.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah, Mel's brilliant as she knows. I'll have to tell her. Boy, does she know? She she tells me, um, and then no, no, look, we know, you know, the the feedback we have from our uh our our customers is that um our team is is is is well respected. And as much as we've got great product, and you have to have great product. I don't believe there's much bad product out there. You know, the competition is strong, you know, there's some really good people out there in products, but I think the combinate combination of the products we've got now moving forward with and the people, and I include the people in our team and the people from those brands, we make a cohesive unit, I think, that appeals to custom installers in terms of service support, reliability, um, and it's all got to be right, you know. One of those things is wrong, the people are off, or the brands off, or something like that, then it can all, you know, it you can you can you can struggle, but you know, as I say, we've worked so hard over the last you know 12 to 18 months, and we are reaping the benefits of that now as we move forward. And we've had we've had probably the greatest Q1 we've had for a long time here in 2026.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

So well, I think you people buy from people at the end of the day, and I think from what I picked up, you know, when I got here this morning before Mel turned up, uh, when I got here this morning, you and Richard were here. There was the enthusiasm, like with you know, I'll get I'll try and put get some B-roll and put some B-roll stuff up, but I know you've literally got a dealer coming after this, but like the screen we've got over there, or the the the for want of a better word, the frame around the screen of Leon and then over in the background there, and then talking about the invisible speakers that I don't know whether they're there or not because I can't see them. But you since the refer, not that you were any way negative about the old deal uh the old showroom, but there is a little bit of like, look at this, look at this, and there's that enthusiasm, which I think sometimes some brands go for volume and numbers, and they don't necessarily think about the people behind it, the passion. And I think, especially as my side of an integrator, I buy from people and I buy from people who are passionate about the products. Because, like I say, I won't put a product into a client's house unless I would put it into my own house house. I mean, years ago I had to rip a cinema out because it flooded, not my fault. Um, because it flooded. It was demoralizing. I mean, I put it back and they paid me to put it back. So financially it was brilliant, but it was demoralizing. And I get when I speak to like you guys on the phone or when I come here, look at these, look at these, look at these, this new product, this new shiny. And and what you've done here is the the showroom is very cohesive. You know, you've got your little sections. I mean, it's not the biggest showroom in the world, but it's very well stocked with the brands and a great place for integrators to come down to. So you've you've seen good feedback from your year with Origins, you've seen good sales, you know, Jose's happy, you know, those type of things. Yeah. Um, and then you've also got some interesting. Tell me a little bit about the the light-fitting speakers you've got that there.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Oh, that's the the the Leon product. So you've got you've got two products there. You've got the the sconches, which are the ones either side of the TV. Um bit sounds a bit better, the light fitting type products, isn't it? So they are they are a small speaker, um, either side of a bed, that sort of scenario. But um, like everything with Leon, very design focused. They've been in designed in conjunction with a particular designer. Don't know the name for the top of my head, but uh, it's all available. But uh I should have reached touch that before you asked me. But um, but yeah, that that we've got those and they light up and they are a speaker as well. Um, come in different materials and finishes to look beautiful. Then you've got the Entei tile here, which is um a two foot by two foot square piece of art, effectively, that happens to be you know uh acoustically transparent and you have a speaker behind it. We can change that grill. I've got one down there. I just pop one off and put another one on. So if my mood changes or Mel's mood changes, um we can just change the the grill. And it's as a light, a light way around it as well. So very much about um interior design and lighting as well as just this the speaker as well.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

So the is that the one where the amplification was in there as well? In that one, but that particular one, no. But you can do that, not uh you you could put a sonos in there, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

So you could put a two-channel amp in there with some type of speaker, so it's small, a small, a small bijou or an audio control bijou or uh a sonos.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

We happen to run it off the the rack amplifier in here, but yeah, you could obviously could if you're doing a centralised house, then you're not gonna do it. But as a someone that might want to add something to a property that's already been established, you mean how we can wire places within an inch of their lice, but there's always something someone will come back to and say, Oh, you know, could you do this or could you do that?

Leon’s Design-First Speaker Ideas

SPEAKER_02 7:31

But you can localize it, but that's one of the key things we're actually seeing in the industry as well. I think in the last um months and a few years or so, we're seeing many more single room solutions becoming the prevalent. You know, end users have got used to like switching between apps and and using their phones, they don't mind doing that anymore. So, you know, rather it was all like very centralized in the house and the large large scale projects, it still is, but we are seeing more single room solutions and integration to that single room more than we ever have done before. And I think that's gonna be a growing trend.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

I mean, we did a show last year, I was like last year now, and it was just a simple exhibition. It was one of the national building shows, and we had a 65, my old 65-inch TV connected, I think, to a sonosamp, connected to a colliderscape. And we were just using the Panasonic remote control that came in my TV. And I turned around and looked at Simon, who was doing the show with me, and I went, Do you know what? It's actually nicely easy, simplified. I'm not gonna say you should rely on ARC and EARC, but in certain circumstances to pick up the TV remote control to turn the TV on, it just turns everything else on. Yes, and you're right, there are still plenty of projects out there that want full-on control for crescer on Savan, RTI type systems. But there is more people that want solutions like you've got there and like you've got here that do want the one remote control control, but they just don't want to overcomplicate it. Sure, absolutely. It's that classic case when you walk into a kitchen and the customer's playing music from the laptop, and then you're like, Okay, I've done something wrong because they're not using the ceiling speakers. Why are they using the laptop? But then you have a chat with them and you find out that there's something not quite right, yeah, and you fix it. But there is definitely people want technology, but they don't sometimes want the deep integration that maybe an integrator might want to give them.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

I think that goes back as well to what you were saying a little while ago about our showroom here. So it's not the biggest showroom around, but what it is is it's very likened to what people might have at home. So actually, we don't want people to walk in here and see something that's so far from their reach. We want them to come in here and feel like actually they could easily pick up one of these solutions and put it into their real life situation. Um, so I think when you when you come in here, the zoning, you kind of sit here and you think, oh, actually, this could be my living room. This is actually very realistic for a lot of people. Or you go into uh origin cinema and actually, you know, you could put that into a garage conversion. So it's it's very real life. Yes, there's a big project out there, but we all know they don't come along every day. So it's about feeling real, I think, when you're in here.

SPEAKER_03 10:13

And also, even the person with the biggest project, you know, even the person doing, I know, let's say a circa hundred thousand pound cinema is also going to have a study, a living room, uh playroom where some of the other solutions that maybe sometimes are overlooked or not even thought about, you know, like the little the Leon speaker system that we've got here, that would go into a bedroom or a kitchen or a living room. You know, good sound around a good TV, and it just fits in to that lifestyle and that decor of that room rather than just you know slapping a art TV on the wall or a TV on the wall.

Single-Room AV Becomes The Norm

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, and we can always scale it up, we don't have a problem with we're doing that. And back to the Entei title things you know, you're saying about putting that in as a standalone unit, retrofitting it after a job's been done. You can put your own artwork on there. So if someone's got a nice family portrait or something that they want to display, but they want a little bit more from it, we can do that. So again, it's just about thinking about what people might want to add to their homes. You know, lots of people have lived in their homes for a long time, lots of people have made their homes how they want them, especially over the last few years, and it's just about those little extra bits of finesse that we can give them.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

So at the moment, in the Marlowe showroom, you've got origins, you've got audio control, you've got Leon. What else is this?

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Is a test, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 11:35

I was to say, what else have you got in here for people to come see?

SPEAKER_01 11:38

What are we sitting on?

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Now what what are you sitting on now?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Or Cinemar Deco C T.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Cinema Deco C that's it, yeah. It's like yeah, it's like I can't remember what they're called now.

unknown 11:49

They're very good.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

We've got um we've got we've got we've got JVC, um, screen excellence here. Um you did you obviously mentioned the audio control powering place in here. We've got the origin cinema in here, whole place in here is Origin, including their eight, ten inch pendants. We've got garden audio downstairs, um, invisibles. We've got their very, very, very cool marquee system here, which is their high-end um Amazonic brand. Um, plain and magnetic, different type of technology into those speakers as well. So Origin, Origin covers such a spread now of price points. And I'm amazed at um how many SKUs they have, but how how good the product is still as well. Um, it's incredible because the to put your to put your attention across so many different SKUs, you think, well, something's got to give, but uh everything we turn on in here from Origin sound sounds great. So, yeah, that's um yes, that's that's important for us here. And Leon's been the latest, what we've added to it, uh and we love it. And you can see the visual aspects of it here. And if you can cut some b-roll great, if we can't fine, but we yeah, Leon is you know, go to the website, it's very, very visual completely.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Or come and visit us at our or come and visit us, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

We so we have we do we do have Noah Kaplan coming over, he's the founder of of Leon Speakers from an Annabra in Michigan. He's coming over next month. We're doing a two-day event here, and he's gonna he's a he's a cool guy, you know. Um he he's he's done a TED talk, so you know, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

He's uh he it'll be an interesting thing. That's not the little fluffy teddy bear, Ted. That's the the uh the proper stage.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Proper TED Talks. Um and uh yeah, he he'll he won't talk tech. He'll talk about interior design, he'll talk about integration. Their theme at Cedia last year when I went there, and their stand was super cool was leave nothing unfinished. You know, so you put a TV on a wall, it's a black box, frame it, put something around it, you know, make a feature of it. They're all about um integration, but in a different kind of way to origin. You know, it's uh it's about different types of woods and finishes and stuff and grill types, that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

So that's predominantly what we've got in here, but it does allow me to Well, I always remember, sorry to interrupt, I always remember with Leon a um I can't think what we call it now, it's not an orangery, it's like a pergola type of you know what you have in your garden to grow your flowers over. But it was made of metal. But then when you looked up, I think it was a New York apartment or something like that, and you sort of like it was this black metal structure that you grew flowers over, but then when you looked up at the metal slats, yeah, the slats had the speakers in them.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

They did a very cool architectural piece. I can't remember what it's called right now, but we were talking about getting one on that big wall, but yeah, we didn't quite have enough space to put it in. But yeah, I I I'm I'm familiar with the kind of kind of thing they do with that sort of stuff.

What You Can Demo And What’s Next

SPEAKER_03 14:26

They're very they're as you say, like in certain ways, some brands like Origins are get good audio in, but let's hide it. Yeah. Leon are very much like, well, look, we'll hide the speaker, but we'll cover it in a beautiful piece of artwork, or yeah, we'll integrate it into something so you don't necessarily see it, but you know it's there and it's a feature of the product. Yeah, uh and then you've got new products, isn't it? Um is it Hyperion? Hyperion's coming through from audio control. Yeah, I saw that, I saw that out of IC and that looked amazing.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Yeah, really, really, really cool. The first, the first um the APR version, 16 channels coming through now. Um, there will be a one new digital version of that coming through fairly soon afterwards, and then there's gonna be a new AVR as well from them as well. So, yeah, really, really cool. So I I'll tell you more about that as and when it comes through, really. But we'll have one sorted out and and in here and using it at some point fairly soon as well. But just wanted to say, because we've talked about what's in here in this showroom, but we do have other places where we show things off. Um, there's a house down the road that has a beautiful theatre into it, and we're gonna we're gonna be putting a new brand into that one very soon, which we'll come on to in a second. But that's gonna be more like you know, that that will take you into the£100,000 plus type scenario. It's a bigger system we've got here, bigger room than we've got here. And in the garden, it's full of origin acoustics um uh outdoor speakers as well. So we can throw perfect timing now. Look at the weather. Come and see us when that cinema's finished. We'll host you in the garden for a barbecue or at least a cucumber sandwich or something, and then wow you wow you with um whether you're a burger man or a or a or a lady or a cucumber sandwich person, we'll make sure you're looked after, and then we'll we'll wow you downstairs in the in the basement with the cinema as well. And there's another another system going in. We've got uh a full ambisonic marquee system going into a into a uh a shared space that we're but we're we're involved with. Um it's um it's uh a full 7.4.4 system with a full ambisonic marquee system going in. That will be ready in the next couple of months as well. Again, higher price point, but might be local to hear. It's it's it's um north of London.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

So not really well, I don't to be honest. I had to look at the map to remember where I was going today. So it's not that far.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, uh, Central Leaf, anywhere in the country, it's a really good spot. And we will have Origin in there as well with um um Invisible Speakers, the blends, some director series, as well as a full-on theatre with their marquee system. That's gonna be really something quite special as well. So, yeah, we've got some great things happening. So it's not just what we've got here, um, we've got other things we can show people and more, more, more news on that as it comes out. But we're we're busy doing that sort of stuff as well as trying to keep up with everything else we're doing. So it's a good time. We we're we're we're doing well.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

And of course, you know, as we record this, I think it was this week, and you just touched on it with the cinema that you're gonna uh redo round the corner. Uh, you've got an exciting new Australian brand coming on board. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

SPEAKER_01 17:29

My cork hat on, shouldn't I? We're gonna get a tiny out with some fosters.

Crix Arrives In The UK

SPEAKER_03 17:34

You can carry on the next one. So, Mel, what is this uh amazing brand that you have previously worked with?

SPEAKER_01 17:42

I have, and you are working with again. I have, I am, and I am very excited to be working with them again because they are a great team of people.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Um you haven't said who it is yet.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

So we have been elected as the new UK distributor for Crix.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Ah, okay, excellent.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Yeah, we're very excited. Um, the team over there, they're a great bunch of guys. Um, I've always got on really well with them, so it's a pleasure to be working with them again. Uh, we are actually flying out to Munich um in May to really get to grips with the brand.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

So that's not in Australia.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

No.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

I mean, I know my geography's bad, but I I know that Munich's not in Australia.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

I don't think that I'll find a nice Australian sandy beach out there either, which is a bit of a shame. But maybe maybe Australia is on the wish list for later in the year. Um, no, they run a uh distributor conference over there. So we've been invited along to that. We're really excited to kind of share some time with people that are already working with the brand. Oh, I need to uh brush back up on my knowledge because it's been a while. So um it's a it's available now from us immediately. Um we just got a bit of work to do, obviously, to understand it again.

SPEAKER_03 18:52

So I mean, for anybody who's not, I mean, there's a YouTube channel, uh Building Montage, Tony, who is uh he's actually now an integrator out in Sydney, and he does a lot with Crix. And I remember watching, I think it was last year, he did a video of the factory at Crix, and that was really, really interesting to watch. I think they were putting together, I've got a feeling it was some floor standing speakers. Um, but you just I think for me that was a uh a way that you saw that there was a love and devotion to the brand. You know, it was very hands-on. We were watching one of the factory ladies uh putting together the speaker, and and Tony was interviewing them and you know, and just talking about how it goes together, and and it look they are a brand. I mean, we've done one Crick Cinema, just the other side of in towards the end of last year, and then we're doing one at the moment as well. Um they are really well-built speakers. You know, I don't think Crix would disown me by saying, especially the cinema ones, they're not the most beautiful speakers, but they're made to go behind screens, they are very functional, they you know you pick them up like a good watch or something like that, and you get a weight to them, and you think, yeah, this is this is really, really good. And and then you know, the ones that we're doing, you can know you can angle the speakers to the direction of the seated position, so you know it's not just flat on the wall or recessed. Yeah, so what made you take on the brand? Did they did you know obviously you know the brand, um it obviously you see it as a good fit for um C A V D. Where what sort of areas does it feel that maybe you weren't filling before, if that's correct?

SPEAKER_01 20:33

I think um I'll start and then I'll I'll pass you on to Jamie. I think the one of the biggest synergies that we have with Crix is the family feel and the vibe. So you've already just touched on it. They are so many brands go, oh, you know, we're we're a family brand and we come from a family name, but Crix really do, and they still live and breathe that. And when you speak to any of the team, they're all so closely knit, they all sing from the same hymn sheet, they all have the same passion. That's very evident, and I and I believe we have that here at C A V D. And Jamie's said it before, we are very much about our people and working together. Um, we've spoken, you know, we'd like to expand the team at some point, but I'm putting the brakes on because we have such a lovely vibe and a lovely fit. You bring someone into that, they have to fit, you know. It only takes one person, doesn't it, for it to push it out of kilter. So I think we have that, Cricks have that, and together we can really build something strong. Um, we as well, we we very much believe that the brands that we sell are good, solid brands, and we get behind them. We don't just sell them because it's a name on a piece of paper. You know, we believe in them, we we like them, we enjoy them. Um, and Cricks have that same ethos, you know, like you're saying about the quality, every single speaker that they make is tested by. Before it's boxed and sent out. I'm not sure that anyone else can say that.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

No, not every speaker. Maybe some high-end ones, but not literally, you know, from a um, is it Ambi not Amisonic? I can't think of what they're called now, but the like the ones that go on the wall, which I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Cyclonix, megaphonics.

SPEAKER_03 22:17

Megaponics, that's it. Megaponics. It's like your brand awareness of it's better than mine. Luckily, I'm not the distributor. Um, but yeah. We also have ambi sonic though, so we do understand. Yeah, exactly. I think that's what was in my brain because you'd already mentioned that. It's Sonics. Yeah. Um, but yeah, you know, it's it's nice that you know some of the, I mean, they're not exactly small, but the smaller. Yeah, they are tested. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Yeah, and that's really important. I think, you know, it's important for us. We're bringing product over from Australia. We don't want it to get here and not be good. We don't want to be sending it back. But more importantly, for our integrators and for our end users to know that they are getting a product that we can confidently say when we ship that to you, it's been tested, it's been hand built, we know it's quality. If there is a problem, it's going to be very rare, and we know that it's going to be something quite unusual that's not been picked up. So it's nice for us to give that confidence to our dealers and for them to go out there and sell that with confidence. People just haven't got time to be dealing with a problem or having to backtrack or stall a project. So, yeah, I think for me that's the the biggest synergy.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Yeah, I'll I'll add a few things, but I I I echo everything everything Mel said. Um, in terms of bringing stuff over from Australia, just a practical point, the stock is all held in Central Europe. So if there, if there was a problem, we get stuff quickly from Central Europe. So you know, don't think it's got to come from all that way, you know, if the worst happened. But yeah.

Quality, Stock, And Streamlined Portfolio

SPEAKER_03 23:38

What do you mean when a client phones you up three weeks before Christmas and says, Can you build a cinema for me?

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Well, that or or or failure. And we'll we'll try and hold stock of parts and bits and pieces here as well. So there's some practical elements to it as well. So that that's an important thing. We mentioned the people, the people are really, really key. We don't like chopping and changing brands. Um, we get into what we get into, we get very much behind it. But when opportunities come along when things are just right, we've got to do the right thing and go with that. So we've actually streamlined our offering, we go we're actually reducing our brands at the moment rather than and so we we're talking about new things, but some stuff is going in in the meantime. So um so we we're streamlining what we're doing, and when we've got such a strong brand like Origin, um, strong brand like Leon, they are they're they they're killer, they're absolutely killer. Um, but they don't cover quite everything, you know, and then and Crick's coming along with it as a strong brand as well, dedicated to the cinema side of things as well. That that that for me ticks most boxes, so we're not gonna take on another brand that would conflict with that. We will we will this is now for us Touchwood, you know, where we'll be for a considerable number of years and get fully behind all three of those brands.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

Well, you have a vested interest, because I mean there's some not necessarily in our industry, but in certain industries, there are some people that they will take it in, take it in, take it in, take it in, and then they end up with you know, so many different manufacturers of the same product, you're like, okay, well, I know I can buy that from there and that from there and that from there, but when I then have got a technical question or or I want to get vested in one side of it, no one knows what the difference between A and B. Yeah. But obviously, if if you're if you're vet invested in that brand and someone comes to you and says, Right, this is the room I've got, you can quite easily go, do you know what? That's probably an Origins job. Yeah. Um, or you can go, no, that is definitely a Crick's job.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

But all three of our brands that we work with on the on the audio side there are very much about training and design, and that was a good synergy for me. So we'd you know, we've been chatting Crix for a bit, um, but I know what's coming as well, which is also exciting. You said this about three or four times to me today, and I'm net and you still won't tell me what is actually coming. Well, in terms of new products and bits and pieces, in terms of as it as it comes out, you'll know. I think we're I think we're seeing some new stuff in Munich as well. So we're not we're not completely preached everything, but no, I'm not teasing you. So there's some stuff coming as well, but it's also what they're doing in terms of um marketing support, design support. You know, integrators are very busy people, um and everyone's so different. I I I can speak to one integrator one day who wants this thing, knows that thing, wants this, blah blah blah, this way. And then another day you speak to someone who goes, you know, it's completely different. How they go to their clients, um, we have to we have to morph every day speaking to a different dealer how how we go about it. But I think with the the brands we've got pretty much throughout our whole range now, um, they're very supportive to us in terms of you know in terms of design. You know, there's a design service involved with some of these brands as well now that we can we can utilize and the and the dealer can.

SPEAKER_03 26:47

Um so and and they've got the data because obviously we touch you've got certain people out there who will happily or they want to, they enjoy the you know, blank piece of paper or blank screen and design the system based on the data of the speaker. Yeah, and then you've got some people, you know, I'll gotta hold my hand up and say, like all the years I was an integrator, like me, was like, I'm so busy, I haven't got time to spend a day designing it.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

Could you yeah, I mean we'll do that and Rich Richard and our team is key for that as well. You know, he was here earlier, you you obviously know Richard as well. Um, it totally geeks out on this stuff. So we've got the team, as Mel said, you know, we do need to grow because we we we are growing. Um, but the next person that comes on board or the next person after that has to be the real fit for us, you know. It's it's really important that they understand what we do, have a passion for it, have an enthusiasm. But the business is 12 years old now, but I feel like it's our first year. I have that kind of level of excitement about it. You're a teenage daughter. Yeah, I have a 21-year-old daughter because it's also in the business now. So I have a teenage daughter, yeah. I I have one of those as well.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

So let's hope you don't hit the terrible teams in the next year or so.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Well, we've been I we've been through that with mine, so we're well in the midst of it, but um but uh where were we? Um put you off cure now. You have, you have. It seems like our first year. Yeah, I mean, like it's like yeah, it's a 12-year overnight success, as they say, you know. So, you know, I I I but I'm I'm grateful every day for those that support us from all aspects, and that includes uh obviously our customer base, who you know, being incredibly loyal and supportive over the years. Certain dealers really stand out in that. They've just been there for me as well through some of the difficult times, just a business decision. I can go up to a certain thing I'm gonna say, I'm struggling with this. Can you help me out? And they will, you know, we it's a very supportive community. We work in the Navy actually, generally, our manufacturers, some have really gone to town to really help us, and they're the ones that are still with us, you know. Um, so and and the team, you know. So um, yeah, it's it's it's all coming together quite nicely, but I don't take it for granted because we are still in a a you know difficult time in terms of what's going on around the world, and you know, prices can soar for this for soar for that components. It's unpredictable, it really is what it is. Um, but you know, touch wood, you know, so far we're we're we're we're doing right by people, and that seems to be coming back to us. So we will continue to do that, and and and long may we we grow and continue, and that's that's there we go.

SPEAKER_03 29:15

Well, as I say, I I think you know, from the the years that I've known you, you've seen, you know, that's exactly what you've done. You've you've adjusted the business. Obviously, you you've brought Mel in, you've brought Richard in, um, you've brought your own daughter in now as well. Um, it's definitely a family affair now, isn't it? Um, and you've sort of adjusted and just tailored the C A V D to suit obviously the products that you like and want to sell, but also that support the integrator, because at the end of the day, without the integrator, you know, any distributor's not going to survive. Um, and I think from from the outside outside looking back in, that seems to be what you've done. You've not been afraid to shy away and you know supersede a brand because you know, not necessarily that one fits better, but it fits what you're trying to achieve better.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Um the range of SKUs we've got with our current portfolio is is is is really strong. You know, from Invisible was with Origin, their outdoor range is very strong. Liam with the aesthetical stuff and Crix with the cinema stuff. I mean, yeah, um I I don't think I would change portfolio with other people.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

You can really, you know, in my brain, you know, you you really can do the dedicated high-end theatre to the you know, let's say 7.2.2 lounge system to the TV in the kitchen to the to the multi-room audio. I think you've now got that synergy of brands that enable you to almost address every room in and outside of the house.

Hiring, How To Connect, And Wrap

SPEAKER_02 30:46

We have, absolutely, yeah. It's taken some time to get to this point, but um we've been we've been yeah, I I've I've grown C A B D uh reasonably cautiously, but taking calculated driftle on the way when it felt right. Um but um yeah, we're we're we're in a good place right now, and I I do see our team growing this year. I think it has to. Um we're all like we're overworked right now, you know. It's um who's gonna interview this new person, you or Mel? Everyone will, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Well, exactly. Yeah, that's that's actually gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Everyone will. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

That is very true. Uh when I interviewed with Jamie, I also interviewed with Nadine. Um it's funny, we laugh about it now because Jamie said I needed to make sure that you would get on together.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

And Nadine who's not locked in the office, she's not locked in the office, no. No, she's working from home today. But um the last podcast we did when we stopped recording after about an hour and a half, all you heard was this finally.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

We'll all interview, we'll all interview them. It's a collective effort. And I'm I'm gonna put I'm gonna do something quite different actually. I'll put this out here now. I'm gonna do like a social media video um to try and recruit.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Um, I'm gonna put it out there and just say, look, look at our socials, look at what we do. If the vibe aligns with you, that's what we're looking for. We're looking for I don't want a massive CV of someone who's done this, that, and the other or an industry veteran. I want people who are enthusiastic, passionate about you know, supporting people, loving what we do. If you're into tech, it does help quite a bit, but at least some bit of sales experience. So we are looking for people right now. So anyone's if anyone's looking at this right now and thinks, hey, that's a cool company, I'd want to go and work for those guys, do reach out. I mean it genuinely.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Maybe we should get them to submit a video.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Yeah, do something funky. Do something funky. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

Mate, yeah, um, yeah, I I I agree. Obviously, take safe health and safety into mind. Don't stand at the top of the beaty tower in London and do a funky video that's not.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

No, we're not we're not we're not encouraging anything like that. But um, but no, you know, if you if you wanna if you think you you'd think you'd fit into our team and want to work in this industry, you know, I want to hear from those people. I think we we do work in a in a cool sector. Um it's hard work, but you know, it's fun, you know. And if you're into it, you're into it. And like you say, when you the I'm so pleased and proud that when you said you come in today, me and Richard are talking, that that's just normal for us, but we are enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Um I think that's what I I love about this industry, and you know, and as I go on to like, you know, the new ventures that I'm going on to personally, I'm still in this industry because I love this industry. It is uh yeah, you get to play with some cool technology, yeah. You get to go into the expensive houses with expensive projects, but it's just it's just a really cool industry. The people in it, the stuff that we have to play with, you know. Most people, most people. Um, the and the and the you know, the and the clients, a lot of the clients. You know, I can say, you know, in the 20 years that I've been an integrator, every single one of my clients I've got a lot of time for. And that's not just because they spent money with me, that's because they are just genuinely nice people, they just want what they want. And with the help of us and the people that work with me, and then you know, distributors like you guys, it's like we we get that cool kit into the houses and we create this industry that I was only speaking to someone yesterday, and I still feel and one reason why we do these podcasts, I still feel we're an industry that no one knows about. As the integration company, I did 14 years of try of exhibitions, you know, uh client-facing exhibitions, and every show didn't realise people like you existed. And I think that we as an industry are great talking about ourselves to ourselves, but we have got so many awesome products in this industry that because potentially they don't have the budgets of some of the massive brands, the end consumer doesn't know about it, and that was one reason I created the Home Cinema Alliance. But um, so with CAVD, obviously you're a business to business, you work together with the integrators. What's the best way for those integrators to get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Uh, you you can find us at the website cavd.co.uk. Um, Instagram is CAV distribution, um, and then we're on LinkedIn and bits and pieces as well. So you'll find us by searching for CAVD.

SPEAKER_03 34:53

I'll put Mel's mobile number up on the screen now.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

So it stands for custom AV distribution. Right. You know, when I when I started the company, I don't know if we said this in the last video, but I was gonna say that. I don't think we got into how you originally started the it's it's too long a story now. I've been going for quite a while, but I'll tell you one bit of it, right? So um when I started the company, I thought, what am I gonna call this company, right? And um I was on holiday down on the south coast, wife was there, kids are much younger in the back of the car, and I was like, um, because there's there's ambiguous names out there for some distributors. I didn't want that ambiguity because I want to be really clear, like a Ron Seal moment. If you remember Ron Seal, what Ron Seal does. Yes. So I said, she goes, What do you do? I said, It's custom A V. And she went, and what do you do? We're distributor. She goes, Well, what custom A V distribution? I thought, yeah, that'll do. I said that'll do. It was just bang on, you know. We are custom A V distribution. So that's exactly how it came about. It's just a Ron Seal moment.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

And you're correct. So I think, especially in the world at the moment with like, you know, AI and SEO, and I think, you know, there's I always had a I always got an ongoing joke with Simon Gregory, who my co-host on some of the pods, because he called his his company Cinema Rooms. How the hell did you get that? And it's like then so then when I was doing a rebrand of my company, I got immersive cinema rooms because we're immersive. And and you're right, it is it plays really well with SEO. People know what it does, it does what it says on the tit. And I think, yeah, we did go through a phase of like, you know, elephant insurance and what was it, like egg credit card and things like that. And it's like it went too far the other way. And I remember a conversation I had with two industry colleagues who, when I was looking at changing the name, was like, just keep it simple. What do you do? Build cinema rooms, okay, base it round cinema rooms. Um, and uh, yeah, I think it's just keep it simple, you know, keep in touch with people like you guys, you know. If you've planning a project, if you're an integrator, obviously, if you're an end consumer watching this, because this obviously does you know go out on YouTube and social media, so there could be an end consumer seeing this. Um, if you're an end consumer, can they ring you and you'll put them in touch with someone? Or of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

I mean, they're welcome to come here and see what we do. We wouldn't sell to them directly, but I'm happy to support them and help them and then put them in touch with an HCA member of the case.

SPEAKER_03 37:15

I'll say for my benefit, you get in touch with an HCA member.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

Yes, of course. Yeah, but we obviously, you know, that that we we would we would certainly put them in touch with a low-to-link, well, depends where they're based, you know, but an integrator near to them um that would be able to source and and help them out. We couldn't if we wanted to. We haven't got the bandwidth, you know, we don't do light control or you know, networking. You know, it we don't we you know we are there to serve integrators. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

And Richard's busy enough, keep on updating this place and the new cinema. And he's he's busy enough. He can't yeah, tech sporting you, he can't take on client jobs.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

We've got well I'm really excited about this year. I know I could go on about it, but what we've got in here with the revamp, we've just finished this. Now we're doing the one down the road, so that's gonna take some time. We've got the one down. I've been a bit elusive about the one up the on the sort of north of London, but that's gonna be super cool. Um, so we've got so much to come this year that um it's gonna be great. So yeah, I'm um genuinely, genuinely, genuinely happy with how it's going, although getting burned out, which is why we need more people. Anything else you want to say before we wrap up, Mel?

SPEAKER_01 38:17

No, I think you've covered it all. I think you know, just get in touch. We we love to speak to people, so um, you know, don't wait for us to call you. Give us a shout, even if you just want to catch up. If you've not spoken to us for a while, give us a call and have a chat.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

I think that's key. That's that's key. It's like it's not on you to call us, but don't forget, you know, there are I don't know what 3,000 people on the CDA database or something like that. So you physically can't, although Jamie would like you to phone every 3,000 of them every day, you know, you can't so actually every other day. Every other day, yeah, it's fine. Once a week, is it maybe maybe at the push. But yeah, I mean, honestly, you know, and this is you know, I'm not being paid to say this in any way, you have built a great little's the wrong word, but you've bought built a great showroom here, and you've sort of you could see that you've thought about the products you've put in here, you've got key defined areas that do merge into each other, you know, including the cinema that we've got behind us. But then, hey, if that's you know, a little bit smaller and someone wants the bigger cinema, you've got the bigger cinema around the corner, which you know will have Cricks in it very soon as well soon as well. Absolutely. So excellent. Uh well, that's it, I suppose. You know, thank you again. We'll catch up in 2027 if the world is still around. Let's hope so. See what new new exciting little niches Jamie's uh signed up for us us integrators to get involved in. But uh, but no, thank you for your time and uh it was great to come over again, and I'm looking forward to working with you and seeing what you do with uh Critics and Origin Acoustics and Leon going forward.