Expert Advice from an Audio-Video Pro
Your Host
It is with sincere enthusiasm that I introduce myself. I am Mike Serpiello. I founded AllMedia Custom Video & Sound in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2002, with the intention of offering a true alternative to the frustrating experience of purchasing entertainment electronics from retail establishments in Harrisburg and Central PA. Coming from the Philadelphia market originally, where Custom Home Electronics Installers were more established, I saw a void of service to this area and I pledged my efforts to satisfying the needs of Central Pennsylvania. With this blog I hope to extend to the wider Internet community, my considerable expertise, knowledge and 20 years of experience in the industry to those who need advice related to their existing and/or future home entertainment system.
Staying ahead of new and existing technology is my top priority. Research and testing of new software and hardware is an on-going process. I am dedicated to providing the most reliable and cost effective recommendations available at every budget level. I have my ears to the ground so you don’t have to. My years of experience in the industry, which is only about two decades old, afford me the ability to offer sound advice (pun intended) on the latest in Home Theater technology with a strong commitment to truth and accuracy.
From my facility in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania AllMedia Custom Video & Sound, offers the highest level of satisfaction to our local clients from the most budget conscious to the most demanding. The utmost in Customer Service will always be our goal. Providing a Home Entertainment environment that is extremely user friendly will remain our top priority. Designing and installing entertainment systems is all we do and we love doing it. Our relationships with Cabinet Makers, Lighting Designers, Interior Designers, Builders and Architects go hand in hand with our personal interaction with the homeowner.
Over time, we will address all aspects of home theater design including room size and the importance of choosing the proper wall length ratios, how to properly frame a home theater, how to choose the best construction materials to enhance the audio performance of your home theater, sound proofing materials – what works & what doesn’t, sound isolation device installation, how light affects your home theater’s performance, proper lighting types, placement, control and circuit layout for your home theater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning a home theater, how to keep sound in your home theater and noise out of it. We will be addressing how to go about choosing the right audio, video and source equipment for your home theater budget and offer guidance and recommendation. The choice of source gear will be discussed including the relative merits of cable, FIOS, DishNetwork Satellite and DirecTV satellite programming services. We will talk about Blu-ray players and the pitfalls of choosing the wrong one or simply connecting it to your home theater system incorrectly so that you fail to reap the full benefit of it’s capabilities. Other types of source gear will be discussed including downloading services i.e. streaming high definition video on demand, audio and video servers that provide disc management of hundreds or thousands of discs (both CD and DVD) or simply rely on redundant digital storage to house your entire media collection and make it a breeze to access. We’ll talk about the importance of using and how to choose high quality interconnects to transfer both audio and video signals among the components of your home theater system. Types of display devices will be compared and reviewed for their relative merits and efficacy under various environmental circumstances. We’ll discuss home theater seating choices and the necessity of positioning those seats properly to avoid standing wave patterns that could ruin the enjoyment of the home theater experience. Did you know that moving your head as little as 4″ in any direction can mean the difference between hearing a specific frequency too loudly and not hearing it at all! For those who are more adventurous, we’ll offer advice on home theater acoustic treatments, the materials, proper placement and benefits that could make your home theater the most high performance movie experience your friends and family have ever experienced…ever! Home theater speaker types, their relative cost, their placement & number will be addressed in consideration of both performance and budgetary requirements. We’ll also deal with issues involving the choosing and placement of subwoofers and how many (yes, you might need more than one for top performance!) you should consider installing in your home theater. We’ll also discuss the merits and installation issues surrounding tactile transducers like those made by Clark Synthesis and Butt Kicker.
Whether your question is related to the planning of or improvements to a State-of-the-Art High Definition Home Theater, Whole House Audio Distribution system, Computer Networking or simply a multi-purpose Media Room, I will do my best to advise you with both fiscally prudent and, at times brutally honest answers to your questions.
You might like to browse my company website for more information.
I encourage you to ask a question or post a comment and I will be privileged to help you in any way I can.
Thank you for visiting and always remember: “there’s no place like home!”
Mike Serpiello
Your Guru
July 31st, 2009 at 10:15 am
Sergey,
Thank you for your interest in my site. I actually have two sites. This one and, as you might have noticed, http://www.allmediacustom.com which is my company’s primary website.
My blog site, http://www.audio-videoguru.com is intended to help people who are interested in or struggling with the difficult task of building their own Home Theater or other type of home entertainment system. Since I am an experienced installer and designer, there are few situations or problems that I haven’t had to solve in my career. Visitors to my blog can get advice, ask questions about specific brands of components or how to install a system properly, how to choose the best components for maximum value, what types and brands of cables and interconnects should be used for best results, etc. I will also be posting articles on specific topics of interest to people who are trying to learn more about designing their own Home Theater, Media Room, wholehouse audio and/or video systems and other related topics. Also on the site is an extensive glossary of terms related to electronics, acoustics, surround sound formats and the like.
Biography
I grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first child in a working class family. After twelve years in the Catholic School system, I attended LaSalle College (now a University) as a Biology/Pre-med major. I left LaSalle after three years when my prospects of getting into the Medical School of my choice were thwarted by failing to achieve a 4.0 GPA. I started a DJ business, built my own amplifiers and pre-amps for the audio system I used and sold Audio Equipment part time. I designed and built a rehearsal space for local bands and a small 4-track demo recording studio. One of my clients belonged to a funk band called “Instant Funk” which was produced by Bunny Sigler, a Philadelphia International artist. I was asked to tour with the band as their Production Manager, Sound Engineer and equipment tech. “Instant Funk” is best known for their hit, “I Got My Mind Made Up” After a year on the road touring throughout the USA with well known artists including Patti Labelle, Barry White, James Brown, Sister Sledge, Prince, The Barkays, Con Funk Shun, The Ohio Players, Rick James, Peabo Bryson and others, I assisted Bunny Sigler in the recording of the group’s second album “Witch Doctor”. After an attempt at artist management I left the music business to pursue other interests. I did some side work as Sound Designer for a local theater production of “The Vietnamization of New Jersey” and worked on repairing a wholehouse music system for a friend. From 1991 thru 1993 I ran a successful wholesale book business then got into advertising promotion of local businesses. In 1999, I began installing DirecTV satellite systems. From there I got into the Custom Home Theater business as an installer with a company in the Philadelphia Area. After two years with that company, I took a job as Production Manager for a Harrisburg area Home Theater Installation company. I moved to Harrisburg and was laid off after the partnership of the company split up. I had been with the company for two months. With help from a friend I started AllMedia Custom Video & Sound in November of 2002. I have been growing my business ever since.
http://www.audio-videoguru.com
http://www.allmediacustom.com
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:45 am
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.