Learn about Client and Designer Approved Tricks to Hide AV Tech for Seamless Décor Let’s face it, much of today’s electronics are not aesthetically pleasing. Whether we are talking about giant flat-panel TVs that can stretch to 100 inches or most audio components that are a sea of black metal, most of today’s equipment lacks design flair. Some speakers, like Meridian Audio models, make a statement in a room. But others take up space that both you and your designer would prefer not to design around. If your Lake Geneva, WI home is on the cutting edge of style – whether moder ..read more

You’re Likely to Get More Smart Connected Devices this Holiday Season Did you shop online this past Black Friday? Or did you brave the crowds at the store to get those early bird deals? Whatever your preferences, it’s highly likely that some smart connected device is on the holiday shopping list, Black Friday or otherwise. Have you ever thought about your home network’s ability to handle all those devices? Most people don’t. Your child gets a new iPad, and it gets added to the network. A new Amazon Echo or Sonos speaker, and it also connects. How about a new refrigerator? Many of the latest on ..read more

Discover All the Powered Window Treatment Options for Your Home  Powered window treatments are an increasingly popular option for today’s smart homes. Once you have them, you never want to go back to manual ones. It’s like power steering in cars – when was the last time you drove one with manual steering? Some things just make a lot of sense. With motorized window treatments, you have so many more options for managing the light in your home.  You might hear the term motorized shades used with powered window treatments, and that’s because the roller shade type is t ..read more

How Home Automation Lets You Worry Less and Enjoy More With Halloween just behind us, we’re now barreling headlong into the holiday season in Hinsdale. With it, the Illinois fall is also in full swing, and winter – well, it does come early here! But you can be ready for the holidays with a little help from a Savant home automation system. Savant’s smart home features can take care of little things, give you peace of mind, and make holiday entertaining just a little easier. There’s a lot to do for the holidays. Whether it’s ordering gifts, getting the house decorated, keeping the holiday l ..read more

Music You Can Enjoy with Any Activity Around the House  What should you listen to on your whole home audio system? Far be it for us to tell you, it will all sound fantastic whether you go with a Meridian audio system, Savant, or something else. Not only will all your favorite tunes sound great, but you’ll enjoy the effortless ease of calling them up with your smartphone, a touchscreen, a voice command, or a press on a wall-mounted keypad.  That said, we can’t resist recommending a few tracks that lend themselves well to playing on every speaker in the house a ..read more

Bring in a Pro Early for the Best Results Today’s AV entertainment systems can get complicated. If you’re an interior designer, architect, or builder, it’s wise to bring in an audio-video installation pro early in your projects to incorporate the latest systems your clients want. You might think, don’t all we have to do is plan for some low-voltage wiring? While low-voltage infrastructure is indeed important, there’s more to achieving a well-sorted and integrated AV installation that incorporates what clients want, fits in with your mutual design vision, and doesn’t require a stack of change o ..read more

You May Never Want to Go Out to the Movies Again Are you looking to revamp your home theater design? Many Illinois homes have had dedicated theater rooms for years now, but how long has it been since you upgraded yours? In the past several years, many new features have added new dimensions to home theaters – 4K/HDR projectors for sharper pictures with significantly enhanced contrast and color, Dolby Atmos audio for a realistic “in the scene” experience, and a plethora of streaming video services with more content than ever before. If you’re already enjoy ..read more

Create a Multipurpose Indoor Fun Zone in Your Theater or Media Room  Virtual is a word that’s currently in vogue. In the past year, you’ve probably become tired of virtual meetings over Zoom, virtual work, virtual school, and virtual happy hours. Can we talk about something real? Well, not in this blog. But we promise we have something virtual that’s absolutely more fun and far more realistic than a virtual happy hour. And unlike happy hour, your kids can enjoy it as well. What are we talking about? Home golf simulators. You don’t have to be a golf fanatic to ..read more

Explore the Commercial-Grade Network Solutions from WhyReboot  The home network has quickly become a foundational piece of the modern home, almost as important as electricity and running water. Are we exaggerating by placing networking at that level? Only a little, as communication with the outside world is a critical need in any modern home. Moreover, with the convergence of all information and communication into digital form, the home network is an enabling piece of technology.   In business, when a function is essential for the very operation of ..read more

Our Reimagined Website Is Just One Way We Continue to Move Forward  At Barrett’s Technology Solutions, we’ve been in business since 1966. As you might expect, there have been many changes in our business since that time. Audio, video, and automation technology have changed radically, and our firm has evolved with it. Our goal is to continue to be the best home automation company in the Chicago area and through our new office in Lake Geneva, WI.   This month, we’d like to give you a taste of what’s to come for Barrett’s Technology Solutions ..read more