I work customer service in a highly technical field. I repair high end luxury vehicles. It's…read morealways in my mind that I'm handling the first or second most expensive item most folks own. Second only to their homes. I'm well aware of the exacting standards needed. The self discipline needed and the attention to detail and care for details needed to restore someone's prized luxury vehicle. Those same standards apply to working in or on someone's home. My previous reviews explain how I met Jake at Barker Tech. This is a new review with new perspective. It's been over two years since I paid Jake and shook his hand. In those two years Jake has reached out 3 times to check on my home and his work. It just seems to be how he is. In those two years I've reached out with some admittedly stupid questions and each time he's addressed my concerns without any snark or down talk that some techie guys use when speaking to plebes. I needed additional home tech stuff and naturally I reached out to Jake. His response was timely given his work load and he immediately offered elegant solutions to an inelegant problem. (Someone in my neighborhood is actively using my gravel yard as a dog pit stop and leaving me nasty surprises ). Jake offered some very clever options up to and including an outdoor speaker paired with my existing camera system (that he installed ) to politely ask the offending dog owner to remove their dog waste. Ultimately my wife vetoed the idea of me having the ability to leave audio messages for bad neighbors. But Jake's suggestion of an upgraded new camera with AI facial recognition and a wider field of view was perfect. Within a week Jake personally came back and upgraded the camera thus negating the one small blind spot the offender had been using. He kept his word. He sent me tutorials and worked with me not even being home to ensure that I was 100% satisfied with my upgraded surveillance view before leaving. Setting standards and holding yourself to them are key to excellence. Keeping your word and delivering what you promise are key to excellence. But. Excellence isn't derived from robot like adherence to guidelines. It's a combination of many intangible things. It's rare these days to encounter true excellence in almost any field. Jake at Barker Tech is an excellent example of excellence in action. Trustworthy. Reliable. Professional. Meticulous. Passionate. Informed and informative. Personable and Diligent. I'm a client for life.

Jake was fantastic. He is incredibly knowledgeable, professional, and calm, cool, and collected,…read morewhich was especially appreciated after we had been dealing with so many frustrating AV and internet issues in our house. He quickly figured out what was wrong with our existing setup, moved us over to fiber optic, and simplified the entire system so it is easy for us to use. The difference has been huge. Our internet is now incredibly fast in every room of the house, and everything finally works the way it should. Jake went above and beyond throughout the entire process. I cannot recommend him highly enough for anything AV-related in your home.

I have purchased numerous audio products from AVI since 2022…read more Tony, Dave and his team have always provided me with great customer service and personal care. When things go wrong (which is rare), they quickly respond to phone calls or emails. They have advocated on my behalf to save me thousands of dollars. If you're considering high end audio equipment, and you want to ensure you will received personalized care suited to your system and budget, run to AVI in Marin.

I contacted Audio Video Integration looking to demo a compact, single-box streaming speaker system…read more(specifically inquiring about options like the Naim Mu-so 2 and McIntosh RS250) for a small space with strict size constraints. Sales rep Dave Costa was dismissive, patronizing, and completely misunderstood basic product specifications from the start. He repeatedly insisted that self-contained wireless speaker systems require external speakers, conflated them with separate streaming amplifiers, and aggressively attempted to upsell expensive component stacks while completely ignoring my explicit space requirements. When I clarified what I was looking for, he doubled down with unsolicited lectures about my budget, patronizing comments about how I conduct audio comparisons, and backhanded insults toward reputable brands. As an audio professional, I expect a specialty dealer to listen to customer requirements and understand the gear they sell. Assuming a specific form-factor request equates to a lack of budget, and talking down to customers because of it, is terrible business. I will gladly take my business to another high-end audio dealer that values customer service and knows their inventory.

Alan is one of those guys that you meet that on first blush may seem like he's selling you a lot of…read moregear you don't need. I'm a former technology journalist and he had stuff I hadn't heard of. I ran his gear past people in the know who said "yeah, that's good." A sidenote: Sometimes Alan is slow to get back to you on phone or iMessage. He's booked solid. I don't like it any more than you do. But in the bay every single good professional is like this, because they are inundated with calls and need to do in-person evaluations to do a good job. I wish the world was easier too guys. Sorry. Alan did a giant (119") 1080p surround sound installation in my loft in Oakland late last year. It was costly, and Alan worked with me to bring down said cost with explanations behind every bit of rational and actual links to what he was getting. Alan also let me use gear I already had, which meant that the actual installation itself was quite confusing to look at at the end. I was furious, and not particularly nice to Alan afterward thinking he'd broken everything. No, what he'd actually done was an intricate, cost-effective amp/ethernet installation, built through the *ceiling*, leading to my aged receiver, to the speakers I had provided. In essence, if you know stuff about a/v, once you bring in someone's potentially bashed-up gear into the situation it effectively is a gamble to see what will work with what. Alan not only made it all work, including with a receiver that I would frankly describe as aged, he recommended the right places to save money to still have the effect I wanted - an awesome home theater. It came out looking and sounding amazing, and more importantly removable. He taught me in a non-condescending manner what he did and why he did it, and made a clear promise (and actually booked time to) fix any problems. There were no problems. Any anger I had was that I didn't understand how it worked and the only criticism I could give was Alan didn't leave a manual of his work. Alan is not cheap. Alan is also - and I use this term very rarely - an actual artist. He wants the thing to look and sound perfect. I just hired Alan to do a second job he has not started yet, and he talked me OUT of spending $3000+ on a new projector screen and $2000 on a new projector, telling me to keep my quite-adequate plasma screen, as it'd be just as good. I am sort of a gadget/network person and know what I'm talking about. If you want a cheap guy to do an okay job, don't hire Alan. Don't waste is time. He will charge what he charges for the gear at the price it comes out at (if not cheaper, and believe me I've checked). If you want someone to put down some cheap CAT cables and some HDMI cables he found on Monoprice and Amazon, give them a call. Alan is an actual professional who knows a lot. I take umbrage at anyone claiming Alan "focuses on dollars more than customer service." My own personal experience, even when I was not the most calm (calling him at 2:30am GMT from England, where I was at the time of installation), is that he cares more about customer service than most A/V people I've run into. And knows more than them too. Overall, what you get is the closest you can to professional at a consumer price. It's not cheap. It never will be if you want something that'll last, sound good and look good. If you want constant download speeds/constant signal throughout your home, Alan is going to find *what will do it.* To S.B.: I do not know specifically what equipment you were left with by Alan, however I have spoken to him about the networking gear he uses, which (I used to sell WIFI/WAN/LAN gear commercially) is Unifi/Ubiquiti gear. This prices much the same as a Netgear Nighthawk/high-end ASUS router, and gives superior service all around. Alan is not just a guy who knows things about audio/visual, he is actually very smart and knows about networking gear too. I do not believe you were sold a $1000 router. I imagine you were sold a $1000 setup which would cover your entire house. The WIFI never really working properly? Not really sure. And if it's 5x the price of a Mac airport - your comparison point - I'm gonna go ahead and say your knowledge on networking product is deficient. That's an $84.99 or $184.99 router, and if you're using that as a comparison point you're not buying a Netgear Nighthawk, Asus AC87U or Unifi AP AC - all of which are on the upper end of the routing scale and are the only routers a real professional would use. If your new guy used these as your comparison points. If you want your signal and your download speeds to be consistent and the signal to be constant across the house, you need good gear. This is not cheap gear and Alan is not a "cheap" provider who "just gets things done." I've got no fiscal benefit in having him around. I choose to spend tens of thousands of dollars with the man because he's just that damn good.

You may note that Alan hasn't had a review on here for many years. That's because his business has…read moregone down hill fast and things are not good. We've had multiple AV professionals in our house over the years and we've also had Alan. There is a major difference between the two. Cutting corners, sloppy work, and long delays are the norm. Not to mention he will put a lien on your house and threaten you with legal action if things don't work out. Trust me. Avoid. At. All. Costs.

We had a great first meeting and were waiting for a quote that never came. We were straight-up…read moreghosted. We reached out multiple times in a variety of ways and never heard back. We can only speculate that somehow our project needs were not big enough for them to want to work with us? We can't know what happened because they simply stopped communicating with us. Sad but true. For this reason, I have to say their business is not to be reccomended.

Wow just realized I never updated the review. After paying Cham to come out, and to come back, and…read moreto come back, and to come back...each time a new person who complain d bout the last persona work. I finally gave up and went with another service. He was great when it was new and a big bill. Not great when you need to get his worked fixed right.

Absolutely fabulous! We won't be using anyone else…read more They were prompt, professional, super knowledgeable and reasonably priced. We moved a year ago and no one could make my Sonos sound system work, even though it worked fine in my previous home. Friends, family, even the guy that hung and installed our televisions, (at great expense) all said, "this can't be that difficult". But no one could get it to work. A year later the Sonos was still down. Finally, I found Proava Tech with online search. After talking to Daniel I knew he was an expert and loved his job. Wow! Was I happy! He had my system up and running quickly, patiently showed us both how to use it and really important, didn't try to sell us anything. Yes, he briefly mentioned, there are much better Sonos systems now, (mine is 10+ years old), but he quickly said, "But your system is fine"! What a breath of fresh air as every vendor I've had over the past year is always trying to sell me something more. The cost was very reasonable for such expert work. I truly appreciate when a tech quickly understands and fixes the problem. They also do doorbell systems, security systems, tv and stereo. When we consider a new system for anything in our home, we'll be using Proava Tech. When I find an excellent vendor, I save their number!

Daniell Silva is outstanding! !!!!! His knowledge is boundless - there has never been a technical…read morequestion/problem he didn't answer and remedy immediately. He listens and responds and is delightful to work with. He is very supportive and explains things clearly. I am technically challenged and he is patient and kind, which I so appreciate. Thank you Daniell!

Do not hesitate. Full stop. Henry and his crew (shout out Ramon!) packed all my gear, set it up in…read morea new house, and attended to everything. I was super picky and he and his crew accommodated everything and the quote was the exact price I was charged. They answered all my dumb questions, explained all the options, and came back TWICE to tweak things I wanted. One of the best customer experiences I've had. Don't hesitate to hire these guys.

I don't know how this company has so many 5 star reviews. For a premium price, I would expect…read morepremium value and instead got a mediocre install. Context: I initially hired Man Cave of America to mount two Samsung Frame TVs - one in a media cabinet and another on a plaster wall. In the end, the work on the media cabinet was so subpar that I did not trust them with installing a TV on a delicate plaster wall and asked them to leave. Pros: - They were able to widen an in wall hole for wires without drilling into the wall Cons: - Lack of precision. They had to drill 3 sets of holes. Any experienced mounter will tell you that Samsung Frame TVs require precision - they clearly did not understand this or have experience with this. Now I have a number of holes in my wall for no reason. - Lack of efficiency. They quoted 4 hours of work for 2 TVs. I thought this was high given prior mounting job experiences but they had good reviews so I let it slide. Mounting one TV took them no joke 3.5 hours. I was flabbergasted. - Poor communication. I noticed that the team was having trouble mounting the TV and asked if there were any challenges. They said no and said it would be just another 15 minutes. 20 minutes later, I asked them again how it's going, they said it would be 15 minutes. This pattern repeated for three cycles and I lost trust in their work. I would much rather have someone explain the challenges they're facing so I can understand the issue vs. say nothing is wrong and burn time. - Lack of attention to detail. After 3 attempts to mount and 3.5 hours of work, the TV is still not level - again, I was flabbergasted! - They left a number of tools at our house which is just unprofessional. How mediocre their work is became very clear when I had another mounting company, R8Works, install the TV on the plaster wall. The mounting took less than 1 hour, was mounted on the first try, was perfectly leveled, and was legit 1/3 of the price. I cannot reccomend Man Cave of America but highly recommend R8Works.

Valley Home Theater & Automation (VHT) recently completed a complex project in my home theater. The…read moreproject included the installation of a large, state-of-the-art microLED video wall, a video processor, an upgraded sound processor, a 4K movie platform, and a new remote control system. We used my old speakers. It was a pleasure working with Peter, Josh, Glenn, and other members of the VHT team. Peter spent time planning with me, stayed on top of the project to its completion, and kept me in the loop. Josh did an excellent job of assembling the components and programming the remote. He had good suggestions and was gracious about programming tweaks I requested. VHT provided excellent workers in carpentry, drywall, painting, and electrical. I was impressed by the lengths to which they went to protect my speakers and other older electronics. The final product looks--and sounds--spectacular! In summary, I would not hesitate to recommend VHT for a sophisticated home theater installation.

We received excellent service from Glenn, Paul and Cameron. From the initial consultation through…read morethe installation of the new home theater equipment to follow up phone calls to make sure everything is just right. These people don't just install stuff, take your money and leave you to sort out any problems that may arise. VHT checks in with you after the install to make sure everything is working properly and set up to your specifications. I wish I had called them earlier as it would have saved me a lot of time and money. Extremely impressed and will use VHT again at a vacation home.

Peter the owner spent a lot of time making sure that the system was what we wanted, and then took…read morethe time to train me on how best to utilize the system. Marco the installer was highly detailed and experienced in the work that he did at the home. I am very pleased with the outcome.

I love working with people who know their stuff, are responsible, friendly and I can completely…read moretrust them to do a great job. Peter and his amazing installer Marco are the best. Marco was right on time and worked all day to get our system up and running - so polite and so precise in every detail to make sure everything worked perfectly. He made us feel so taken care of and was just a lovely person. And you are in great hands with Peter - we liked him immediately and felt like we could rely on his company to do a great job. We put off jumping into this whole idea but now we are so glad that we found Powerhouse Security and know they will keep us feeling safe and secure!

Yianni was professional he worked with my schedule. Unfortunately something came up with work and…read morewasn't able to complete my job. however Yianni showed up on time and was ready. Definitely my fault but Yianni was excellent in communication.

Yianni was professional, on time, and pleasure to work with. He's an expert at what he does and…read moreaffordable.

AvidWorks Technology installed 5 Ring cameras and 1 Ring Video Doorbell at my home. The project was…read morecompleted on time and on budget, exactly as promised. Their team showed excellent knowledge and installation skills, making the whole process smooth and professional. The equipment works flawlessly, and their attention to detail is impressive. I highly recommend AvidWorks Technology to anyone considering a home security project. They delivered excellent service, and I'll gladly use them again in the future.

I worked with them to replace old ADT cameras with new Reolink cameras. They are probably the most…read morethorough contractor of any kind I've ever worked with.