Blog

A Practical Guide to Audio and Video Equipment Decisions

Not everything in your entertainment system needs to be replaced just because it's five or ten years old. Quality audio and video gear ages differently than laptops or phones. Speakers can sound magnificent for decades. Amplifiers built around solid analog circuitry remain musically engaging long after their digital features feel dated. The real question isn't "how old is it?" but rather "what am I missing?" That's where a professional AV consultation makes the difference. At Show and Tell, we help Park City, UT, homeowners navigate these decisions—figuring out what deserves upgrading, what's worth keeping, and where your money creates the biggest impact on daily enjoyment.

Why 3Gbps at the Street Doesn't Mean 3Gbps at Your Devices

Utah providers now deliver fiber home internet at speeds up to 3 gigabits per second—impressive numbers that promise to handle anything you throw at them. Multiple 4K streams? No problem. Video conferencing while the kids game online? Easy. Whole-home high-resolution audio distribution? Should be seamless. Except it's not, because most homes can't actually distribute those speeds once they arrive. Your ISP brings fiber to your property, but getting that bandwidth throughout your house requires infrastructure most homes simply don't have. The gap between what arrives at your Park City property and what reaches your devices can be massive.

What to Know About Planning New Home Technology

Most builders treat technology like plumbing—a functional necessity handled by whoever pulls the cables. The problem? Their "low-voltage wiring plan" sounds comprehensive until you discover speakers terminated in ceiling centers instead of optimal listening positions, network jacks placed where furniture will block them, and that thermostat wired directly to your HVAC, sitting dead-center on the wall you envisioned for artwork. New home technology requires the same thoughtful planning as your kitchen layout or lighting design. Whether building in Bountiful's growing neighborhoods or undertaking major renovation, early tech planning separates exceptional Utah homes from merely functional ones.

Professional Monitoring Without Monthly Fees or Foreign Security Risks

Many home surveillance systems create more problems than they solve. Constant false alerts train you to ignore notifications. Monthly cloud fees add up forever. Worse, many popular cameras pose genuine security risks that most homeowners never consider. After installing Luma systems across Bountiful, we've taken an approach that transforms surveillance from frustrating to functional. Luma solves the core problems through AI-powered intelligence that distinguishes actual threats from passing shadows, NDAA-compliant hardware that keeps your data secure, and network video recorders that eliminate cloud dependency.

Recent Headlines Reveal Consumer Tech Vulnerabilities—Here's What to Do About It

In case you missed it, December 23, 2025, marked a critical deadline: new DJI drones will no longer receive FCC licensing for flight, effectively banning them from U.S. markets. Why? Because hackers might exploit them due to software backdoors. Meanwhile, TP-Link routers—controlling some 65% of American home networks—face similar scrutiny after Microsoft discovered thousands had been compromised into a massive botnet used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers for password attacks. 

Both cases shared a troubling pattern: affordable consumer products with exploitable vulnerabilities are being leveraged as a means of infrastructure for sophisticated cyberattacks. Assuming you don't own a DJI drone or TP-Link router, then how might this affect you? If a drone or router can be weaponized, what about the cameras, smart lighting, and entertainment systems all connected through that same vulnerable network? This is why we say professional-grade network security isn’t really optional.