Matrix Custom AV & Automation

Summary: Used these guys on recommendation from a friend. Had some poor experiences along the way and felt overcharged. Had some major issues after install and got no response from the company. They're very friendly and easy to get along with but I don't care to do business with them anymore.nnTL;DR: wouldn't recommend using these guys if you care about sound theory, picture quality, bang for your buck, or a company who stands behind their work and productsnnA friend of mine used Matrix and said they do a pretty good job. Dave (the owner) is a pretty nice guy and he gave me a couple of quotes to do my project. I normally do a little research into the products I'm buying and I felt like I was being overcharged a bit. Dave explained that he had to charge for travel, estimates, and whatever else behind-the-scenes work was being done. He even suggested that I buy my own TV since he would just mark it up. So I don't feel like he was trying to rip me off. I think I would've ended up a little better if I bought all the materials and equipment and just paid for labor (5 HDMI cables for $170, $50 on amazon).nnThey do pretty good work. They're efficient and were done with my project in three days. It would've been two, but on the quote they itemized (I appreciated the itemization, some contractors don't) 16 gauge wire. I didn't really pay much attn to it bc wire is wire, right? Not really. Did a little research and 14 gauge isn't needed for my current setup but isn't much more expensive and future proofs for more advanced setups (something that I had mentioned previously and was basically building my media room from studs with that in mind). They were about 1/4 of the way into installing the 16 gauge when I decided I wanted 14 gauge. Dave wasn't happy but obliged and told me it was going to cost extra since they'd have to come back since he didn't have 14 gauge. I agreed to the $700 upcharge only because I didn't want to have regrets in the future and it would cost much more to rewire. I wasn't happy that I wasn't educated about the difference up front and obviously, the upcharge.nnThey hooked up all the AV equipment and installed the projector screen and did a final ear calibration. Everything worked and I haven't had any issues with the audio equipment except I had to troubleshoot an issue with the receiver not being able to run the projector and TV separately. I did call Dave afterward and ask for more connectors and emitters, which he sent at no charge.nnThe projector he recommended didn't seem that great even though it was marketed as 4K HDR and the power on input to drop the projector screen was a little weird. I contacted the manufacturer and they let me try a higher end model which was brighter and solved the projector screen issue. The picture, however, though brighter, still wasn't what I was expecting so I did some more research. Apparently the screen that Matrix quoted and installed for me was made for 1080p projectors, not 4K, and I don't believe HDR either. I contacted Dave to see if he would swap out the screen for a 4K engineered screen and I would be obviously be willing to pay the difference in cost (not labor) between the screens. I contacted him multiple times via multiple forms of comms and got no response.nnThe guys who work here seem to be decent guys, respectful of your property, and friendly. However, given my experience with this company, I won't be using them again. Matrix may be a good choice for some projects but you may have to research what you're getting. They don't seem to know much about sound theory (speaker/sub placement; what types of speakers are appropriate for what application; room acoustics) or care much about image quality (e.g., the projector mishap). They mainly only sell Definitive Technology and Totem speakers and they don't really seem to know much about those speakers at that. Def Tech even had a manufacturer sale going on before my speakers were purchased and I wasn't able to get that discount through Matrix. But I still bought most of my speakers from them.