What is the best part of the job for you???
This is it for me:
Today,after planning and installing a fairly high-end theater system that has been a (challenging) ongoing project for several months -- I finally racked everything up, dressed out the cables, and fired up the system for the first time...
All the other workers in the home came RUNNING down to the theater, and were blown away!!!
I skipped to the action segments on King Kong... (The System: Powered Genelec fronts, center, sides & rears with dual 2700 watt Sunfire subs)... Infocus Projector, 123 inch Screen... Acoustically treated walls, & it looked and sounded so good!
The low bass was so powerful the guys working outside felt it in the concrete driveway, and came running in to see what the hell was going on!
We all stood there in the totally dark Theater, experiencing the movie...Kind of stunned. It was like a switch was thrown in all of our heads... we were TOTALLY into the movie experience, sucked into images on the screen & the authoritative sound-systems' power & clarity.
The suspended wood floor felt like it was loaded up with a bunch of tactile transducers. With each grunt and roar from Kong, the bass energy turned the whole floor into one big transducer! Not boomy bass, just tight, low, low bass. Plus, the bass traps, and treated walls (w/Owens Corning 703 batting) did their job. No reverberation, or secondary reflections.
All work stopped on the house for about 15 minutes!!!
It suddenly reminded me why I'm still doing this, in spite of all of the hoop jumping, and headaches I must confront throughout the course of an involved project.
Everybody was just shaking their heads in disbelief, laughing and grinning from ear to ear...
Finally! A Good Day for a change!
I can't wait till the homeowner gets back from his trip...
I KNOW it will totally satisfy the client and his family and friends.
I knew it would be a pretty good sounding room, but I had no idea it would turn out like it did!
This is my favorite part of this business... A moment like this one today makes it all worthwhile.
The best part is, that a system like this isn't all that out of reach $$$ as opposed to a few years ago for the average home owner, thanks to the drop in projector prices. We can deliver a room to our clients that is beyond belief, that surpasses a commercial theater experience in a big way.
I still have a little fine tuning to do, and a few details to take care of, and am eagerly awaiting the chance to demo it for the homeowner next week... This client has been really tentative and paranoid all along -- I think fearing the finished product might not meet his expectations, and because the whole process was way outside of his comfort zone so, it will be fun to see his reaction when he gets back into town!
Do you look forward to this part of the job???

Brother Stanley, That's what I'm talkin' about! This gig can be difficult, no doubt about that, but MAN OH MAN IS IT EVER FUN! You're only missing one part of the pie though. Last night I was able to demo a 3 display theater room for a client. What with waiting on other trades, etc. it took one year to complete. Almost to the day. Phenomenal room. Great gear. I put the control in his hands, walked him through it and once all was done threw in the "bean scene" from House of Flying Daggers. Blew us both away. The best part..........I walked with the final draw!

Sounds like a mastercard commercial

Couldn't agree more.

hey Stanley, what did you use to float the floor?

The "smile" is one of the greatest things. That look on the customers face when they have the realization of what they now own. I don't do many installs anymore, but I always caught myself on the final home demo not watching the screen, but the customers face!

Finally a good day! Congrats Mr. S!
I gotta admit though, i was still waiting for the, "and then it blew up and started a fire!"
That definitely is a great feeling when the other trades get to see our finished work in action... The jaw dropping really makes you feel good.

Mike

the smile on a customers face when you turn on the system for them the first time. yeah its really that simple for me. sometimes thats the only thing that can get me outta my funk.

ed

Way to go Stanley. I know how you feel - its like watching your kids on Christmas. We are finishing one of those kind of jobs today. Sports room for a Great client. We will be finishing today and showing it off it front of 3 other builders I've been after for 3 years. All we have to do to finish is hang the two side plasmas and finish the IR routing. Geez, I can't wait.

Totally!! I needed that yesterday... Been doing a lot of more basic surround set-ups, and plasma installs lately--- they don't quite get the same response, so it was a nice "shot in the arm" to finally do a kick-ass setup for a change.
It was funny, cause nobody reall;y wanted to leave the room till the movie was over. Hard to get that same response with a 42 inch plasma over the fireplace with ceiling speakers!
The security system guys were there (who lost the bid on the Theater), and I noticed they kept looking at each other kind of like, WOW - so THIS is how it should be!!!

I saved the homeowner about $20K, buy working with his finish carpenter to do fabric walls. They turned out beautifully. The homeowner was really hesitant about doing them, but when he sees them he'll faint!
Have another one coming up for final in a few weeks & really looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, gotta go hang another Plasma with a HTIB!

I feel ya. It's great to satisfy a client, get respect from other trades and such, no doubt.

But, even though they paid for it and get to use it after I'm gone... it's my stuff. They're just the users.

Nothing like firing up a system and 'testing' with my fav test CD's or DVD's; Radiohead, Tool, Diana Krall, lobby scene from the Matrix1, etc.

Nothing like firing up a large system with multiple RGBHV or Component circuits and seeing all the displays with the right color, or a large multiroom and hearing all the speakers switch on/off and attenuate properly. Nothing like watching the ocean at lunch and working in shorts year round.

Oh, and getting paid. That's cool too.

You just had to rub it in huh? Lucky Bastard!
Big Papa - what island/s do you work on? I'll be out in Kauai in late August.

Mike

I'm a big fan of smashing my my hand with a hammer, or leavingmy cat5 certifier somewhere.

As I admire all that you described; Yes oh yes it feels great to make the client smile when the system is purring. I tip my hat to you, Mr. S.

However, the best part of the job? Anyone? Anyone? YESSSSS getting paid! Getting that final payment makes ME smile. hehehehe

I don't remember if I was wearing any shorts??? Hmmm

I'm sorry, didn't mean to rub it in. But, I get to work in some neat places and play with some cool stuff, and I get paid for it.

Sooner or later I'll have to get a real job.