You may not think about lighting until there's something wrong with it. If your kitchen is dimly lit, it doesn't make it a great place for food preparation. If you struggle to read a magazine in your family room because either the nearby lamp isn't right or the overhead lights add too much glare, you'll notice that also. If your light color temperature is "cool" and reminds you of fluorescents, chances are you will be bothered by it.

All of these things are examples of lighting not being up for the task at hand, whether it’s working, relaxing, cooking, reading, or trying to find your way down a dark hallway. Good residential lighting design is part art and part science, and when done correctly, your Atlanta, GA home will shine – pardon the pun.

Keep reading below for four deadly sins of home lighting and how you can correct them.

Are you a music lover? Is there a soundtrack for every activity? If that’s the case, chances are you’re the type of person that thrives on listening to many different types of music. You use it for focus, for energy, to relax, and to contemplate. 

A recent study commissioned by Sonos showed that the family that listens to music has less stress and better relationships – such is the power of music to move us in many ways. 

If you love music, you should consider investing in a whole-home audio system. Today's systems are incredibly easy to use, have the flexibility to pipe any audio you desire all over your house, and offer excellent sound quality to boot.

At GHT Group, we know a thing or two about audio, representing stellar brands such as Bower and Wilkins, Klipsch, McIntosh, and more. When it comes to whole-home audio, we love a brand better known for smart home automation – Control4. Keep reading as we explain why Control4 makes a superb whole-home audio solution for your Buckhead, GA home.

SEE ALSO: No-See-Um Speakers for Home Audio

You may think motorized shades sound like a luxury. Indeed, they are luxurious. However, onetime luxuries are now essentials and staples. When is the last time you cranked down a manual car window? Exactly, that’s what we thought.

Adding power to window treatments and shades are far more practical than power windows in automobiles. In a car, it's mostly about convenience, but motorized shades have real efficiency and even safety benefits.

When it comes to motorized shades, one name stands out – Lutron. Our favorite lighting control brand is also one of the premier vendors for powered shades and window treatments. Read on for four reasons why Lutron shades are not just a luxury for your Roswell, GA, home; they are also an excellent investment.

For many, listening to music is one of the best pastimes. We all have our favorite artist or band — and for some music enthusiasts, a favorite recording, album, or live set. Listening to music is now easier than ever, with access to various streaming platforms and an extensive amount of downloadable content. Even vinyl is experiencing a resurgence. 

With the rise of accessible music is also the advancement of high-quality audio. High-fidelity speakers are what many music lovers, audiophiles, and home audio enthusiasts opt for when building their home’s stereo system. In this guide, we’ll walk you through what hi-fi is and how it can elevate your listening experience in your Atlanta, GA home.

SEE ALSO: Looking to Upgrade Your High-End Audio Rig?

Lighting is a crucial element in designing your ideal home environment. You probably have lights all around your home, but how customized are they? Do they add convenience to your day-to-day routine and allow you to create ambiances with the touch of a button?

Installing a Ketra tunable lighting system in your Alpharetta, GA, home can give you all the above benefits and more. Here are three ways Ketra lighting can help you achieve the perfect lighting.

SEE ALSO: GHT Group Adds Home Lighting Design Services

Note: More than a year after we originally drafted this blog, voice control has taken an even more prominent role in today’s smart homes. Clients rely on voice control technology to search for information or ask their home assistants to perform certain actions. For example, maybe you’re cooking and want to brighten the lights, but your hands are busy. Just ask your virtual assistant for help, and you’ll notice the room brighten in seconds. However, in the past, you had to mind your diction and use exactly the right words for your assistant or voice control app to understand you.

But that’s not how humans speak on a regular basis. Sometimes we jumble words, ask something in a more obtuse manner, or simply speak with an accent. Your voice control should be built to accommodate that. Josh.ai revolutionized the industry by creating the first home assistant with natural language processing capabilities. Keep reading to see how that function works in real life and why we highly recommend Josh.ai voice controlled home automation for your Alpharetta or Metro Atlanta residence.

Note: We drafted this wildly popular blog last year and generated a lot of curiosity about this McIntosh preamplifier. Now that you’re at home, and you rely on home audio and entertainment for your lifestyle, it’s time to take a second look at the McIntosh C2700.

Many would describe the McIntosh lineup as “iconic,” largely due to its glossy design, vintage logo and time-tested sound quality. Not to mention, they have built a sonic legacy since they started in 1949 and have continued to develop their product offerings since. Fast-forward to the 2020s, and McIntosh keeps making audio technology that never fails to seem modern. That’s why the brand is still a trusted source for speakers, amps, receivers and preamps alike. Keep reading to learn more details about their C2700 preamplifier and the specific features you’ll appreciate for many years.

Note: We first wrote this high-performing post in summer of 2019 and have since updated it to fit the times. And yes, though one year has passed since we drafted this article, soundbars still don’t generate as much praise from audio enthusiasts as some other sound technologies, like, say, architectural speakers.

However, few can deny the convenience of connecting one speaker to the TV and hearing impressive sound. And when you witness the state-of-the-art craftsmanship like the Klipsch Heritage Soundbar, we think you’ll respect their capabilities. If you’ve never tried a Klipsch product before, we consider this speaker a great introduction to how superior engineering can do more with less volume.

These days, home entertainment consumes much of our days. We might wish for more media in more spaces; the easier the better. Maybe you have the full surround-sound configuration in your dedicated home theater but want something simpler to connect when you view movies in your bedroom. Keep reading to see why Klipsch’s soundbar might make you reevaluate soundbars altogether.

Home theaters are the best way to enjoy movies, TV shows, documentaries, sports games, and even video games from the comfort of your own home. There’s no more need to drive to the theaters to watch something on a large screen with crisp detail and immersive surround sound — that can now be achieved right at home.

One of the best things about owning a home theater is customizing the design, layout, and technology. With the help of a professional and experienced home theater company, you can build an excellent home theater. Here are four benefits of having a custom home theater in your Sandy Springs, GA, home.

Note: We originally wrote this popular blog post last year, before COVID-19 became part of every discussion and the stay-at-home lifestyle became mainstream. No one knows how long this pandemic or these stringent social distancing mandates will last, so it doesn’t surprise us that searches for smart home automation, lighting, integrated security systems and more have skyrocketed lately.

One of our favorite smart home systems, Control4, will elevate your at-home experience with its unparalleled convenience, seamless integration, and abundant security and entertainment features -- capabilities that you’ll appreciate both now and after this passes. Why should you work with a Control4 provider to make your time at home more pleasant? And how can you get started with a step-by-step approach, instead of building a top-to-bottom integrated home experience? Control4 offers impressive product updates year after year to make it more competitive in a crowded market. Keep reading for some of our favorite automation perks and how to bring them to your Georgia home.

As we all know, the current COVID-19 health crisis has presented significant challenges to everyone. With Georgia now officially under stay-at-home orders, home life has all family members under one roof pursuing typical activities at the same time – work, school, entertainment, and staying in touch with friends and family.

This time may bring about some new stresses on home life, but we have some technology solutions that may help. GHT Group has always maintained that smart home automation offers a variety of important benefits in various areas, including security and safety, comfort, efficiency, and even wellness. If you have some aspects of smart home technology in your home, you may already appreciate that. If you don’t, we have some solutions that you can consider to make this time a little easier. GHT Group is still open for business and available to help with your home technology needs.

How can home automation help with this period in your Johns Creek, GA home? Read on for some ideas.

Note: We originally wrote this blog in 2018, long before anyone started talking about this novel coronavirus that affects so many lives now. Now more than ever, it feels relevant to discuss how we can make our outdoor spaces more enjoyable for our families. And when this pandemic passes, we will finally get to enjoy our outdoor lighting and video with extended groups of people once again.

Many people know about Coastal Source’s many outdoor audio options but don’t know that it’s also a premier home lighting design provider. In this blog, we’ll remind you of the beauty and functionality built into outdoor lighting and why you should prioritize it for your Georgia home. You’ll learn how a Coastal Source system can highlight your architecture so that passers-by can appreciate it on their nightly walks through the neighborhood. You’ll also discover why lighting control is a key safety feature. Keep reading to explore why lighting and audio are even more important today than when we originally wrote this article.

Spring is here in the Atlanta area.  While our winters are fairly mild, we all look forward to spending time outdoors.  In the South, you can beat the humid heat on a lazy Sunday by floating or frolicking in the pool.  Or perhaps you just like relaxing on a chaise, in the shade, with a good book and a sweet iced tea. Think that sounds enjoyable? Just add music to elevate this experience to the mental retreat we all need now.

We originally wrote this popular blog article during a much more pleasant time, the summer of 2018, before anyone talked of this new coronavirus. The current COVID-19 pandemic, which has afflicted much of Northwest Georgia, casts a shadow over even this outdoor merriment. However, if we’ve learned anything these past few weeks, it’s how therapeutic our outdoor time can be after being cooped up indoors all day.

Whether you’re spending time chilling with pets and family on your patio or getting some exercise in your pool, everything feels more enjoyable when you add music. However, simply adding any speakers you find on Amazon Prime isn’t enough. You’ll need Atlanta’s premier AV installer to help you choose and install the best speakers for your patios, yards and pools.

A couple of times, you may have seen us mention the "golden age of audio" on these pages. It's because we can't think of a time when there have been more choices in quality audio equipment. It's not only choice but incredible sound quality that can be had from a wide array of equipment.

When it comes to outdoor sound systems for your Atlanta-area home, the same holds true. There are so many excellent options in speakers, control systems, amplifiers, and more for outdoor sound that we can’t cover them all in one blog; we can only tell you about a few.

In this blog, we'll cover three types of outdoor speakers from three of our favorite brands in the hope of giving you some ideas on how to amp up your outdoor sound. Given the current environment where you may be spending extended time at home, why not consider spicing up the outdoor entertainment to make it a little more enjoyable?

We’ve discussed the merits of Crestron home automation systems at length in the past. Crestron is the company that is practically synonymous with automation in both the residential and commercial spaces. For some smaller residential applications, Crestron solutions had the reputation of being complex to integrate, as the system had many options.

Several months ago, Crestron introduced OS 3, a redesigned automation system aimed at making a home automation system easier for a homeowner to use and for integrators like GHT Group to install. In truth, OS 3 was not radically new; it was an evolution and improvement over the Pyng system that they had introduced a few years earlier that added many modern features to Crestron automation.

It’s important to understand Crestron’s approach to home automation. They are a company that designs and tests all their own equipment and software, not merely designing equipment that is manufactured offshore. When it comes to the software, the ability to control a home remotely through the internet also means being able to do it with the utmost security and privacy. 

If you have multiple homes, like your primary residence in Brookhaven and a cabin in Blue Ridge in the Georgia mountains, Crestron OS 3 is an ideal solution for managing your homes securely. Read on to learn more.