History

45 years ago we started out with a credo:

“There is no mystery to great sound!”

With the addition of so many new aspects to the wonderful world we service, demystifying great sound, picture and all aspects of smart home automation continues to be our core strength…

K&W Audio is Calgary’s premier high-end Hi-Fi, Home Theater and Home Automation Systems integration shop. We offer a wide range of products and services, from fine audio reproduction technologies including exotic stereo separates, cables and all related music reproduction devices, hard drive and cloud based media servers, private theater design, and custom crafted whole home electronic solutions. From our inception back in 1978, founded by Ken and Wayne, we have been committed to providing you with the best service and advice – along with a complimentary mix of high quality electronic equipment.

Ken and Wayne at the counter in 1978. Wayne is on the left, and Ken is on the right.

Several of our staff members have been in this industry for over 40 years, before we existed, and none of us are wet behind the ears. Our well over 100 years of combined experience ensures we provide a solution that meets, and often exceeds our client’s expectations. Our business has been built on, and continues to thrive on, customer satisfaction. Our experience in designing automated home entertainment systems to fit specific needs, taking into consideration the persons wants, needs and budget is our core strength – and benefit for you.

Darren is our illustrious leader today. He’s been in the business all his life, and started out with Ken & Wayne!

This business has changed dramatically over the past decades, reflecting the huge changes in technology that is a constant in our field. What hasn’t changed are the accompanying needs and desires of our clients based on those rapid changes. Today, our range of services include consultation, design, build, fabrication, delivery, installation, programming, upgrading, and ongoing system maintenance services. That’s a lot. From control system programming, interior/acoustic design, and the latest in residential networking, to providing a really cool, class “A” amplifier based stereo sound system – it’s a increasingly wide range. One area we particularly enjoy providing, is combining audiophile level high performance sound reinforcement with the home theater and whole home entertainment specialty. It’s alwasy a bit stunning when the client fist hears it. With a state-of-the-art product mix of all sorts – including offering in high def projection technologies and related accessories, we can step well beyond a pedestrian flat TV with a sound bar on the wall – and exceed our client’s highest expectations.

“Hand Signals”
Artist – Derek Besant
The Hands Spell The Word DREAM.

OUR ELECTRONIC DESIGN CENTER FOR DEMONSTRATION AND SELECTION

Our role is much more than just supplying services and equipment too. Technology changes almost daily, making it impossible for those not in it full time to keep up with developments. Informing our clients about the possibilities of current technology is vital to ensure that you remain more then satisfied with your system. But importantly, listening to the client and knowing what’s right for them will continue to be the key and most important element to our existence. In that context, we always take a consultative approach, determining your current and future requirements for technology and equipment; hence our Company slogan -“where design & technology meet“.

Lets take a tour…

Entering the shop, you are greeted with an open concept main showroom. Speakers and electronics are displayed for you. Heading toward the rear of the space, you find an area that you can listen to wireless, soundbar and streaming products by Sonos, Bluesound, Yamaha and Marantz. You can listen to them either in concert with stereo and home theater systems, or stand alone.

 A pair of glass French doors next to this space invite you to enter the room. In this room, one discovers McIntosh electronics shown off in a modern open rack playing bespoke Paradigm Persona loudspeakers or some beautiful B&W 800 Diamond series flagships.

This is a serious audio auditioning space, with Auralax room treatments mounted above the gear, facing a black leather Front Row brand couch. Demonstrating several McIntosh amplifier and source combinations, everything from tubes to streaming music can be played for you. This multi-purpose room that can demonstrate daily as a living room or dedicated audiophile stereo listening space.

A dedicated home theater resides in the adjacent room. Soft sponge-painted brown walls with Vicoustic acoustic treatment provide the perfect backdrop for a full high definition Samsung 78″ curved LED 4K TV, with top of the line Marantz 11.2 channel THX ATMOS processing and Paradigm Prestige loudspeakers. A second hidden video system with a JVC 8K projector lighting up a Stewart Phantom HALR screen which descends from a Stewart Filmscreen Cabaret stainless steel case at the touch of button. A Control4 touchscreen effortlessly manages the system, including complete lighting control, with a single touch.

The third room on the main level shows off inlaid design in custom fabric walls, and is decorated in neutral colors using mostly greens and grays. A Samsung 82″ screen-based stealth home theater resides here, with the entire THX Ultra 2 Sound system concealed in the walls behind the beautifully acoustically modeled, and custom designed, fabric wall coverings. It offers the ability to play Totem free-standing speakers, with a choice of electronics from Anthem, Kaleidescape, Marantz, McIntosh, Primaluna and Yamaha.

The retail area has seating for you to comfortably converse with one of our professionals, as well as generous showcasing of electronic accessories. When proceeding up the stairs to the shop’s upper level, will find a display of interesting accessories in a jewel case at the foot of the stairs. A 55-inch 4K Samsung FrameTV, is mounted on the wall flanked by on wall Paradigm SLM speakers, along with a wall mounted iPad touchscreen that via Control4 controls all of the building’s systems. The anticipation begins here. You are on your way to “The Next Level”.

On the second level there are three additional demonstration rooms and a custom home kitchen area. Our master home theater contains the finest home theater components and accessories. A Control4 touch screen control tablet and DBox motion-simulator-equipped plush micro-fiber theater seats put the viewer “in the action.” The quality components used in this room currently include:

• Control4 Control System with Control4 lighting
• Front Row power motion reclining theater seats
• 11 channels of Martin Logan speakers
• Anthem Processing and Amplification
• JVC’s latest Laser 8K native DILA projector
• Panasonic’s finest Blu-ray player
• Dbox Motion Simulator
• Stewart Filmscreen’s 4-way masking screen at 135”
• Martin Logan Reference sub-woofers
• Taurus power management and Audioquest cabling
• Kaleidescape movie and music management system, and
• Bluesound Node 2i High Resolution music streaming
• High Definition TV, Streaming TV and X-Box live complete the smorgasbord.

“If there is a better home theater in terms out right performance or quality of presentation, we haven’t seen it….” Marketnews

Next door to this room is a loft area showing exotic stereo electronics in a home environment. In this convincing living room/ dining area clients can sit down and review their house plans while listening to music, or enjoying a espresso. Here you can listen to high resolution streaming sources, exotic separates and other high-resolution playback components. Among the equipment auditioned here are brand names such as Martin Logan, McIntosh, Bluesound, Totem, Paradigm, Definitive Technology and M&K. The room is decorated in blasted brick, solid surface granite and hardwoods, with a functional dual garage door divider.

The third room, and second theater on this floor, features another home theater room installation to die for. It is decorated in bold sweeps of red and yellow with black accents and conveys a southwestern design flair. This room, which shows a quality fiber-optic star field ceiling and fiber-optic rope lighting, speaks to the high-end of digital home theater systems. It features another Control4 control surface that converts the comfortable living room into a home theater at the touch of one button by dropping the screen, turning on the Marantz Home Theater equipment, setting the heat, dimming the lights, turning on the fiber-optic star field ceiling and rope lighting, while picking up the latest e-mail correspondence. The room demonstrates 8k HDR Laser projection and the latest constant height home theater technology, including the latest JVC, Panamorph and Stewart offerings. This room can be accessed and controlled from any PC or personal electronic device in the building, via the web, or from wall-mounted Control4 touch screens, located at strategic points throughout the building. It accesses uncompressed movies streamed over the LAN at HD resolution from a multi-terabyte Kaleidescape server, located in another area of the building.

The kitchen area is an open concept, in cherry wood, stainless steel and granite. Noted local lighting designer Paul Mercier provided the lighting design for the area. The area’s control system manages lighting, sound, video , security and heating, effortlessly changing the area’s ambiance with a single keystroke. The kitchen is often the center of home life and this area definitely showcases how life is made better with home automation! It even features a small kitchen home office. Multiple different sets of Paradigm and Martin Logan in-wall and in-ceiling speakers can be auditioned here in a realistic setting.

Located in downtown Calgary, our design center showcase’s our ability to create and integrate whole house management systems. The building shows low voltage keypads and intriguing touch screens at locations where one would expect to find conventional light switches, Mac and PC-based media integration, and media server mated with security devices. These lighting and entertainment systems are all managed with a simplicity only recently made possible by Control4 home automation.

These simple, yet powerful, system controllers allow the entire building to go to an intelligent power-saving dormant state, in concert with heating, cooling, lighting, security and video surveillance systems with the press of a single button, labeled “good night”. And the systems we use and show are all applicable to our clients directly. Other “macro-based” features, designed specifically for our company’s unique requirements include a “Staff Meeting” button and “Working Late”. These features show, along with other custom-to-the-application integrated system approaches, that K&W Audio lives what we provide…and we do provide the very best. Come by for a visit and see what possibilities exist!