It’s Not the Brand. It’s the Build.

What the Arazzi sound system upgrade shows about AV in the Caribbean

By Mike  CTS, CTS-D, CTS-I  |  Streamline Systems Co Ltd

Arazzi is Italian for “tapestries”: many threads woven into a single piece. It’s a fitting name for a venue on Maraval Road that brings a restaurant, a lounge, a patio and a live piano bar together under one roof. Since opening in March 2022, co-owners Riaz Bhagaloo and Colin Mahabir have built Arazzi into one of Port of Spain’s go-to spots for anniversaries, birthdays and nights out.

Bhagaloo has been clear about what gives Arazzi its edge. As he told Newsday, “ambiance and the service… are really what sets it apart.” Sound is a big part of that ambiance, and it’s one guests notice immediately when it’s wrong.

When Arazzi asked Streamline Systems to look at their sound system, they expected the usual verdict: rip it out and start again.

That isn’t what we found. The existing Bose system was in good physical condition. The speakers were fine and the equipment was sound. What held the system back was everything around the hardware: poor workmanship, weak programming, and a setup that couldn’t do what the owners needed.

What they wanted was simple. They wanted full control of their audio, and they wanted to share music from one room to another. The system couldn’t do either.

Fix what’s broken, keep what works

Many integrators would have quoted a full replacement. We didn’t, because the problem wasn’t the equipment.

We kept the original Bose system, cleaned up every termination, and professionally labelled every cable. Then we added only what was missing:

• Two Sonos Ports for streaming music, working alongside the live feed from Arazzi’s piano bar.
• An Alfatron 8×8 matrix, which gives full source and volume control across every zone.
• The Alfatron control app on two iPads and the owner’s phone, so the team can control every zone, source and volume level from anywhere in the restaurant.

In other words, we did what the name suggests: we wove the separate spaces and sources into one system, while letting each area keep its own character.

The staff can now send the live piano to any room, run different music in different spaces, and set the level of each area as the evening goes on. It’s all done from a tablet, with no trips to the equipment rack.

We also put a small touch on the control screen: the app shows the Arazzi brand. The staff love it. It no longer feels like someone else’s equipment. It feels like part of the restaurant.

The result: no downtime, a fraction of the cost

Arazzi didn’t close for a single service. Because we reused as much of the existing equipment as possible, the upgrade cost a fraction of a new system. The owners got the control they wanted, a cleaner and more reliable installation, and an interface their team uses with confidence.

The real problem in Caribbean AV

What we found with the Arazzi sound system is common. Poor workmanship is widespread across the Caribbean. Very few people working in this industry hold AVIXA CTS certification, the recognized professional standard for audio-visual technicians. Cables are rarely labelled professionally. As-built drawings, the documents that show exactly how a system is wired and configured, are hard to find.

That’s why I’ve invested in my own qualifications. I hold AVIXA’s CTS, CTS-D (Design) and CTS-I (Installation) certifications, along with CEDIA certification and a range of manufacturer-specific certifications. These aren’t wall decorations. They set the standard for how we design, install, document and hand over systems.

The result of skipping that standard is predictable. Systems that should work well sound poor. Nobody can troubleshoot them quickly because nobody knows how they were put together. Owners end up replacing good equipment because the real fault, the installation, was never identified.

What to ask before you hire an AV company

If you run a restaurant, hotel, office or venue, here is our advice before you sign with an integrator.

1  Find out what you get at the end.

Ask directly whether you’ll receive as-built drawings, professional cable labels and every system password. Masking tape with marker on it doesn’t count as labelling.

2  Make sure the passwords are yours.

Some integrators in the region hold passwords back after the job is paid for, as if the system still belongs to them. That’s ransom, not service. At Streamline, once a system is paid for, we hand over all drawings and passwords to the client. It’s your system.

3  Ask about a maintenance agreement.

Know what ongoing support costs before you commit. A good system still needs care, and you should know from day one what that will cost.

4  Ask who is doing the work, and what qualifies them.

Ask how many of their staff do this full time, and what certifications they hold. You don’t want someone who fixes cars during the week and DJs on weekends. At Streamline Systems, AV and security integration is what we do all day, every day. It’s our profession, not a side job, and our certifications prove it.

5  Get an assessment before you buy anything.

Arazzi didn’t need a new system. They needed the right diagnosis. Before replacing anything, have a professional look at what you already have.

Don’t be afraid to ask

Streamline Systems doesn’t charge for meetings or basic assessments. If your system isn’t doing what you need, or you’re getting quotes for a new one, ask for a professional opinion first.

And if our quote comes in higher than a competing bid, ask why. The answer is usually in the details: the labelling, the drawings, the programming, the handover and the people doing the work. The Arazzi project shows those details are what make a system work.

Remember when looking at the Arazzi sound system, a tapestry is only as good as the weaving behind it, the same is true of a sound system.

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