At the DSI Entertainment Systems showroom in West Hollywood, CA, there’s everything you’d want an A/V boutique to carry: flat-panel TVs, blow-your-socks-off speakers and cool controls. Like many A/V firms, DSI has chosen to showcase its systems and installation handiwork in a setting that looks more like a high-end apartment than a standard shelf-lined brick-and-mortar store. It’s a style that enables homeowners to picture technology in their own homes, says DSI systems designer Josh Colletta.

Inside the 1,200-square-foot DSI showroom you’ll find a fully functioning kitchen, family room, bathroom and a home theater, each complete with furniture, artwork and appliances. In DSI’s case, finding and outfitting its home-style store with these amenities was a simple matter of visiting a few neighbors.

Lucky enough to be located in a well-known arts district, DSI shares a shopping courtyard with several high-end furniture (Phyllis Morris at Circafurniture.com) and kitchen and bath (Snyderdiamond.com, Studiosnaidero.com) galleries. In return for a DSI music system, high-def TV or architectural lighting system, many of the galleries have contributed some of their own wares to the electronics showroom. “In furniture alone, we probably have close to $120,000 worth of product,” says showroom manager Aaron Gutin. He says it’s an arrangement that’s helped generate more business for everyone. “When people see a particular piece of furniture they like, we’ll send them down the street to the furniture gallery,” says Colletta. “If someone likes the look of the 60-inch plasma TV on the wall at the furniture gallery, they’ll send them our way.” Most of the gallery partners specialize in high-end products, giving the DSI showroom a modern, distinctive flair that proves that technology can be stylish.

Lisa Montgomery - Contributing Writer

Lisa Montgomery has been writing about home technology for 15 years, with a focus on the impact of electronics on a modern lifestyle.