We were pretty excited to see that suburban Boston-based Audio Concepts was opening a shop right in the heart of the city, across the street from Boston University to go along with its North Attleboro location, which we wrote about back in October. Last month we went back for a Grand Opening tour, and can report that it delivers much more than its name suggests.

Oh, there’s plenty of good audio to take in, including everything from affordable multiroom solutions such as Sonos to higher-end gear like B&W, McIntosh and Classe. And there are plenty of concepts, as in the concepts of media rooms, dedicated theaters and home control.

As design consultant Spencer Kalker took me around Audio Concepts, and proud owner Don Houde showed other guests this showroom gem, I also saw loads of lighting, seating, furniture and interior design ideas that ought to give people plenty to think about as they stroll through.

The natural tour takes you from vignette to vignette, ranging from simple media setup to kitchen to gaming area to small media room to larger ones and ultimately a dedicated home theater complete with superwide CinemaScope film presentation. Rooms include Crestron home control, so at the press of a button or two you can see how commands of lights, shades, A/V and more are engaged.

“We created very modest sized, simple spaces to show people, here’s what you can do,” says Kalker. “The whole idea [in many of the rooms] is that you don’t have to have a giant space to make it work.”

There are traditional-looking TV walls, too, for your comparison shopping, but the focus definitely leans more toward the “Concepts” in Audio Concepts. Click here to take a slideshow tour of Audio Concepts.

Arlen Schweiger - Editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen writes about home technology installations and product news and reviews for electronichouse.com and Electronic House magazine.