Step inside AVIQ’s spacious new showroom on University Drive, and you become immersed in a unique blend of the nostalgic charm of a traditional brick-and-mortar high-end audio store, with the modern experience of exploring cutting-edge music and video reproduction technologies.
It’s an experiential showroom and educational hub, where visitors can discover details, previously unheard and unseen, in recorded music and video when played on exceptional, properly-tuned systems. It’s a shared vision by three Huntsville friends who came together in 2019 to create AVIQ, Mike Burleson, Chip Bowen and Bryan Bentley. “Mike and I have worked together for years in the home audio and automation industry, and Bryan has been a loyal customer and friend to us both,” said Chip. “We feel that Huntsville is uniquely poised to support a unique, high-end retail business that will draw from the entire southeast.”
AVIQ features unique products from Great Britain, Scandinavia, the U.S.A., and France. The 10,000 square foot showroom offers an unparalleled opportunity to audition top-brand audio equipment and world-class home theatre systems before making a purchase. “Our showroom boasts four home theatre setups, including an eleven-seat enclosed room with a high-end Cinemascope projection system and a 157” professional Stewart screen,” Mike added. “But the most nostalgic touch is our two private listening rooms where customers can compare combinations of speakers, amplifiers (both tube and solid state), turntables, and accessories to ensure they find their perfect setup.”
Perhaps the most impressive addition to their offerings is the stylish Focal powered by Naim boutique inside the store. Focal, a high-end French speaker company, and Naim, an exclusive audio component manufacturer, came together to create their upscale boutiques in a limited number of world-renowned cities, including Paris, Berlin, Monaco, Beijing, Taipei, Las Vegas, Scottsdale and Miami. “We think it’s really special that Focal/Naim chose AVIQ and Huntsville to open their eleventh U.S. boutique,” said Bryan. “You won’t find Focal powered by Naim in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham or Memphis…you’ll have to come here – and people are doing just that. We’ve only been in the showroom for a year, and we already have customers coming regularly from five states.”
Their Focal/Naim Boutique is a store-within-a-store, bathed in luxurious earth tones, accented with bold splashes of color. Inviting, comfortable Scandinavian seating is scattered throughout the boutique as well, to provide a pleasant listening environment. Visiting and listening is very much encouraged throughout the store. And with the resurgence in vinyl records, AVIQ has an impressive vinyl library with artists as diverse as Pink Floyd, Dave Brubeck, Muddy Waters, Chris Stapleton, Steely Dan and more.
But customers are asked to bring their favorite vinyl in, too, and hear it like they may never have. You can’t help but notice how the entire staff is passionate about good music. In addition to their years of experience in audio and video, the members of their team have also worked as musicians, recording engineers and live sound technicians. You’ll often hear them comparing notes about live music events that they’ve attended…and that’s resulted in an area of the store dedicated to preserving Huntsville’s impressive resume of live acts that have performed here over the past sixty years or so. That passion for good music results in a joyful customer experience.
You won’t find Focal powered by Naim in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham or Memphis…you’ll have to come here – and people are doing just that.