Common Mistakes to Avoid in AVL Installations

Anyone who has been around live events knows that audio, video, and lighting pull everything together. When they work, people hardly notice; they just enjoy the show. When they don’t, it’s the only thing anyone talks about. That’s why an AVL installation isn’t just about plugging in equipment. 

It’s about planning how sound behaves in a full room, how lights change the mood, and how the video looks from the back row. Skipping details can lead to squeals of feedback, dead spots in the room, or lights that blind the first few rows. 

10 Common Mistakes People Make in AVL Setups

Here are ten mistakes people make far too often and how you can keep from repeating them.

1. Ignoring the Room’s Personality

Every space has quirks. A high ceiling might bounce sound in strange ways. Carpet dulls the sound more than expected. Glass walls reflect light you didn’t think about until it’s too late. Walking the space before unloading a gear truck gives you a sense of what you’re up against. Tap the floor, clap your hands, stand in the corners. It may seem simple, but it tells a lot about how the room behaves.

2. Treating Power as an Afterthought

AVL systems require significant power. Audio racks, lights, video walls – they all pull serious power. Tossing everything into the nearest outlets often leads to buzzing speakers or breakers cutting out mid-show. Planning your power routes ahead of time, even sketching them, avoids that sinking feeling when half the stage suddenly goes dark.

3. Overstuffing the Stage

It’s tempting to pile on equipment. More lights, more monitors, more screens. The problem is that the stage starts looking like a warehouse. Performers feel boxed in, and the audience can’t tell where to look. A stage with breathing room feels sharper and more intentional than one crammed with gear. Less clutter means the focus stays on the performance.

4. Letting Cables Become Chaos

Loose cables are the kind of mistake you only make once. Someone always trips, or a plug pops loose at the worst time. Beyond that, you don’t know which line to check when something stops working. Run cables cleanly, tape them where people walk, and label the ends. It looks neater, saving you from troubleshooting on the floor during the show.

5. Forgetting the Audience’s Perspective

It’s easy to get caught up backstage, staring at control boards and gear. But what does the room actually look like from the seats? Is a spotlight hitting someone in the eyes the entire time? Does a projector screen disappear behind a column? Walk out where the crowd will be. Sit in the back, peek from the sides. If the view doesn’t feel right to you, it won’t feel right to them either.

6. Skipping the Sound Check

Plenty of events start late or stall in the middle simply because nobody tested the equipment properly. A five-minute sound check can catch a dead mic or a bad cable. A quick lighting run shows which corner is still too dark. Skipping rehearsal always feels faster, until you’re trying to fix problems with the audience already watching.

7. Letting Audio Levels Drift

A mix that sounds fine in an empty room doesn’t sound the same when it fills with bodies. Suddenly, the bass gets muffled, or the vocals are cut too sharply. Having someone ride the levels during the show keeps things steady. Otherwise, you’re left with guests holding their ears in one section while others can’t hear clearly at all.

8. Lighting Without Intention

Lighting does more than make things visible. It sets the atmosphere. Too much white light makes everything flat, like a classroom. Angles that cast heavy shadows distract from the speaker or performer. Take time to shift lights, soften edges, and balance colors. The audience may not know why it feels better, but they’ll feel the difference.

9. Forgetting Backup Gear

Something always fails when you least expect it. A wireless mic drops out, a cable loses connection, a bulb burns. Showing up without spares leaves you unprepared when it matters most. Tossing extra cords, batteries, or even a backup laptop in the kit makes the difference between a smooth recovery and an awkward silence.

10. Not Coordinating the Team

AVL is never a one-person job. Lighting cues, audio mixes, and video playback need hands on deck. When roles aren’t clear, things slip. Someone misses a cue, or nobody knows who will fix an issue. A quick pre-show rundown of who handles what avoids that confusion during the event when problems arise.

Conclusion

Most of the problems people run into with AVL aren’t huge disasters. They’re small, avoidable things. A cable was left loose here, a light was aimed the wrong way, and no one was around to double-check the sound. These issues seem minor individually, but together, they disrupt the flow of the entire event.

A good AVL installation isn’t about packing in the fanciest gear; it’s about giving attention to the basics and fixing the details before the crowd ever shows up. When the system holds steady, the technology steps out of the spotlight and focuses on what really matters: the experience unfolding on stage.