Featured Artist System: Jon Huertas, Actor/Philanthropist, Castle, Generation Kill, This is Us

A great performer demonstrates talent across many creative mediums and is appealing to a range of audiences, much like a great sound system should render music, movie, TV and other audio with equal precision and impact.

TV/movie actor, writer, director, musician and philanthropist Jon Huertas is that “well-rounded threat” of an entertainer. After connecting with fellow actor and SVS owner, Greg Grunberg, he decided to upgrade a spare room in his house with an Ultra Bookshelf 5.1 surround sound system anchored by an SB-2000 subwoofer.

Huertas started performing in elementary school where his vocal skills made the strictest nuns at his school shed a tear. During his early adult years, he honed his talents while serving in the Air Force and as part of an R&B group. These days you likely know Huertas are as Det. Javier Esposito on the ABC hit television series Castle or from his portrayal of Sgt. Antonio ‘Poke’ Espera in HBO’s Emmy-Award winning miniseries Generation Kill. He recently released a solo album and also serves as an “Animal Ambassador” to promote conservation for Wildlands Network.

Audio and music have long been a passion of Huertas’, but the recent upgrade to an SVS system was revealing even to this accomplished entertainer. Jon took a few minutes away from his schedule to discuss audio and life with us.

Questions And Answers:

What inspired you to upgrade your audio system?

As technology improves, so will my system. I love tech so when an SVS system was described to me by Greg Grunberg, and he told how much he loved the sound, I knew I wanted to upgrade. I already had surround sound in both my living room and bedroom, but I have another viewing area that was not outfitted with an audio system, so I wanted to extend that experience.

How has having an SVS home theater system changed your listening experience at home?

The SVS system just offers more energy and better dynamics than my other two rooms. It’s not even the biggest or nicest room, but the sound is just so much more lively, and the subwoofer has made such a huge difference that I usually retreat there whenever I really want to dial in.

What impact has the subwoofer had?

The bass from the SB-2000 is richer and fuller than any I have ever owned or heard. I love coming across sounds in music and movies that I never knew were there because I never had a sub that would go that low or reveal that level of detail. It’s like enjoying it for the first time.

As an entertainer, how important is sound quality to you? Why?

Sound Quality is paramount to watching or listening to the piece as intended. A lot of time, effort and work is put into mixing the sound design, music and numerous tracks that compose audio media. As an artist or producer, I want audiences to hear the audio as it was meant to be. It’s a disservice to the work if it’s not on a system that supports it.

Any projects you’re involved in at the moment?

I just finished Bloodline. What an incredible show! The actors on this show are just amazing – each delivered such well-crafted performances. And the way the story was told… absolutely genius.

Why did you get involved with the Wildlands Network cause?

Wildlife needs our help…It seems to me that for many many years, humans have been dominating and taking from our wildlands which is very important to the overall ecosystem that we and animals must co-exist in. It’s the responsibility of the more evolved to educate and enlighten people that don’t realize that we are depriving our wonderful North American Wildlife of resources and habitat in which they need to survive. One of the reasons I love this country is because of its wildlife…I don’t want to see us as Humans destroy it.

You seem pretty ambitious, where does that drive come from?

The drive comes from having the ability to evoke a raw emotional response from an audience with my performance. It’s very enlightening and rewarding to affect someone with a performance to the point of laughing or crying…it reveals to me the innocence we all still possess no matter how old we may get.

Anything else cool you’re working on that you want to share with SVS fans?

My friend and onscreen partner Seamus Dever have a new music project called Shay-Jean. We’ve released a single through Sony called “Definition of Love.” The official music video is available exclusively on the Season 7 DVD set of “Castle” and the single is available on ITunes and every other digital platform. We’ll be releasing three more singles of the next 7 months and then the whole album. So listen to it on an SVS sound system!