Your contractor should have a lot of knowledge and experience of installing home theater systems. You should never just hire someone to set everything up for you and leave. You need to find someone who comes with a significant level of audio/visual experience. If the contractor doesn't have this type of experience, then you may be better off finding someone else to do the work for you.

Always get an estimate from the contractor before you hire him or her. You should never just accept an estimate at face value, either. Try to get estimates from a few different contractors. This can help in a couple of ways. First, you may find a better deal with a better contractor this way. Second, you may be able to use a lower price from one contractor to bring the price down with another contractor.

You should only work with contractors who have references from previous clients. These references will allow you to learn about the professionalism and skill of the contractor before you put a deposit down. This could end up saving you a lot of time, frustration, and money.