Audio News for March 18, 2008

Color-Match Your Home Electronics – Here’s a service that fits right into our last Audio News about bad taste home electronics that stick out like sore thumbs:  A HT dealer in Rochester MN is offering a new service called Hü which will paint your TV, receiver or whatever in a matching hue to the paint swatch you have provided them for your room.  Any standard paint swatch from any paint can be matched to compliment your room’s decor. You can blend your flat screen into the color of your wall if you wish. You can shop online to set up the customization at leisure.  The component you choose is sent to their sate of the art facility where it gets a professional high-gloss or matte finish in the proper color, with an average lead time of two weeks. You will be able to step out of the days of silver and black into a shade that blends in.

Festival Son & Image Next Month –  The annual French Canadian Hi-Fi Show, Festival Son & Image, takes place in Montreal from Thursday April 3rd thru Sunday April 6. This year instead of mounting their own NYC show, Stereophile Magazine is endorsing the Montreal show instead. It is now the only consumer electronics show on the east coast of North America, and will have over 120 brands represented. The event will be held at the Sheraton Centre, 1201 René-Lévesque Boulevard West in Montreal.  Details at www.fsiexpo.com

Dynamic Level Adjustment in Multiroom Speakers – A manufacturer of high end home AV signal routing and distribution products for custom installers exhibited their Dynamic Level Adjustment (DLA) audio routers at the recent EHX 2008 Exhibit in Orlando Florida. ATON’s DLA speaker level audio routers provide a cost-effective way to quickly set up multiroom systems with remote volume control, or to add up to six rooms to an existing system.  Levels and on/off switching can be controlled from the routers directly, or from RF or IR remotes or Touchpad controls in the walls.

Latest on “Greening” Your Home Electronics – Power off all those you reasonably can. Get a power strip for kitchen gadgets with digital clocks or timers and turn them off when not being used. Power off your computer and all its accessories at night and when not in use, but use the proper software to do the “janitorial” work on your CPU which occurs automatically in the wee hours if left on. Unplug the wall warts of all gadgets that you’re not using.  Use your dishwasher – it’s greener than hand washing. And change all the bulbs in your house except the dimmable ones to compact fluorescents. (The dimmable bulbs are not yet ready for prime time.)

MusicDirect Featured in American Express TV Commercial – Online disc and component retailer MusicDirect was selected to be showcased on a commercial for the American Express Plum Card, which runs for several months on national TV.  They had to rush $500,000 worth of equipment to a CBS soundstage in one week for shooting the commercial.  Many of the young producers and directors were awed by the equipment – especially the turntables. Many didn’t know that turntables were still available.  MusicDirect reported their analog sales have grown 300% in the last three years. They feel the vinyl revolution is exploding into the mainstream.