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Hallmark-type TV stories have become common.  But this story struck a chord.  It’s about a Dad, a coal miner with soot still on his face, who shows up for his son.  It brought back memories of my Dad,  You can select this LINK to the story. My Dad (photo) may not have had soot on […]

North America’s Great Lakes are more sea than a lake.  Bygone ships that sank in the Great Lakes make for intriguing sea/lake lore. Here’s an example of a long-lost 120-year-old Lake Superior shipwreck from the Detroit Free Press – Link. In 1976, Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” hit #2 on the Billboard chart. […]

Someone erroneously speaks, but you lack an immediately warranted rebuttal.  Later in a quiet moment, the perfect response reveals itself.  Yeah, but that ship sailed.  But every once in a while, you get it right. It’s like connecting the sweet spot with a fastball.  It’s like striking the perfect resonant chord on a guitar.  It’s […]

69% of Gen Z and 51% of boomers are fed up with retail giants.*  That’s the finding of an ActiveCampaign survey. ActiveCampaign offers marketing services for small & medium-sized businesses (SMBs).  Although the survey may include an SMB bias.  My SMB’s limited empirical evidence accepts their finding. This is great news for small retailers.  It’s […]

The online marketing magazine, The Drum, repaid a visit to an age-old problem, taking an advertising slogan global.  For example, Bensi, Mercedes Benz’s advertising name for Chinese consumers, translates as “rush to your death.” The 1970s Coors slogan, “Turn it loose,” promoted its new twist-off cap translates in Spanish-speaking countries to “Drink this, and you’ll […]

In the mid-20th Century, the “Banned in Boston” label became a valuable promotional tool for publishers, studios, recording labels, and agents of books, movies, music, and comedians.  I admire and respect how the label of censorship flipped to the label of endorsement. The Puritans of Boston’s Watch and Ward Society had engaged and enforced censorship […]

“DEIB is an important business issue?” I’m a gray-hair raised in working-class culture. I recently found this acronym DEIB. And I didn’t have a clue what it meant. I found an explanation. It stood for Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Belonging. I also found the following statement; “Initiating DEIB policies are among the most important initiatives […]

Locals and tourists pass by this Napa California sidewalk monument daily. Like many ignored sidewalk/roadside monuments, it marks a historical figure. This concrete and metal fixture pays homage to the history of audio pioneer Peter L. Jensen. Peter Jensen is much to audio as Henry Ford is to the automobile. I was reminded of his […]

The Mounkes Method is a subject I periodically replay.  If I had to pass only one practical-audio-setup application to friends, this is it.  It is an entry-level audiophile tweak that squeezes more performance without spending a dime. Many moons ago, my late friend Steve Mounkes introduced me to a simple stereo speaker placement method.  He […]

I received a YouTube link from my daughter to an SXSW keynote-speech, by former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl. In the 70s & 80s, I tuned in to the descendants of the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, Richie Furay’s & Jim Messina’s POCO, Chris Hillman’s & Graham Parsons’ […]

Grayscale Accurate luminance reproduction precisely ascends and scales, from absolute black to specified white light.  It’s a scale or grayscale that generates accurate colors, much as audio frequency response generates musical timbre.  The grayscale is a prerequisite for high-performance HDR UltraHD video reproduction. Contrast The contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest and darkest […]

Custom AV is in good shape. Home theater system sales have spiked. Nearly half of all installations include multiroom distribution with 4 zones, 8 loudspeakers, which included an outdoor zone. Outdoor Speaker System | Have more fun. Outdoor backyard audio issues are similar to an outdoor concert. The lack of reinforcement from indoor boundaries significantly […]

I read a Forbes.com story by a corporate ad agency CEO. He used wordy big-corp price-enhancing vocabulary. For example, he referred to his ad agency as a “demand generation agency.” Yet his ultimate point was valid and relevant. Word-of-mouth, a low-cost-powerful-effective–method, increases sales. It was not news to me.  In 1973 my business mentor declared, […]

The Magic Window Your TV screen is a flat two-dimensional magic window.  Increasing video resolution, expanding color volume, and a faster frame rate extend the magical illusion.  The best magic windows attempt to convince us the window is reality.  Does UHD 8K TV expand the magic window? Pixels At a comfortable viewing distance, it’s hard […]

A speaker back-box can be used to protect an architectural in-wall/ceiling speaker from construction insulation and/or comply with commercial fire codes.  And if the box is also audio-engineered for the speaker, you’re good.  However, a generic back-box can severely compromise audio performance. I sourced the following information from reputable manufacturers*, plus my 5 decades of […]

Part 4 of 4 Goodbye LCD Your video source defines potential possible performance.  Connected AV components and interconnecting cable must allow the video to pass unaltered.  Your TV determines the ultimate result.   OLED & IOLED The organic light-emitting diode’s contrast ratio has led OLED TV to the high-performance leader.  Advanced inorganic light-emitting diode technology, IOLED, […]

Part 3 of 4 UltraHD (referred to as 4K) quadruples video resolution from about two million HDTV pixels to more than eight million pixels.  That’s good.  Pixel count is easy to explain, but difficult to see.  8K UltraHD doubles UltraHD (UHD) resolution, which quadruples the number of UHD pixels.   Again, the pixel-count is easy to […]

Part 2 of 4 I travel a strip of historic US40 almost daily.  Long ago, the interstate highway system drove the old highway off the road map as an obscure alternate route.  Remnants of its past still lie in the trees and brush at the side of the old road — the foundation of a […]

(1st of 4 parts) Virtual events, trade-mags, and web-search cannot replace personal meetings with friends and reps.  Trade shows, product seminars, and distributor events, and our sales reps are primary sources of industry news and first-hand product information.  I count on their hands-on experience to separate noise from meaningful information.  This hands-on exchange of information […]

Keeping pace with our industry and technology is essential.  Reliable sources of information and instruction are needed.  We must maintain a solid foundation in the basics of audio and video, which are too often assumed.  More on that soon.  Primary resources include industry associations, manufacturers, and distributors.  For example, CEDIA offers training at a cost.  […]