News
August 17, 2010
By Mark Elson
Many talented sales people may reach the top of the charts for a month or two, just like some rock bands. But what does it take to become a true rock star in sales—and stay at the top?
The following article by sales maven, Jeffrey Gitomer, equates the best sales folks with rock legends. Why? A true rock star is a leader with well-respected talent. He or she can harmonize with everyone in the band, and his or her audience identifies with the star’s song lyrics. He knows the business, his fans love him, they’ll pay to see him play and he’s consistently proven himself over time.
August 17, 2010
By Mark Elson
Just because you don’t see big bass and treble knobs jutting out from the front panel of a luxury A/V product doesn’t mean it lacks powerful tone-control: The newest tone-control circuitry is powerful, as well as discreet.
All good audiophiles know that balancing room acoustics and proper speaker placement can be a challenge, but today’s newer digital circuitry is designed to address many of these thorny issues—such as maximizing sound for multiple listeners seated throughout a room. Room equalization, an expensive option of yesteryear, is now de rigueur.
August 16, 2010
By Mark Elson
In a recently published report, Quixel Research-a home theater market research firm-revealed that volumes for the LED-LCD TV category rose 105 percent from Q1 2010 to Q2 2010, and 875 percent from Q2 2009 to Q2 2010. (Compare this to CCFL-LCDTV segment, which was up only 3 percent from Q1 2010 to Q2 2010 and declined 25 percent from Q2 2009 to Q2 2010.) "The LED segment was finally in full swing in the second quarter," says Quixel Principal Tamaryn Pratt. "The lead LED brands have broadened their LED offering in sizes as well as price points. After a full year in the market, there are plenty of choices and consumers like what they see."
August 16, 2010
By Mark Elson
Video projectors are perhaps the most demanding home-entertainment category when it comes to heavy engineering and design. Unlike amplifiers, whose wattage specifications are governed by the FTC, video projector performance can't always be determined by bigger numbers on the tech spec sheet. A case in point: There are numerous ways to measure contrast ratio-and even the most elite projectors may not have the most impressive numbers on paper. In order to judge a projector effectively, overall design and performance has to be taken into consideration.
August 13, 2010
By Richard Frank
After a 1,000 miles of driving to see more than two-dozen California Leon Speaker dealers one week in June, what were the significant lessons learned? I hit the bricks with Leon founder, Noah Kaplan, and visited a variety of dealers in sunny CA for serious discussions about market conditions, business techniques, business management and the role of strategy in business.
The profile of these dealers ran the gamut from brick-and-mortar high-end two-channel experts with decades of experience, to young techies with iPads that were full of pictures and programs and no offices.
August 13, 2010
By Mark Elson
August 13, 2010
By Mark Elson
Blogger R. Bhargava reports on the success of Steven Singer, who owns Philadelphia's smallest jewelry store (8-feet-by-8-feet). His permanent slogan, "I Hate Steven Singer," (ihatestevensinger.com,) is used in every marketing endeavor, from radio to billboards, speaking to Singer's necklace and bracelet alternatives as stalling tactics to grooms who want to delay purchase of "the ring." Singer's catchphrase not only fuels a natural curiosity-which is satisfied only when inquiring minds explore-but it gives Singer solid contact with potential customers. How? While most jewelers cater to women, Singer focuses on the "other" market-the guys. The underlying message: "We understand." To learn why people hate Steven Singer, and to read the complete article,
click here:
August 12, 2010
By Mark Elson
According to members of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and staff at Princeton University, ever-increasing video programs-all of which compete within limited Internet bandwidth-are deteriorating the quality of the video. This is something every computer user has encountered.
One of the solutions proposed is "Content-Aware Distortion-Fair (CAF). This algorithm allocates available bandwidth during periods of high congestion by applying a frame-drop distortion metric, which maximizes video playback. When sharing resources-such as bandwidth, the video clips can help each other to get a fair quality-of-service or less-perceived distortion (i.e., lazy sequence helps out busy sequence).
