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We recently celebrated our 6th anniversary here in Florida. Throughout this period, we have continued to evolve, always striving to better serve the needs and wants of our many customers. It has proven useful to periodically summarize our products and services for both our new and old customers. This not only helps everyone to find the products and services they need, it can also serve to introduce products and services that you may not have known are available here. And so we invite you to read and explore....and discover just how much of a resource we can be. And, by the way, this is THE Newsletter to pass along to your friends and relatives who may be looking for help with their audio and video needs.

We believe that 2-channel still delivers the best and most realistic and enjoyable reproduction of music. We've assembled an outstanding variety of loudspeakers from the very affordable to the highest state-of-the-art, to bring the most engaging music possible to your home.

Here's a simple truth: if a speaker can reproduce music well, it will reproduce movie soundtracks with ease. The fact is that with movies, your attention is focused on the story as it's laid out on the screen. With a music-only system, however, your attention is purely focused upon the sound. While a shift in focus will allow lesser speakers to serve adequately in a home theater, any home theater speaker system needs to do several things well. It must bring you excellent dialog reproduction, a realistic soundstage that supports the video, and believable effects; and, of course, it doesn't hurt for it to be able to bring the beautiful music that many soundtracks have. With the advent of Blu-ray DVDs, we now also have high-resolution audio that we haven't had with movies before. All of this adds up to the fact that a good home theater speaker system should, first and foremost, sound good with music. All of the speakers we present for home theater use do this in spades!

It's the rare movie these days that does not have some significant low frequency sounds on its soundtrack. The point of home theater, of course, is to replicate the Theater movie experience at home. To do that, you really need to be able to reproduce those low frequencies with as much impact, accuracy and articulation as possible. There are plenty of one-note subs out there. They'll give you a big BOOM, but little if any of the shades and nuances of the recorded bass effects (and don't get me started on the need for articulate bass for music!). A good subwoofer will not only give you huge impact, but it will also reproduce all of the subtleties and gradations of low frequency audio (the shadings of distant thunder, the slam of an explosion with accurate and realistic reverberation and decay—to mention just a couple of relevant examples). We understand all of this and we have the products to get it right for you.

For music, stereo is still the home audio reproduction standard. While every piece of gear and every cable that enters the audio signal path will impact the sound, the heart of the system is your amplifier. The amplifier is the piece responsible for taking the audio signal, boosting its level and driving the speakers. A great amp can make good speakers sound very good and mediocre ones sound good. Great speakers, on the other hand, will reveal all of the flaws in a poor amplifier. So, get the amp right and build from there. You'll thank me later.

We have another bias: we want music to sound as much like live music as possible. Live music sounds rich and warm and full of detail, dynamic contrasts and colors. Your home stereo should sound like that too. To make this work right, you have to have a proper matching of speakers and amplifier. A miss-match, no matter how good each individual element is, just won't deliver the goods. That said, a properly matched tube amplifier delivers more of what we want in sound reproduction than is available from solid-state gear. Okay, that's an opinion and it's really okay to have a different opinion, but this one is ours. Accordingly, we represent some of the very finest tube amplifiers on the planet.

Our bias for tubes not withstanding, solid-state electronics have come a long way over the years and some brands and models have reached a level of musicality that is truly worthy. And, with certain very tough loudspeakers (electrostatics, plannar speakers and some others) you really must use a solid state amp in order to get them to behave and perform to their potential. Also, sometimes a tube amp is just not appropriate for a particular application. And sometimes you just want something that'll put out some power without costing a bunch. So, in addition to tube amps companies, we represent brands that design and manufacture solid state amplifiers that meet our high standards for musical reproduction.

Vinyl Rules! Okay, it takes a commitment to get the most out of an LP. It takes some care and feeding, but the results, many feel, are more than worth that small price. We agree with that viewpoint. A well recorded LP that is properly cleaned and played back on a good turntable system is simply unbeatable. Done right, the LP brings more of the recorded event home for you than any digital source can hope to achieve. Even a rather modest turntable will outperform much more expensive digital players. We offer a broad range of turntables and cartridges to meet the needs of both the entry level (testing the waters) music enthusiast and the most demanding (and affluent!) music lovers.

Vinyl Rules! Yes, but sometimes only digital will do. Not all new music is finding its way onto vinyl these days. You can't download an LP. You can't carry a turntable with you on the road and they definitely frown on bringing turntables to the gym. Also, fortunately, there are some extremely satisfying digital players available these days. It's convenient, it's flexible, it's easy, it can be quite inexpensive. And the latest, digital music servers, are simply very cool. The Escient line of music servers are affordable, incredibly easy and fun to use and they sound great too. As you see, we have some great options for you in the digital realm.

We prefer to watch movies at home. With a good home theater system, movies actually sound better at home than they do in most theaters. Not only does it sound better but it sounds the way you want it to sound. You want more bass? Just crank it up a notch or two. Want the center channel louder? No problem. Want to pause that action while you hit the snack bar (kitchen)? Done. And you can stretch out your legs if you've a mind to. Great fun! And we have some of the finest home theater receivers, preamp/processors and multi-channel amplifiers available.

The level of quality of a good high-resolution TV is almost like looking out a window. The price of very high-quality video is amazingly low these days. But don't be fooled into thinking that all hi-def video is good. Like anything, there are good ones and stinkers. We only sell the good ones!

If it doesn't look good in your home, your spouse will hurt you! Fortunately, AV furniture has kept pace with the development of home theater electronics. We represent some exceptionally nice furniture to house and protect your gear.

Hooking it all together seems like a fairly simple and straightforward task. As fate would have it, though, how you hook it up and with what really does matter. A good system can be severely limited by bad cables. At every price level, we've got some really good ones for you.

Sometimes it's the little things that make the big difference. A great AV system can be severely crippled by a poor room environment. We're dealing with sound; and sound propagates through the air bouncing around inside the walls of our listening rooms where we're sitting and hoping to hear the Rolling Stones, LIVE!...or somebody else. They didn't record that music (or that movie soundtrack) inside a room like yours. But we need to reproduce it as though you were sitting there in front of them as they perform. That's quite a feat. The speakers, electronics and media are doing there best, but it's still your room that creates the final effect on all of that wonderful sound. Treat that room right, and you'll get all that you hoped for when you brought those speakers home. These days there are some very attractive room treatment products that will tame the reverberation, standing waves and other acoustic anomalies most rooms bring to the party.

To add even more to your enjoyment, there are a plethora of fine devices and products that can make your good system great. Good headphones, for example, can keep the peace at home when you really want to crank it up at midnight. Vibration control is another very good thing. A variety of inexpensive products can make the difference between okay sound and exceptional sound. We can help you with any and all of it!

You know your job and you do it well. Designing and installing great audio or home theater systems is our job—we do it well. Today's AV equipment is highly sophisticated and, all too often, complex. Hooking it up right is the simplest part of it. Having the proper tool for the job will save you much money, time and aggravation. Each component in an audio/video system has a job to do. And every component has limitations, strengths and weaknesses. A properly set up system of modest price will sound far better than a very expensive one that is not well matched or set up. This is just a fact of life. There are some excellent audio salesmen at some other shops, but there are also more out there that are clueless. We've had customers who went to other AV stores where they were given advice and system recommendations that simply would not work. The devil is in the details, but you've got to start with the basics. Amps and speakers have to be properly matched! And remember all receivers are not equal. Some have good feature sets, but poor performance. Some have great performance but they won't do everything that you need them to do. And on and on. You don't have the time or inclination (probably) to become fully educated in all of this technology. We do and we have. Whether you want to put in a simple 2-channel system or a full dedicated home theater room, we know how to do it right and we'll stick around long afterwards for your every question and need.

You'll like it better if you take part in creating it. We have everything you could possibly need to put your own audio or home theater system together. If you want speakers in every room or just in your main room and out by the pool, we can help you with advice and products to enable a successful project. We can help you with room treatments, outside volume controls, multi-zone audio systems, remote control systems, and the list just keeps on going. We even have experience designing and building loudspeakers. We can get you all the parts and tools you'll need and help you plan your project. Seriously. If you need to do something involving audio or video in your home, give us a call and we'll help you do it right the first time.

Used audio and video components have a strong market. Dealing with all of the issues associated with finding a customer for your old gear and getting paid for it and getting the product into the buyer's hands safely can be a lot more work and effort than you have the time or inclination to tackle. That's where we can really help. We promote to many hundreds of music lovers, some of whom only buy used gear. Our fees are fair and our service is stellar. So, whether you have something to sell or you're looking for a quality used piece, think of Sweet Home Audio and check our monthly listings. We just might be able to make your day.

We have hundreds of used LPs for sale in our store. We get collections of used LPs periodically. When they come in, we check each LP and grade and price it fairly. Only the good ones make it to the sales floor. We have more LPs than we have room for so we rotate new ones in every few months. Come on in and check out our bins. You might find that recording you've been looking for and you'll certainly have some fun browsing and listening to some great music.

If you already have your gear but it's not sounding right, we can help. As we mentioned before, if an audio or AV system is not set up properly, it won't deliver all that it's designed to deliver and you won't get all that you paid for. If you bought it from us, getting it right comes with the deal and we'll do our very best to help you get it sounding its best. If you got it somewhere else, we'll still be happy to help you get it performing as it should. Our rates are fair and competitive and no one does it better or more thoroughly—no one.

We repair a lot of different products but specialize in tube amps and turntables. If you have a problem with one of these, give us a call. Chances are we'll be able to help you out. If we can't, we can probably point you to someone who can.

We have access to tens of thousands of products! Over the years we have developed very good relationships with a wide range of distributors. Through these fine companies, we can get almost anything that is currently being manufactured for home entertainment use. So, if you need something that's not included in any of our listed brands and products, please don't hesitate to contact us. There is a very good chance that we can get it for you (whatever it is).

It just makes sense, whether you consign with us or buy used gear from us. You save either way. Consignment means great audio gear at a great price. (Read about how to consign with us below.)

Access our Sweet Home Audio On-Line Store from our HOME page (www.sweethomeaudio.com) where a click on the "On-Line Store" tab will take you to the Intro page and Link for the On-Line Store. We've been busily adding new products and information to the site. We have so much more to add, but we're moving closer to having all shelves full.

At consignment businesses, consignment fees typically run as high as 50% and 60%. But we've kept ours at 40% for years.

This is full-service consignment. Full service means we display, advertise, present and demonstrate your gear, just as we do our own new gear. We handle any customer inquiries (send them pictures, specs and other relevant information) and find a buyer; we process the payment and deliver the gear to the buyer; we handle after-purchase questions and issues and mail you a check for the net proceeds from the sale. For full-service consignment, Consignment Option 1, the fee is 40%.

Consignment Level 2 is the same as Level 1, but you keep the gear until it’s sold. We advertise and promote your gear, handle customer inquiries (send them pictures, specs and other relevant information), find a buyer and handle the sale. But once it’s sold, you deliver the item to the buyer yourself. We send you a check for your net proceeds from the sale. For Consignment Option 2, the fee is 25%.

Increase Your Proceeds by 10%: This is simple. If you leave your proceeds from the sale on account with us to apply to your own product purchases here at Sweet Home Audio, we reduce our consignment fee by 10%.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When we sell a used item, we do our very best to represent the product exactly as it is. This is very important! One of our most critical operating principles is that "we deliver what we promise." This is not just a slogan for us but the way we actually operate. When we have the used item here in our store, we can verify the operational status and physical condition of the products. When we don't, we try to get pictures and other information about the items so that we gain confidence that the product is as stated. In these cases, we also delay payment until the buying customer has received the item and verified that it truly is as promised.

Existing agreements: Needless to say (but here it is anyway!), all current consignments that we now have will continue under whatever agreement was made at the time of the consignment. The above Consignment Levels apply to all new consignments. Of course, our policy to deliver what we promise applies to everything we do.

To the very many of you who place your used AV gear with us to sell and to the very many of you who look to us for quality used AV products, we give you a very hearty THANK YOU!

Now it is easier than ever to turn your old gear into cash! Call (727) 446-2505 today!

Demo & Sale Units
Brand	Model	Item Description	List Price	Sale Price

YBA	YC 201	YBA Design YC 201 CD Player with remote - store demo unit	1774.00	1379.00

Plateau	CR-2V	Plateau AV Rack	320.00	199.00
	DA-6A	Plateau AV Rack	380.00	259.00
	Z-5A	Plateau AV Rack	310.00	199.00


Cable & Accessory Sale
Brand Model		Item Description	List Price	Sale Price
Acoustic Research	Wireless Speaker System	900mHz Stereo Wireless Speaker System - demo	299.99	129.99
Home Theater Master	Remote	Programmable universal hand held remote control	350.00	179.00

Consignment Units
Brand Model		Item Description	List Price	Sale Price
Mark Levinson	ML No. 436	Solid State mono block amps 350 watts per channel - great condition	12,500	6,500
Wilson	Watt Puppy 7	Loudspeakers of extraordinary fidelity - silver gray finish - great condition	22,400	12,500
RJS Designs	Satori Subwoofer	6-driver powered subwoofer - vibration cancelling design - deep and articulate bass (NEW, not used)	1,800	1,600
Epos	ELS Subwoofer	Brand new amp! As new condition - excellent with both music and movies	799	579
Thor Audio	TPA-30	Tube mono block amps w/XLR input - world class performance! 30wpc, EL34 tube amps	10090.00	4500.00
Nola	Lotus Elite	Exceptional di-pole high performance loudspeakers - Cherry wood finish -SPECIAL PRICE!!!	4995.00	1999.00
Nola	Lotus Signature	Superior di-pole high performance loudspeakers - Cherry wood finish	12000.00	6450.00
Thiel	CS 2	Floor standing loudspeakers - excellent performance!	1400.00	449.00
Esoteric	RCA Interconnect	High-performance 1 meter RCA-RCA interconnect	150.00	85.00
MB Quartz	QL 1002S	Floor standing loudspeakers - white	2000.00	395.00
Audioplex Tech	ISV-1	Line Level volume attenuators (2 of them - price is for each unit)	125.00	45.00
ASC	Tube Trap	48" by 16" diameter acoustic tube trap (2 available - price is for each unit)	688.00	488.00
Maple Shade	3-Tier Equipment Rack	Maple 3 shelf equipment rack - 23 1/2"x15"x36 1/2"	865.00	495.00
Maple Shade	Shelf	Maple shelf - 24"x25"x1/2"	255.00	149.00
Lafayette	SQR 40	Quadraphonic Receiver with built-in 8-track cassette player - VERY RARE	500.00	50.00
Sony	TC-FX600	Stereo Cassette Recorder	350.00	45.00
Audioquest	Midnight Bi-wire	Audioquest Midnight Bi-Wire speaker cable - 5 meter pair	695.00	125.00
PS Audio	Ultimate Outlet	PS Audio AC Power Ultimate Outlet. 15 Amp	299.00	99.00
Theta	DSP Pro Gen III	Theta Audio DSP Pro Generation III DAC - great unit!	4000.00	795.00
Esoteric	P-2	CD Drive Unit - CD Transport	4000.00	795.00
Advent	Legacy	Classic Advent Loudspeakers recently re-coned and tested - Superb!	750.00	295.00
Niles	HDL-4	Niles HDL-4 speaker selector, selects from 4 pair of speakers	129.00	69.00
Versalab	Red Rollers	RFI filters for interconnects (original box, per pair - 6 pair available)	135.00	69.00
Versalab	Blue Flat Rollers	RFI filters for interconnects (original box, per pair - 1 pair available)	165.00	79.00
Versalab	Wood Block Duplex	Power filters, 1 IEC female to duplex outlet (2 available)	250.00	109.00
Mana	Acoustic Shelf	Mana Acoustic Single Shelf (20" x 19") (2 available)	325.00	145.00
MIT	MI-330 Plus IC	MIT MI-330 Plus RCA interconnects - 1 meter	350.00	150.00
MIT	Z Cord II	MIT Z Cord II Power Cord - 2 meters	299.00	129.00
Cinepro	PowerPro 30	Heavy duty power conditioner- Lowered Price!	2000.00	799.00
Infinity	Kappa 6.1	Excellent floorstanding loudspeakers - black ash finish	1,250	600
Sansui	A-1100	Stereo Receiver	300.00	55.00
Kenwood	KR-A47	Stereo Receiver	240.00	35.00
Sharp	RT-W500	Dual Cassette Recorder	500.00	49.00
Kenwood	SW-500	Subwoofer - 220V unit with 120V converter- Lowered Price!	300.00	39.00
Monitor Audio	Radius 90	Two-way mini-monitors (one white and one black) tiny speakers with a big sound	400.00	167.00
Benjamin Miracord	ELAC 50HII	Turntable with dustcover and cartridge	300.00	125.00
Direct TV	HR10-250	HR10-250 Gigabyte DVR - Lowered Price!	699.00	195.00
Sony	HD 200	HD 200 Sat Satellite receiver - Lowered Price!	799.00	189.00
Phillips	TiVo	TiVo 40616 DVR - Lowered Price!	350.00	45.00
RingMat	330 MK XLR	Turntable platter mat	95.00	65.00
BDI	5-shelf	5-shelf Equip Rack (2 avail - price each)	795.00	300.00
Sansui	SF2	Omni-Radial Sound Field Speaker System - Omni-directional rear loud speaker - floor standing (look like living room end tables)	850.00	195.00

And if you can, come in and check out our shop. We'll be glad to see you! ~Brian & Peggy Rovinsky

Copyright © 2010 Sweet Home Audio

Last modified: April 2, 2010