Most cars in the last few years have Bluetooth technology built in so you can make hands-free phone calls and listen to satellite radio. But if your car is old-school with only a CD player you can easily upgrade to create an entirely new listening experience to make that carpool line more enjoyable.

Manufacturers like Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC and others are making really nifty devices that once installed provide Bluetooth connectivity to wirelessly access the music from your smartphone, hook up to the Pandora or other internet radio service, access satellite radio and some can even display text messages on the screen. Need a USB port to connect your laptop or other device? Got it. Add navigation and DVD playback and you may never leave your automobile. Oh, and you can still make hands-free phone calls.

The average commute time is 46 minutes in an average city. Add soccer games, grocery runs, and other errands and you’ll realize you spend a lot of family time talking to your kids in the rearview mirror. So if you’re going to spend that much time in your vehicle you may as well enjoy it listening to the music you enjoy or radio programs that don’t include used car commercials or DJs who think fart jokes are the height of sophisticated humor.  Unless you like Howard Stern.

Independence Audio and Video carries all major lines of car audio with Bluetooth, satellite and Pandora technology to fit your price range. We can show you everything from simple upgrades to the kind of car audio heaven that may have you spending time in the driveway until the song is over. We’ve been in the audio and video business for over 40 years and our customers keep coming back for our knowledgeable sales staff, top-rated technicians and sometimes just to see what new toys we have in the showroom. So come in and see what we have just for you.

Control4 makes home automation simple.

The applications can dim your lights, activate home entertainment and even regulate the temperature of your house. Go a few steps further and you can even monitor your home security and manage your energy usage. Let’s say you’re working late and your furnace is programmed to heat up your house at 5pm, now you can remotely change that and then rev it up just before you leave the office. Or you can make sure your kids aren’t having a few friends or thirty over while you’re away for the weekend.

Home automation is an attainable goal for more homeowners than you might think. New construction is increasingly wired for automation and retrofitting existing homes may not be a major project. Costs vary depending on how much of your home you’d like to control, additional hardware and software, and the system purchased.

Municipal energy providers are showing interest as well. Many cities offer free thermostats to homeowners that are controlled by the utility companies and now home automation systems are an attractive partner. Some can raise and lower window shades or distribute electricity to in-use appliances while powering down others to reduce electricity usage.

From the Jetsons to the Smiths home automation will increasingly become the norm but for now it’s a specialized and exciting new technology. Independence Audio can help you take the leap from searching the couch covers for the remote to running your entire home from your tablet or smartphone. We offer the Control4 and Total Control from URC systems and can help you choose the technology that’s best for you.

How many grooves does a record have?*

Depending on how old you are you may have made the audio journey from LPs to cassettes to CDs to MP3s and now cart your entire music collection around  in your pocket. You haven’t seen a liner note in decades and likely can’t name the album titles you own.  The days are gone when you’d lock yourself in your room until you learned every lyric on Born To Run or maybe even The Joshua Tree. Vinyl seems so long ago and so uncool.

Skip ahead to 2012 and vinyl LPs are undergoing a bit of a resurgence. Sales in the US topped 3.9 million in 2011, a 39.3 percent gain over 2010. And those sales are most helpful to the independent mom-and-pop retailers as overall album sales at indie stores was up 8% in ’10. And it’s not just the golden oldsters reliving their youths, the biggest buyers of albums are young and they’re buying Radiohead, Arcade Fire and even electronica.

So what’s happening here? LPs are big, inconvenient to store and the chances of a turntable in your car are pretty slim. And yet people are investing again in high quality stereo systems and turntable technology has improved considerably. Ebay is also being scouted for vintage equipment so we can all put the penny on the arm to keep our records from skipping.

Audiophiles cite the sound quality of modern pressings. New recordings are on 180-200 gram discs, which are heavier than their predecessors. It allows for deeper grooves and more dynamic mastering. MP3s are compressed and some contend that discs sound better than digitized music, deeper and more resonant. But they also point out the charm of the LP, the affection for vinyl.

There is a relationship when an album is removed from the sleeve, spun around and placed on the record player. There is anticipation between laying on the needle and that first sound and when the Side A has ended you must interact again and flip it over. Listeners participate by reading lyrics and liner notes and exploring the album cover. An entire genre of art was lost when CDs reduced covers to the size of a cocktail napkin and liner notes virtually disappeared into six-point type visible only with a microscope. Can you find Edgar Allen Poe on Sgt. Pepper’s? LPs can make music the event instead of the accompaniment.  And as days fill up with more and more distractions it’s nice to relax and put on a record.

Independence Audio/Video was founded in 1971 by Gary Huffman when his passion for great audio evolved into selling great audio. We now offer exceptional audio and video but we still sell record players, really amazing record players. So if you’re thinking of returning to vinyl or just getting started come in today and we can help you select the very best equipment to highlight your music collection, no matter the format.

April 21 is National Record Store Day so look up your independent record dealer and pay them a visit. They love music as much as we do and we always encourage supporting local businesses.  And you know it’s never a bad idea to buy the White Album. Again.

*One.

The Man Cave is a refuge where men can be men (until family night when men can feel free to cheer for Nemo or Buzz) and women can feel free to roll their eyes and smile in indulgence because they won’t have to watch Dumb and Dumber. Again. So let’s review the basic requirements that a man cave should have and see a few that could be yours someday. And celebrate that most basic of dudes, the Cave Man.

Home Theater: No man cave is complete without a home theater system. It can be as basic as speakers on the walls with a decent recliner. Or it can be the ultimate Creature Feature den of horror like the super fan whose animatronics creatures give you a jolt when you least expect it.

Big Screen TV: Flat panel, rear projection or front projection, maybe even 3D, it doesn’t matter as long as it makes watching what you want to watch better. How about six 42 inch flat screens that can be independently controlled or combined for one big screen experience? No way, you say! Yes, way!

Surround sound: When the Death Star blows up and no one hears it did it really happen? A home theater without great sound is like the cake without the icing. Whether they’re on the wall, in the wall, or wrap-around, your speakers complete the home theater experience and if you’re a Star Wars fanatic and you have the designer from Episode 1 do your space then you’re in heaven.

And one last example just because it’s either so cool or so out there, we’re not exactly sure which, but if you want a man cave you can’t go wrong with a Bat Cave. Or maybe you can, you decide.

So now that we have your attention with these amazing examples of manly retreats its time to head into Independence Audio Video and let us show you how you can turn your basement or even your garage into the man cave of your wildest dreams. Or at least set you up with a dedicated media room to make family movie night a real event.

Unlike other retail outlets our staff have been electronics enthusiasts from an early age and are eager to pass that knowledge along to our customers. Our technicians are continually training to stay up to date on all the latest technology and can handle any installation challenge.

Our approach to customer service begins by listening to them. We put ourselves in their shoes to determine the best products for their needs and budget and will only recommend the electronics that we would have in our own homes or automobiles. Plus we just love talking gadgets! We are as excited (or maybe even more) when a new product is unveiled and can’t wait to see what it can do.

Scott Huffman is the second-generation owner of Independence Audio/Video and is carrying on the tradition of his father, Gary, to offer the highest quality products and services that would make his dad proud. And Gary still comes by to make sure of it! So please stop by our blog often and read up on the latest technologies, news or just the kind of fun stuff we know other electronics enthusiasts will enjoy.  Or drop by and take a spin around our store and let us show you how Independence Audio/Video can make your dreams look and sound beautiful.