This morning in preparation for worship, I had one of those "it couldn't be" moments.  I arrived early to make sure that everything was set up for the band and vocalists.  We started the sound check and something just wasn't right with the vocal sound.  I listened, took a quick glance at the channel equalizers for each singer, and everything looked right, but a quick check in the headphones let me know that I had a bad microphone cable.  But we don't have any bad microphone cables, do we?

As it turns out, I had the same problem a month or so ago and had thrown a specific type of cable away.  Someone had done the church a "favor" and fished it out of the trash can.  It ended up in the storage room with the other cables.  I guess that I could have repaired it, but the reality is that if a cable doesn't fail right at the connector that it can be very difficult to repair.  I usually throw the bad ones away and get another one.  I needed to throw this one away outside the building, I guess.

All of that to say that if you have a bad microphone cable, either set it aside for repair in a way that makes it obvious that it can't be used, or throw it away in a place where it doesn't end up back in the "good" cable storage without your knowledge.

A few weeks ago, one of our long-time clients and I decided to try some "compatible" projector lamps for his Panasonic LCD projectors.  They were lots less expensive and had a longer warranty, so we decided to give them a shot.

I've always been a believer that there's a high cost to low prices, and that you don't always realize it up front.  I live it myself with some of my own purchases, and sometimes, you decide that the savings was worth it. Sometimes, it isn't.

To make this post a quick one, we ended up shipping six lamps to the client.  Two were bad out of the box, one burned out almost immediately, and one had a loose lamp base that prevented its use.  Two worked just fine.  We also sent two Panasonic brand lamps, and both of those were perfect in terms of condition and performance and were slightly brighter, to boot.

I completely understand your pain in paying $350-500 for a light bulb and that a "compatible" for $100-200 less can be tempting.  Just be aware that there's often a high cost to low prices, and in this case we both paid dearly.

This morning, as I contemplate buying a new dehumidifier for my basement, I envision stopping at Lowe's to buy it.  Why Lowe's?  It's the same reason that I eat at certain restaurants, shop at specific stores, fill my car with fuel at certain stations, and have it fixed at the dealership - even though rumor has it that the dealership is more expensive.

At Lowe's, my friends Matt and Adam are managers there, at the same store in Hilliard, OH.  Why would I shop there?  I want their store to do well, I want them to get the quarterly bonuses instead of others and promotions to new positions for a job well done.  Plus, it never hurts to know the manager if you have a problem.

Why do I eat at Black Creek Bistro, the Food Corner, Minelli's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, and Rooster's?  Most are locally owned, one sponsors our church basketball and softball leagues, they're in or near my neighborhood, one employs a member of our church in an executive position (and we all need jobs), and it's important to me that these companies remain in business and do well.  If they do well, I do well.

I buy toys for kids at Larson's Toys on Lane Ave. because it's easy to get in and out, they're experts on what my nephews and niece will like, and they're family-owned and have been for years.  Great, expert service.  Yes that's important, even with toys.

I buy gasoline from United Dairy Farmers (and ice cream, too).  The Lindner family from Cincinnati have supported my  alma mater Judson University with millions of dollars over the past 25 years.  Why wouldn't I buy what they sell from them? Plus, they have the best Cookies & Cream ice cream on the planet.

And the dealership.  Toyota West in Columbus, OH saved me $2500 when they didn't even know that they knew me.  Several years ago, I bought a vehicle from a Florida auto auction, sight unseen.  A friend of mine who's an auto broker picked it, and it was beautiful.  There was just one problem.  It was delivered without the master key.  To make the story short, you need a master key to make additional keys.

After 3-4 phone calls to different dealers and plenty of disinformation, I called the service department at Toyota West (the dealership closest to my home and the one I assumed knew the least about my vehicle).  The service manager looked up the parts in his book, confirmed that the price would be $2500 or so to replace the main computer (plus the cost of the keys themselves - about $375 each, plus programming labor) and to issue a master key due to the type of chipset.

The service manager could have stopped there, but he chose to tell me that, even though he could make no promises, Toyota used to offer courtesy replacements of the computer for just such occasions (lost keys) only if I bought two new keys and paid the labor (which I had to do anyway). He had me over the proverbial barrel, but he chose to do what he'd want someone else to do for him.  All of the other dealerships were ready to collect the repair fee and move on.

I called the toll-free number for Toyota parts, and was connected to a human who promptly shipped the new $2500 computer at no charge, along with two new keys. I paid $875 for what might have been a $3375 repair.

Seven years and 85,000 miles later, I still drive that Toyota (and it's still beautiful), and I have all of the service work done at the dealership because I was treated honestly right up front - and because Toyota West keeps treating me right, and keeps the vehicle like new mechanically.  And as it turns out Scott, the service manager, is the sister of a girl with whom I attended high school, and the dealership employs a couple other old friends, too.

It never hurts to know the service manager, and when I buy my next Toyota, it'll be from Toyota West.

Think about those businesses that are important to you.  Why would you buy what those businesses sell anywhere else?

Every once in awhile, I get a clear thought about the importance of buying equipment from a dealer that you know and trust.

We're bombarded by price-related requests like "can you match" and "will you beat" and "I'll only buy from you if."  Interestingly, it's not the "superstores" whose prices are tough to beat, but it's the grey- and black-market companies that spell trouble - for us and for you.  And with the Internet, there are thousands of places from which to buy.

We're a factory-authorized Sanyo dealer, for example.  Not every company that sells Sanyo products is an authorized Sanyo dealer.  Even some of the really big Internet companies are not authorized dealers.  You might be tempted to say, "Who cares?" whether a dealer is authorized, or not.  It's all about getting the lowest price, right?!  Not so fast.

If you buy any Sanyo product -- projector, display, projector lamp (bulb) -- from a non-authorized Sanyo dealer, how long is your warranty? The standard warranty on the projector is three years, if you buy from an authorized dealer.  The warranty is null-and-void otherwise.  Zero, zip, nada, nothing.  You get the idea.

Sanyo is one of a growing number of companies that chooses to tell you that you're on your own, if you choose to buy from an unauthorized source.  If you need warranty service from Sanyo, the warranty claim has to be accompanied by a dated copy of your invoice from us and by the invoice number from Sanyo on which the projector was sold to us. We can supply that information for most of sales we've made since 1992.  We retain actual paper records for at least seven years back.

That's a big deal if you need service under warranty, or if someone steals your equipment, and you forgot to write down the serial number.  You do write those things down, don't you?!

Let's face it; there are lots of ways to get unauthorized products.  Some are bought from other countries.  Even units made for the Canadian market don't automatically have a US warranty.  Some are used and passed off as new.  Some are stolen - plain and simple.

We received a call last year to be on the lookout since a truck full of flatscreen televisions had been stolen and to be aware of special "deals."  The police never found the truck, but I'll bet that all of those televisions are being used in homes around the country.

A few years before that, a local pawn shop was raided for selling a truckload of tool sets stolen from Home Depot.  The owner had bought hundreds of factory-sealed sets and had sold them on a well-known Internet auction site to unsuspecting buyers.  The pawnshop had a 100% positive feedback rating from its auction customers, but it was selling stolen goods.

We once had a client who called to ask one of our installers how to change his new Sony camera menus from Chinese to English.  We had to tell him "Sorry pal, that camera wasn't made for the US market.  You own an expensive paperweight from one of those New York camera shops."

I could go on, but my point is that reputable dealers pay similar prices for the goods that they sell.  All have significant investments in training, inventory, people, systems, etc.  Those things cost money.  If the price seems too good to be true, watch it.

Remember the camera with Chinese menus?  We had offered a factory-sealed US version to the client for $2599.  He told one of our guys that we were crazy and that he could get it for $1499.

Like we did with that guy, sometimes we have to suggest to someone that they buy elsewhere because we can't match the price.  Pro audio and video dealers wish that we made $1100 on every $2599 sale, but we don't.  It's not even close.

Be aware that there's sometimes a high cost to low prices - whether it's quality or the fact that you're on your own if you have a problem.

Since I started here in 1991, the technology business has seen lots of changes with respect to price versus quality, and with respect to availability and accessibility.  I think of the days when a 16x4 audio mixer cost $5000, when it was common to pay $1200 for a mid-range wireless microphone system, and when a video projector used to be as big as a motorcycle and as expensive as a house.

The "race to zero" (as we call it) has allowed more people utilize technology and has increased its use, but since a product can't cost nothing, something has to give.  Have costs of production been reduced?  Yes.  Has component quality been cut?  In many situations, yes.  Did manufacturers make "too much" money way back when?  I have no way to answer that.  The bottom line is that more people can buy more equipment, and that's a good thing.

Lower prices bring more people into the buying equation, but once prices are lower, what have we come to expect?  Even lower prices and lower prices again.  At some point, the equipment we offer has to be made of something and it still has to work, and people have to be paid to design and produce it.  It has to cost something.

How are lower prices achieved?  Think cereal boxes and toilet paper.  Smaller, shorter – less for more.  Our suppliers have to give us less to keep prices the same or to lower them in an inflationary environment.  It's the same for everything.  You get what you pay for, and there's a cost to low prices.

How many of you make less money than you did in 1991?  The engineers who design these products don't either, but modern production techniques make better equipment more available than it's ever been.

In the technology business, it's usually quality and performance that suffers.  We have cheap equipment that behaves like cheap equipment.  And the really good stuff is still expensive.

Again, please be aware that much of the savings has come at the expense of something (whether US jobs, component quality, or profit margins), so please select your tools well.  My goal is to find products that meet the quality/value equation and feature them.  Sometimes, those are lower-priced products that work really well, and sometimes, those are more expensive pieces that you'd be wise to save for if necessary.

Spend some time in our Product Reviews section to find the products I believe in most.

Last night, I made a late stop at church and happened to notice that no one had picked up the mail from the mail slot, so I did.  What I found was a catalog from a competitor, so I did the natural thing - I threw it away!

No, I didn't throw it away, but I did look it over.  One of the products featured on the cover of the catalog was a video projector for under $500 - a great deal right!  Or maybe not.  How do you know?  The ad boasted "superior picture quality" and 2600 lumens and the "vibrant color imaging."  That was just what our church needed!  I almost ordered one.  Not really.

Most people don't know better, but this projector won't have "superior" picture quality because it's SVGA native.  SVGA is a computer screen resolution measured at 800x600 pixels.  Most projectors are XGA (1024x768 pixels) or higher.  SVGA was the standard for computer screens and projectors 10 years ago, and newer XGA projectors (which are on their way out now, but are many times more compatible with existing computers) are only slightly more expensive.  Fewer pixels means a grittier picture.  The little squares that make up the picture are larger, so the image can't be as smooth as a projector with more pixels.

"Superior" when compared to what?  15-year-old technology?  Well, okay, you got me Mr. Marketeer.

Equipment using old technology promoted as "New!" and "superior" is simply hogwash.  If you need something inexpensive, take some time to make sure that you're not buying something that's cheap because the manufacturer should have retired it 4-5 years ago, or because the dealer hasn't been able to sell it.

The right equipment doesn't always cost a lot more, and buying older technology assures that you'll be stuck with an expensive paperweight much more quickly.

Despite what others have led you to believe, the products we sell are not essential to support human life.  Food, water, and temperate shelter qualify as essential - professional audio and video equipment do not.  Even so, the equipment we offer is essential for effective communication, and that's a big concern, especially in the worship setting.

So what do you do when the Finance people say, "There's no money for that?"  Or, "You'll have to get by for $2000 when your lowest bid came in at $4000."  Many days, I talk with people facing these challenges, and just today, we did a 50% "haircut" on a video system project that will deliver 85% of the intended impact of the original proposal.

When a project seems impossible, it's likely that there are sections of the proposal that can be adjusted while retaining much of what you hope for.  The system might not remain quite as user-friendly, it won't have all of the bells and whistles, but it will meet your needs and your budget - if the changes are made with care and thought towards the future.

Let us help you find the right solution so that you end up right where you want to be.

I've been vindicated - at last!  Well, not really.  It's just that when you see others writing about the same topics that you think are important that you realize that you're right.  Or maybe that two of you are wrong.  Whatever the case, earlier this week, I read an article written by a system design professional about how to buy sound and video equipment, and we think alike.

For the last few years, I've been strongly encouraging our clients that there's a hidden cost to low prices.  Some companies make equipment overseas and have no service parts in the United States (not to mention no service facilities).  Lots of equipment that we used to fix is now disposable.  Worse is equipment that's just junk to start with.  Cheap gear is made with inferior components with relaxed tolerances and offers significantly more potential for failure.

Maybe I'm old, or maybe I'm just getting smarter, but saving money isn't the key to getting the right piece of equipment.  As my colleague wrote, buy your gear like the professionals do - buy the right product in order to assure reliable performance.  There's simply no way to cut corners and get great results.  And those results are what counts when everyone expects what's essentially perfection week in and week out.

What a week!

I'm shocked at how many people waited to see whether the FCC would really sound the death knell for 700MHZ wireless microphones.  Last week, it did. As of June 10, 2010, it will be technically illegal to use wireless microphones in the range of 698-806MHZ.  Worse than illegality, as new 4G wireless services are unveiled, your wireless microphones will simply become unreliable due to interference.

This week, people started calling to discuss their options.  We have churches with 32, 24, 16, 10, 8 and just a couple wireless microphones all scrambling to replace their 700MHZ systems with new systems that will be out of the way of the coming onslaught from 4G wireless services. Testing by the wireless companies is occurring right now, and many of our clients have called to say that their existing wireless systems worked one week and didn't the next.

If you are getting new interference on your 700MHZ wireless microphone, the it's very likely that you must stop using your wireless microphone immediately (even if prior to June 10, 2010).

Click here for more information.

Earlier this week, with the FCC deadline firmly established, Shure restarted its rebates for the exchange of 700MHZ wireless for new units in the 400, 500 and 600MHZ ranges.  Expect Audio-Technica and others to follow.  None of these companies want to be left out when it comes to selling you a new wireless microphone system.

I can't emphasize enough that now is the time to replace your 700MHZ wireless systems.  Please don't think that it's a good idea to keep playing wait-and-see.  It's not.  One of these days, your wireless microphones will become useless from outside interference.  Right now, you have a last chance to receive something for your existing wireless microphones.  After June, 10, 2010, your units will be worthless, except to third-world countries and the mission field.  They will have no resale value in the United States.

I can hear you thinking - "Dave, you told us that the rebates would end in June 2009, and in September 2009, and in December 2009 - and now they're being run again from January 20, 2010 through June 10, 2010.  I have still have time."

Yes, you do, but there's no reason for Shure, Audio-Technica and others to keep extending the exchange rebates since the FCC has firmly established the end of the game for 700MHZ systems.

For more information that you may have wanted to know and for every answer that the FCC thinks needs to be answered, click here.

To see if your wireless microphone operates on the 700 MHz band, simply click on the name of the manufacturer and see if your model is listed.  This listing even tells you whether your unit can be tuned to a different frequency that will be legal after June 10, 2010.  Unfortunately, most can't be retuned.

FCC Listing of Wireless Microphone Manufacturers

If you have questions about your next steps, please call, and please call soon.  I am working on quotes for five different churches today.  I expect that things will be very busy in the world of wireless microphones between now and June 10.

It happened.

On Friday, January 15, 2010, the FCC commissioners ruled that it's time to vacate your 700MHZ wireless microphones.  We've known that this day has been coming for the past couple years, and it hasn't been clear if or when the use of the 698-806MHZ frequency range would become illegal, but the deadline has been set.  You have until June 12, 2010 (one year from the full DTV transition that occurred in 2009) to make other arrangements for wireless microphones in that range. Some users opted to take a wait and see approach, and its your prerogative to continue to do so.

Over the weekend, we received a call from another client whose wireless microphones just started to act up.  If you're using wireless systems with frequencies between 698-806MHZ, reliable service will become a thing of the past, and operation of those devices illegal.  The wireless companies like Sprint, AT&T and Verizon paid billions of dollars for use of the airwaves and the new 4G services are coming sooner than later and device testing is upon us right now.

If you'd like to see the text of the announcement, please click here.  Or if you have questions or help making the transition to new frequencies, please call us at 800-747-7301.  We still have a rebate deal in place to help offset the cost.