Russ Andrews has teamed up with Swedish husband and wife hi-fi retailers and authors to bring a little light-hearted relief to the world of hi-fi in pursuit of ‘The Buzz Trolls’ – a children’s story-book that explores an alternative possibility as to why buzz and hum commonly blight hi-fi systems.
Andreas and Emma Svalander run Svalander Audio AB, a retail business that serves the audiophile community in Västerås, a town approximately 70 miles west of Stockholm. Emma is a renowned illustrator, film maker and photographer, who came up with the original idea for this new children’s book, the third that Emma has illustrated. Andreas was smitten with the idea and takes up the story: ‘Emma came running through the office like a wet dog who just collected a ball from a stream, saying “What if we all have been tricked, what if the hum and the buzz in the stereo is not some technical thing, but monsters chewing on the cables? I want to draw this in a book!” Well, that was it and two days later I had written the basis of the story’.
John Armer, managing director of Russ Andrews shares his thoughts, “Andreas sent us a copy of his book to read and we were rolling around when we read it. In an industry that can sometimes take itself a little too seriously, it is a refreshing change to see something like this book emerge from the imagination of someone right at the heart of the business we are part of”.
‘The Buzz Trolls’ explores the idea that hum and buzz are caused by monsters in the system. While presenting a lovely story to the children, it also allows the hi-fi enthusiast an opportunity to stand back and observe that, from an outsider’s perspective, what we do can be seen as being a little crazy. ‘The Buzz Trolls’ is available now direct from Russ Andrews at a cost of £10.95