11.21.2008 — My Uncle "A", who lives in Beverly Hills, is a technology geek, but he has virtually no electronics in his home except for a security system.

So, at the recent Electronic House Expo in Long Beach, Calif., I spent a few hours on the show floor with him, suggesting products that make sense for retrofit.

He went gaga over Russound's Collage, which uses the home's existing powerlines to deliver music, video (CCTV) and intercom functionality through retrofittable touchpanels.

It all sounded perfect to Uncle A, except for one thing: In Beverly Hills, you don't run naked Romex through the walls. The city requires conduit.

That could be a problem for emerging powerline-based systems from the likes of Russound, NuVo (Renovia system) and Channel Vision.

They all claim that it's simple for an electrician to come in and tap into existing A/C powerlines that feed nearby light switches or electrical outlets.

At EHX, Russound's Andy Lewis said that many cities, especially big ones like Chicago, mandate conduit for electrical runs.

Russound, he says, has not ignored those markets. The back boxes for the Collage system have outlets that "are not just for strain relief, but provide standard coupling for conduit," he says.

Still, he concedes that retrofitting a powerline-based system into a home with conduit can be "a little tricky."

Probably not as tricky as fishing new wire through the walls for a traditional multiroom audio system.


Nuvo's Renovia wiring scheme - the box shown at left houses the amplifier