TruAudio Launches Line of A/V Racks

TruAudio is getting into the rack business, and the company showed its first products at the Electronic House Expo in March. It's a surprising move for a company know for making loudspeakers, but TruAudio thinks the residential rack market is underserved.

And the company is right.

Middle Atlantic is far and away the leader when it comes to A/V racks in the residential realm. According to a CE Pro brand survey, some 58% of home systems integrators have used Middle Atlantic in the last two years -- way more than any other rack manufacturer.

TruAudio marketing manager Mark Cichowski says the company is just making "basic stuff," and not nearly the full gamut of products that Mid Atlantic makes. "We'll have a pull-and-twist model, a slim version, fans, etc. We're following the 80-percent rule."

For now, that 80 percent excludes rack ears for A/V and other rack components – something for which Mid Atlantic is legendary. "Eventually, we'll have ears for certain receivers," Cichowski says.

TruAudio's racks should cost about 25 percent less than its biggest competitor's, "but we're not trying to compete with Mid Atlantic," Cichowski says.