Newmarket, NH – Russound has confirmed that it will ship its new IP-based Collage Media and Intercom System, in October. The system will use powerline carrier (PLC) technology for audio and intercom communication distribution throughout the home.  

Russound also announced that due what it feels are dominant performance features of the Collage system, the company's previously announced Avenue system will not be brought to market.
 
"We looked long and hard at Avenue and believed in its promise, but as development progressed, we realized that Collage holds much more promise as a category-defining PLC solution," said Charlie Porritt, Russound's CEO. "Clearly, it's best for the marketplace that we take the valuable lessons learned from Avenue and apply them to Collage."

According to Russound, Collage is designed to fully maximize the IP backbone created by the system, giving the user access to all of their content on their network as well as Internet services such as Rhapsody. As it is a distributed system, there is no cost penalty for installing as few as one or two zones, or as many as 10.

Russound says that Collage will have no central controller, making its expansion linear, and allowing zones and sources to be placed anywhere in the home. This decentralized design will allow, the company says, Collage to be a low-cost investment for consumers who want to begin with two or three zones before expanding to additional areas at a later date.  

According to Russound product manager Walt Zerbe, Collage was designed from the ground up to not only maximize the retrofit installation experience for the installer and homeowner, but also to make use of the latest content delivery services. “Our exclusive six-month trial subscription with Rhapsody allows homeowners to enjoy their favorite music whenever they want without having to store or maintain a collection of albums or digital music,” he said. "However, we do want our customers to know that our enthusiasm behind Collage does not mean that Russound is abandoning our proprietary RNET technology. On the contrary, we have expanded our line of RNET-enabled controller amplifiers, and we're dedicated to updating and supporting this technology.”

Russound's Collage Media and Intercom system will be available in October. The Collage Keypad and Media Manager will be priced at $849 and $549 MAP, respectively.