stereo console – Luno

INTERVIEW: FOUNDER JENNIFER FARMER

luno — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 22:04:42 +0000

We wanted to give you guys a peek inside the minds behind LUNO with a couple of interviews with our founders. Both have incredibly cool and interesting backstories, we didn’t want to cheat you of any of the good stuff, so we decided to do this in two parts. So, to kick things off, using the metrics set forth by the master David Bowie in his song “Sound & Vision,” we’ll be starting with the vision half of this dynamic design duo, Jennifer Farmer. Her involvement with music runs deep, we’ve asked her to share some cool stories from her past life in the music biz. She also gives us some insight into her creative process, what goes into designing their amazing hifi record consoles, and a few hints about what’s on the horizon for LUNO.

Did you grow up with a record player/console in your house, did your family listen to much music?

I was an 80s baby so I grew up with cassette tapes mostly. For my 3rd birthday all I wanted was a pink tape player and a Bon Jovi tape. I can’t help but think that this moment was where my love of music and quirky design came in. As far as the music in my family, my dad was a huge Zeppelin, Van Halen, Lou Reed fan so those are some of my earliest musical memories. My mom loved people like Queen, Bowie, Skynard, and Aerosmith. However, I think my the person who had the biggest impact on my musical taste was my older brother, Jason, who sparked my love for a lot of weird alternative and indie bands. He taught me about The Pixies & Frank Black, Nirvana, all of Steve Albini’s projects, My Bloody Valentine, Magnetic Fields (Stephin Merritt), Jesus & Mary Chain and so many more that I could go on about this question alone for 10 pages! Also, I’m from Texas and have a lot of family members who play country music so there was a lot of Willie Nelson and classic country music happening during family festivities!

FUN FACT: I one time got hired for a job assisting a famous Japanese rock star because I told him that my favorite music was Nirvana and Garth Brooks. He hired me on the spot because he thought it was so ridiculous!

What was the first vinyl record LP that you purchased?

I believe it was Queen “A Night at the Opera” for .99 at Goodwill.

Do you have a listening room in your house, what’s your current setup like?

We have about 10 “listening rooms” at our house thanks to Dan. Every room in our house has a record player/audio system of some sort. Even our bathroom has some sort of hybrid tube amp contraption Dan set up. Our living room has a Soundburger / Mister Disc portable record player that comes through our surround sound. Our bedroom has a Barbie Disco suitcase style record player I got at Goodwill that we refurbished and it actually sounds fairly good all things considered. Our office has a U-Turn turntable that Dan uses to test out a lot of our new speakers and listen to when he’s working. Last but not least, we finally just brought home one of our KC27 consoles that lives in our dining room. It sits at the end of our 12 foot dining table so it’s the perfect entertainment and conversation piece. (We would have brought the EGB2 but it didn’t fit properly, that thing is a beast!) We even currently have it voice activated so you can yell at it to play stuff for you which is pretty fun after a few cocktails!

What did you do before you started LUNO?

I moved to Los Angeles from Texas in 2003 to go to acting school – isn’t that why everyone comes to LA?! After a year of that, I realized that it wasn’t for me and I really like being behind the scenes. My boyfriend at the time was in a band and his manager also managed The Killers so I started helping him out occasionally. Also, all of my friends that I had met when I moved out here were musicians. I wasn’t even really aware of the “the industry” side of things before moving to LA nor had I considered it a career option, but found it fascinating and it seemed like everything was pointing me in that direction. I enrolled in MI and studied music business and interned at Interscope Records. From there, I went on to do radio promotion, marketing for a startup music platform, promotion for live venue, assisting a famous rock star, and artist relations for a guitar company. I dabbled in a bit of everything on the marketing side of the industry and absolutely loved it. It’s still my dream to someday own a beautiful live venue that I can design and Dan can do sound – future LUNO Lounge idea!? Working on the live side of things was by far my favorite experience. Everyday was something different and it was never boring. I loved being able to create experiences that allowed people to have a good time, which is something we try to do with LUNO. After I got laid off from my last industry gig, I had decided that I didn’t want to work for anyone ever again – it was natural for me as I’m stubborn as hell and both of my parents are entrepreneurs so it is in my DNA. While I was working on a startup I’d wanted to do for a while called BandPass (similar to MoviePass but for music) and trying to figure out my plan, I started painting vintage furniture in my garage as a hobby. I ended up putting some of it on Craigslist for fun and it sold. So I did more, and it sold. BandPass soon took a backseat. People soon started asking me for custom pieces, then started asking me build stuff for them (WTF) so I just sort of figured it out by being extremely obsessive and persistent! It was a very organic process and nothing I ever intended to do, but I fell in love with the design process. I studied and stalked everyone I could who knew anything about it sometimes hanging out at paint stores for hours on end. Just a few years later, we now have 2 successful furniture lines and LUNO has allowed me to combine my love of music & design. We’re planning on launching new products at ICFF 2019 and talking about doing a design show in NY this October, as well.

It sounds like you’ve met a lot of celebrities in your work, any stories you can share?

I think it’s inevitable that living in Los Angeles, you’re going to meet and know celebrities especially when working in the entertainment industry. One that stands out in my mind is when I met Paul Stanley of KISS when I was working at Daisy Rock. It was Halloween and I had no idea he was coming by and I was wearing a Kurt Cobain costume, as I would. He was not in a costume. It was such a random experience and he was super nice! I also got to meet Shonen Knife, who I had been a fan of for a while. We ended up becoming friends and they sent Dan and I a wedding gift that we still have, a beautiful Sake Set! Meeting Davey Havok from AFI deserves an honorable mention too because he’s one of the nicest people on the planet.

If you could make a custom hifi console for anyone, who would it be, describe the style and design for us?

My original intention of doing a lot of the custom designs (such as Prince, Bowie, etc) was to make them for the artists, sadly they never came to fruition. I really love the design and customization process and the ability to make something so wild that totally reflects a specific person’s style. I’m currently obsessed with trying to make a Yeezy console for Kanye. Dan and I are HUGE Kanye fans and Kanye is also a huge interior design and furniture fan and I recently read that he’s opening up a Yeezy architecture branch so I think it’s in the realm of possibility?!

What speaks to you about mid-century modern style?

Mid Century Modern style evokes a nostalgic feeling. When we launched at ICFF almost every person that came into our booth (one of them being Terry Crews) immediately would smile and say “this brings back some memories.” This is the exact feeling we wanted to create and the Mid Century Grandma aesthetic brought that to the table.

If you could choose one record to describe yourself, what would it be and why?

Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ because damn near every song on that record is perfect and relatable.

“Think I’ll pack it in and buy a pick-up

Take it down to L.A.

Find a place to call my own

and try to fix up.

Start a brand new day”

Can you explain to someone what the experience of having one of your record consoles is like?

From someone who doesn’t know much about audio, I can say that they sound like being at a live concert. Dan is a phenomenal live sound engineer and really makes it feel like an immersive experience. We even had a customer once say as soon as we turned up the volume “Sounds like a concert!” – there is a video to prove it! In terms of the design, we tried to take a lot of aspects of the vintage players that we liked and clean them up a bit. I used Marshall Grill Cloth to really make it feel as authentic to the old stereo cabinets as possible. For our custom consoles, the sky’s the limit, you want me to wrap one in hundred dollar bills or add a mini-fridge – let’s do it! The funkier, the better! I’m up for the challenge.

What was your first concert, who did you see and what impression did that have on you?

The first concert I saw alone with friends was The Smashing Pumpkins Zero Tour in 97 or 98, I believe. I was hooked from that day forward. I remember going to the after party at a local club called Numbers hoping they would be there (they weren’t.) I’m still upset about that. Call me, Billy.

Can you tell us about the creative process of making one of your record consoles? Where do you take your inspiration from?

Typically it starts out with me seeing something I like and trying to incorporate it into one of our pieces somehow. No matter if our cabinet makers tell us it’s not possible, we always figure out a way! I’ll send my sketches to our designer and he’ll make them actually look good (and realistic) not like a 5 year old drew them. From there, my cabinet makers and I figure out what is and isn’t doable – the former always wins if I have anything to say about it! Dan spent a lot of time developing the audio components and sound quality of the consoles so we do have certain restrictions we’re working with but in terms of the cabinets & design aspect, we can get pretty funky (within reason) as long as the materials don’t affect or hinder the sound in any way. It’s a bit of trial and error when working on new designs. Most of my inspiration comes from pop culture, I would say, I’ve always been fascinated by it.

You’ve designed a lot of very unique custom hifi record consoles, can you tell us about a couple of your favorites?

My favorite to date by far is the new Limited Edition piece we just designed. I can’t get too much into it until we announce it but it’s stunning and was an extremely complicated process. It took multiple people with various skills to pull it off. Besides that, I did a really cool Louis Vuitton piece that I’m in love with, and the Bowie was very interesting because the base had a welded constellation pattern which looked really amazing.

Can you tell us a little about what’s coming up for LUNO?

We have a new Limited Edition console coming up that we collaborated on with a famous artist so keep your eyes peeled for that! I’m extremely proud of the design, it was a long process but the end result is phenomenal and some of the best work we’ve done. We also have a desktop/portable type console that we’ve been working on for a while that will be announced soon, as well as several cabinet designs sans equipment. We also collaborated with a whiskey company on multiple pieces that they’re using for a giveaway so you may have a chance to win one! Lastly, we’re in the process of moving our listening room aka “LUNO Lounge”, production facility, showroom, all under one roof so that’s really exciting! We’ll be able to hold inventory, have listening parties and all that cool stuff that’s been difficult to do so far.

I hear you’re also a musician, can you tell us a little about that and your current project?

I wouldn’t really call myself a “musician” per se. I learned to play bass for a band called Ghostel than Dan, I, and our friend Bryce had for a little while. It was super fun and our song “Buckley Get Your Gun” got a placement in the trailer of an Oscar nominated film called “Mustang” so that was pretty wild and got us a decent amount of attention. I’m not formally trained on any instruments and pretty much only know how to play our songs! I sort of made up my own tablature and Dan worked with me and taught me in a way that I understood. It’s a really fun experience and I love the rush of being on stage and hope to do it again soon. The full album entitled 1414 was just released on Spotify. Currently, we’re so busy with LUNO and MVV that Dan and I write some songs here and there for fun and hope to turn those into a new project at some point in the future and release it on vinyl!

If you could give anyone a single piece of advice what would it be and why?

My dad always told me you gotta spend money to make money! So basically buy one of our damn consoles and it’ll make you rich!!!! No, but seriously, in the words of one of my favorite professors “Try to make one room in your house as beautiful as possible.”

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TOP 5 VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN RECORD CONSOLES

luno — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:16:08 +0000

Some of the coolest home furnishings ever designed were the incredible mid-century modern hifi record consoles of the 1960’s. During an era where everyone looked to the future with great optimism, the interior design of the day also captured the excitement and possibility of living in a space-age utopia. These were the centerpiece for many households, during the single largest pop music explosion in history, when bands and could incite hysteria and music became a driving force in pop culture unlike it had been previously seen. Some of these designs have to be seen to be believed, including one of our favorites, which once belonged to David Bowie himself. Here are our Top 5 Vintage Stereo Record Consoles in no particular order.

Electrohome Apollo 711

Electrohome Record Console – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

These bubble-domed record consoles proved to be a lasting style icon of the 1960’s, with its futuristic sci-fi design, it could blend in your typical mid-century modern home or on the deck of a interplanetary space craft. Electrohome, was well known for having manufactured the first phonographs in Canada, and would later go on to become a television broadcaster in their country. By 1965 after a period of tremendous growth Electrohome products would be available in 23 countries around the globe, and they would become very well known for producing the Electrohome Apollo 711, named for NASA’s famed launches. During the lounge music revival of the 1990’s this striking record player from space would end up on album covers, magazine photo shoots and featured in films that wanted to reference this incredible era of style and design.

David Bowie’s Custom Brionvega Record Player

david-bowie Brionvega turntable – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

This custom record console, made for Mr. Stardust, was conceived as a “musical pet.” This incredible turntable was able to fetch a whopping $324,000 at a recent auction. Brionvega an Italian company that also produced other notable designs, including the “Cubo” television, which is on permanent display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Clairtone Project G

Clairtone Project G – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

One of the most unique designs from the mid-century modern era of stereo consoles is this series of players, known as Clairtone Project G. With its instantly recognizable globe shaped speakers, and space aged minimalism. This was an extremely high end console when it sold originally, with a price tag around $2000 in the mid-1960s. Clairtone, a Canadian company, became an extremely well known design of the day, even though only less than 400 units were ever made. It gained notoriety from features by celebrities like Frank Sinatra and a feature on the set of The Graduate.

PAAM Tube Turntable

PAAM TUBE TURNTABLE – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

Europe provided of the most interesting designs of the mid-century modern era of style, with this French design from 1968. The aeronautics-trained designer created this eye-catching cylindrical stereo turntable, with built-in speakers on both sides.

Weltron 2007

Weltron 2007 – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

Appropriately referred to as the “spaceship” this unit added an AM/FM radio and cassette deck built into one compact unit, it is said that the Weltron 2007 was inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Weltron 2007 made it’s debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1975, and sold for $399, which today is equivalent to over $1,800 adjusted for inflation.

If you enjoyed this tour through some of our favorite turntables and record consoles of the space age mid-century modern era, take a look at our versions of their modern day counterparts, such as our EGB2 Record Console, KC27 Record Console, J2B2 Record Console, and the beautiful standalone cabinet (without turntable) THE SHELL.

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Coolest Features of a Mid-Century Modern HiFi Record Console | LUNO

luno — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 21:44:09 +0000

Mid-century modern record consoles have an elegance that could lead you to believe they materialized from a 1960’s James Bond movie. Like one of Bond’s gadgets, they also have some of the coolest hidden features that you may not have heard about. Unless you’re in the know, own one, or are among the community of Interior Designers, you may not know about some of the well kept secrets of these incredible decorative luxury furniture pieces. Here’s a quick list of some of the coolest mid-century modern record console features.

The Hidden Whiskey Bar

Let’s get started with a bang, easily our favorite feature of LUNO’s mid-century modern style record console, the discrete whiskey bar. It’s your own hidden turntable powered speakeasy, and comes with 4 beautiful gold rimmed whiskey glasses. It has the capacity to hold 4 full average sized whiskey or wine bottles, just in case you want to change it up. It really is the perfect complement to your favorite classic vinyl LP, check out the whiskey bar on one of our most popular consoles The EGB2.

Standard Marshall Salt & Pepper Grill Cloth

One of the coolest things to know about LUNO’s record consoles is that they come with the standard Marshall salt & pepper grill cloth, it doesn’t get more classic than that, Marshall amplifier grill cloth! You actually have one of the most iconic elements from the history of rock & roll music built in as part of the DNA of LUNO’s record consoles.

Apple & Airplay Compatibility

Airplay compatibility means you can connect your other Apple compatible devices and stream them on your high quality LUNO stereo console, giving you an extremely full and rich audio experience. One of the comments people frequently make is how impressed they are by the enveloping sound that comes out of our consoles. Which actually gets at another feature that we didn’t have room to include, which is high quality audio components, that are hand-wired by our in-house audio gurus.

Deceptively Large Vinyl Storage Capacity

When you slide open the cabinet doors, you will see a perfectly measured space to store your copious vinyl collection. This baby holds 150 standard size vinyl records, and believe me you’re going to need after you hear one of these record consoles in person. Every record you currently own in any other format, you will begin a mad hunt to track it down in its original pure analog format.

Line-In Other Media & Audio Sources

The thing I love most is being able to connect other older analog tape players through the built-in amp and console speakers. It makes even these old tapes sound rich and warm, and the EQ controls it gives you, allow you to adjust for some of the deficiencies and decay that can be found as tapes age. Also, if you want to have the coolest looking home theater setup known to man, this unit can act as the core of your surround sound, and then some.

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Classic Vinyl Album – Frank Zappa – Hot Rats | LUNO

luno — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 11:28:51 +0000

This tribute to one of the all time greatest musicians, and in my opinion of of his finest albums, won’t even approach honoring this genius’ groundbreaking achievements or introduce him to you in a way in which he deserves. Frank Zappa’s music and his records can only be experienced, any attempts to classify or categorize him, or even describe what the experience of listening to Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats is like will fail miserably. There are so many places we could start with his prolific and amazing catalog of music, but because this is how I learned about him, and discovered what it was he was tapping into, it’s the only way I can leave you a bread crumb trail to explore what remains an extremely visionary recording almost 50 years after its original release. A record and artist so far ahead of his time, that many of us are just starting to catch on after all these years. Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats is an incredibly experimental work, that is almost classically symphonic in nature, and for some who pick up this amazing LP, they’ll liken it more to jazz and rock, but honestly it goes beyond and shatters the conventions of each of those styles, and somehow becomes one of the most immediate and dare I say addictive records you will ever purchase. There are moods and feelings showcased here that are so nuanced and beyond description that the only way to know what I’m talking about is to buy the original vintage analog vinyl album, if you partake in herbal refreshment no one is going to stop you, especially in the states of California, Washington and Colorado, and just clear you mind and be open to let the music take you on a journal unlike any that you’d expect or would be prepared for.

So now that I’ve exercised my evangelical style rant, it’s important for me to point out that this one album is just a drop in the bucket of one of the greatest catalogs of music ever released. His work with the legendary Mothers Of Invention, his collaborations with other incredible artists including Captain Beefheart, Don Van Vliet (who can be heard on Hot Rats), runs a staggering gamut of styles and genres, so much that there are times when you will experience disbelief that all of this music came from the same artist. Do yourself a favor, go out and buy a copy of Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats, play it on an a record console that will do it justice, and make today the first day of the rest of your life.

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Top 5 Interior Design Trends For 2018 | LUNO

luno — Sat, 14 Jul 2018 22:08:51 +0000

We scoured the interior design blogosphere, and researched with some of the top names in design to determine our top 5 interior design trends for 2018. Each year we see new styles becoming more widely available for hardware, materials and finishing touches, and believe us there is a lot out there. We wanted to create a guide to help you navigate all of these options, and give you home decor and design ideas that will give your space an up to the minute modern feel.

HiFi Stereo Console Room Centerpiece

For years now we’ve allowed televisions to overtake a room and become the focal point, sometimes without even intending it to be. Now people want to return to a room that brings us back to making conversation and human interaction the focal point. HiFi record consoles are a great way to do that, providing pure analog sound quality and ambiance, and a conversation piece that will put the human touch back into your living space for entertaining.

Chrome Details & Hardware

The style of polished chrome and stainless steel has been an evergreen, but as this favorite has gone in and out of favor over the decades, but we’re seeing some incredible uses as details for furniture and hardware in 2018. The subtle use of chrome in both the kitchen and living room can provide an extra level of detail that gives you a look that’s both stylish and modern.

Matte Black Finished Accents

Matte black finish hasn’t been as heavily utilized in the past in both kitchens and bathrooms, but now we’re seeing a trend toward warmth and a more modern feel, rather than some of the more antique inspired styles that have been popular in recent years. Tying in black matte wood into your room’s accent colors can give your space a more intimate and inviting feel.

Vinyl Record Storage Furniture

Furniture that makes a statement about your personality is always a great idea, but this year we’re seeing furniture that displays your record collection come more into the forefront. Vinyl media storage allows your guests a window into your personality and you get to showcase all of your cool vinyl finds. Our Jax vinyl storage unit delivers a cool mid-century modern style, and provides you with ample multi-use storage space, that can be a blank canvas for your accents and interior design ideas.

Kitchen Dining Tables

Eating in the kitchen has been a trend at some of the world’s finest restaurants, now this trend is coming to a kitchen near you. Entertain your guests while preparing the meal, not only engages them in the process, but allow you to chat while you’re prepping to serve. They say the kitchen is the centerpiece of the home, now it can be the centerpiece for functional entertainment as well.

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LUNO Guide To Record Cabinet Customization

luno — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 14:19:49 +0000

The most commonly asked question we get is usually about customization of one of our record consoles or record cabinets. When people see these beautifully stylish design pieces they instantly to bring one home and blend seamlessly into their color scheme and decor style. Well, I have some very good news for those of you who like to have things your way, there are some amazing options for finishes and speaker fabrics that can give your record cabinet a look that perfectly fits as an expression of your personality. Here’s LUNO’s Guide to record cabinet customization.

EGB2 RECORD CONSOLE

LUNO’s flagship model, EGB2, is a timely update of the classic record consoles of the 50’s and 60’s. The beautiful Mid Century inspired design, boutique minimalist turntable, pull out MiniBar and custom gold rimmed whiskey glasses effectively evoke the luxurious style and modernist design of the Mad Men era. Each EGB2 is crafted by skilled artisans and craftsmen in Los Angeles, CA using American Walnut and would undoubtedly be a conversation piece based on it’s stylish design alone. The most exciting part is that there are 6 gorgeous finish options, and three speaker fabrics that you can choose from. What you see pictured is the classic Marshall amplifier salt and pepper grill cloth, in my mind it does not get any more classic and couldn’t fit the style of this beautiful piece more perfectly. Here are the full selection of finishes and fabrics for the EGB2:

KC27 RECORD CONSOLE

Cut from the same cloth as our flagship console, we are pleased to announce our newest console. The KC27 is a streamlined version of our EGB2, simplifying the components while still retaining many of the essential elements that make it’s big brother console such a spectacular piece. The KC27, like all LUNO products, is handcrafted and hand-wired in DTLA by skilled artisans and features a unique eye catching cross grain walnut pattern. The KC27 has a selection of beautiful finish and fabric options just like the EGB2, but with the KC27 you have some options for the mini-bar:

Storage For 2 Average Sized Liquor or Wine Bottles
Storage For 4 Cocktail Glasses – glasses not included

Don’t forget to check out the full options on the KC27 page:

The Shell Stereo Cabinet

Due to popular demand, LUNO is pleased to announce it’s latest design, “The Shell.”

Contrary to our fully equipped Mid Century inspired record consoles, The Shell is a streamlined stereo cabinet option featuring a simplistic modern design for those that want a hub to house their existing audio system.

The two large enclosures to each side can house your own speakers, under the left lid you can place your very own turntable, the right lid can house accessories or optionally, one of our LUNO faceplates connected to the same power amplifier found in our top of the line consoles.

Not only can you build out this incredible unit with whatever turntable or media device your heart desires, you can also select from a few additional options that allow you to make The Shell the custom record cabinet of your dreams:

2 Door Options
2 Leg Options
2 Finish Options

To check out all of the options for The Shell visit this page to get pricing information.

If you’re a trendsetter that can’t be boxed into painting inside the lines, you can contact us here with your requests, in most cases if you can dream it, we’ll try our best to make that dream a reality.

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Outrageous Interior Design & Home Decor Of The 80s

luno — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 23:56:50 +0000

Every interior design and home decor style that arose from each era or decade, had its own unique perspective, which many of us lose sight of when we look back in bewilderment at some of the outrageous interior design and home decor choices made specifically during the 1980s. It was a decade of excess, that strived to achieve maximum personality and originality through every aspect of creative expression. Sometimes that expression got turned up to 11, and even with a nostalgic gaze its hard to put yourself in the shoes of someone who actually had to go out and purchase all of the design elements that it took to compose some of these rooms. Record consoles, stereo consoles, stereo cabinets, turntables and record players were a big part of every home through much of the decade, as compact discs didn’t really take hold of the majority of the market until the 90s. Vinyl was still king! If you bought a Wham! record the odds were 90% that it was going to be an LP, or a cassette tape. Either way, each of these made a bold statement of someone who wanted to be contemporary, and participate in the concept what being a modern homeowner was during a time when you could still work in fast food and pay rent most places. Money was readily available, there was a large middle class and for the first time in history we also had something called the Home Shopping Network, and you could order some of the most insane pieces of home decor that I’d say honestly, you could find nowhere else. This blog is going to just provide you with the straight facts, and preset each style without comment. There are a lot of really great things you can take away from getting a glimpse into the homes of these people, it literally is a window into their mind, and how they wanted to be perceived at the time. It was a time that for all of its faults it had a lack of the painful self-awareness and self-consciousness that seems extremely prevalent today, these people wanted to have fun, and were willing do to so unabashedly no matter who was looking. Here you are, a tour through the beautiful, sometimes terrifying but always outrageous interior design and home decor of the 80s.

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Audio Equipment That Should Have Never Been Invented | LUNO

luno — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 09:18:51 +0000

This is a list of audio technology that essentially failed, or was too redundant or unnecessary that it never found an audience. When researching this blog entry, the sheer enormity of the number of now extinct audio formats that I came across was unbelievable. I think this should be prefaced by saying there are a lot of cool ideas here, and so many that I wish would have caught on for various reasons from being superior technology to just looking extremely cool. It’s amazing how many times this single area of audio formats, and their many media types were invented and reinvented, even in the wake of other new and widely adopted technologies, still companies both large and small took a shot with their own entry into the audio player technology space. In no particular order, here’s our list of audio equipment that should have never been invented.

Oakley’s Thump Sunglasses

These wearable works of art, created by Oakley were endorsed by Dog The Bounty Hunter, and sold for a whopping $495 when they were first introduced. Beyond their stellar celebrity endorsement, and style that looks like it could have hoped right off of one of Wesley Snipes enemies in Blade, they had extremely limited storage when they were first released compared to the standards of mp3 players of that time. People say they were difficult to use, however they also say you have to suffer for fashion, and inconvenience is a small price to pay to look this good.

ZUNE MP3 Player

Despite users who were so excited about the technology that it actually lead one man to get a Zune tattoo, these units couldn’t compete with the more ubiquitous Apple “Mp3” offerings. They actually had some cool features in which you could share music directly between Zunes, however there were some limitations, you could only play acquired tracks three times within three days of having shared them, among a few other drawbacks. They tried to reinvigorate interest with an updated HD version of the player, that included gaming, but it wasn’t long before the Zune became the first digital mp3 player to go the way of the 8-track.

Sony Mini Disc Players

Despite being promoted in almost every late 90s movie about hackers or futuristic crime, they never caught on as being a popular format. Not to say they didn’t have their extremely loyal cult, who still use mini discs to this day. Some extremely obscure sub-genres of music still put out albums on this format, but price and a transformation of digital downloads with the advent of Napster had already began to change the landscape of storage capacity, and how people were listening to music. From a design standpoint this was one of the most practical updates to optical format data storage, that allowed for protection of the media with a plastic covering, based on the same data access door used on computer floppy discs.

8-Track Cassette Players

8-Track players, and the associated audio equipment, were extremely cool looking, so many of the players had incredible design, however many users had various complaints about these audio players. Many would report that the unites functioning and track switching were very noisy. It was also not a very reliable format, they would frequently have issues with playback and track switching. The 8-track tape players were also most popularly installed in cars, however the tapes themselves couldn’t stand up to the extreme heat of being stored in cars, as they would warp and melt into an unplayable condition.

DataPlay Disc Players

Almost an identical clone of Sony’s mini disc technology, however there were a few twists to DataPlay’s offering that was incredibly unique. As illegal downloading began to slowly dismantle the commercial music market, the DataPlay discs and players utilized a complex digital rights management system, which almost all but prevented the illegal copying or trading of tracks. It also allowed for those who have purchased a disc to pay to unlock additional content that was already recorded to the disc itself with a secondary purchase. With limited commercial releases available on the format, fans could however get their hands on Avril Lavigne’s first record and then pay to unlock multi-media and extra content. If that doesn’t give you a picture of why we aren’t using this today, then I don’t know what will.

Take a look at some audio equipment that we are very grateful for here.

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What Are Interior Designer Trade Programs? | LUNO

luno — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 12:28:51 +0000

What Are Interior Designer Trade Programs? | A Look Inside The Designer Furniture Industry

Many people outside of the Interior Design world have asked us about Interior Designer Trade Programs, what they are, if we offer them and how they work. In the world of interior design these programs are pretty standard, but offer great incentives for qualified members of the trade to participate and make working with a designer furniture brand like ours incredibly easy.

But who are these programs open to, is the question we often hear the most, and are these trade programs just limited to interior designers? Generally, they are open to a fairly wide range of interior designers, architects, and qualified members of the trade that work with homeowners and developers on their design projects.

Those who have been working in the design field for years understand the value of the designer trade programs, and know that they open up a lot of possibilities for exclusive discounts, and other resources that we make available to those partners who qualify. Unfortunately at the present time, those who are not professionals working in the interior design trade, those who are taking on their own personal custom projects and a few other exclusions do apply.

A lot of time these programs are kept out of reach, but we like to have an informed clientele who understand all of the options available to them, just incase that this should apply to your professional situation.

When you visit our interior designer trade program page you’ll also find other resources that will help make working with us as easy as possible. Including our guide to LUNO PDF and downloads of high quality versions of our images for you to use in presentations or layouts.

The other question that we get very frequently, is, what does it take to apply for your interior designer trade program? Essentially, all you have to do is provide a copy of your resale certificate or EIN number verifying your business in the trade, and fill out our form on our trade program page here: https://www.iamluno.com/trade/

Once you’ve filled it out, we’ll get back to you right away to let you know if you qualify to participate. Or, if you have any other questions we encourage you to get in touch with us so we can help you make your project a success.

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One Stop Vinyl Listening Room Shop | Luxury Furniture | LUNO

luno — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 18:40:09 +0000

It’s not a very well kept secret that LUNO makes beautiful luxury furniture, but what separates LUNO from our competition is that we’re a one stop vinyl listening room shop for those who are looking to create a stylish and immersive entirely analog vinyl listening experience, with all of the bells and whistles, even a few surprises thrown in there for good measure. To create the complete listening room set, it requires putting together quite a few pieces, that you may or may not be able to find in the luxury furniture space, and if you can find non-vintage pieces, locating pieces that give you the cohesive style that our sets provide can be a struggle. Each piece we design is engineered for the ultimate listening experience, from the demanding standards we have for our audience components to the details that only those who deeply understand both the technical audio and designer furniture spaces would think of and integrate into their offerings. If there’s anything that we’re experts in is diving head first into our favorite vinyl records, and understanding the ultimate listening environment all the way down to the perfect chair, and believe me even that piece has a deep and intricate thought process behind its design. Better than trying to explain let us show you what we mean with a sample vinyl listening room suite setup below.

“One Stop Vinyl Listening Room Shop”

The first piece you need, and the centerpiece of any vinyl listening room is the hifi record console. This is the meat and the potatoes, it determines a number of factors beyond just the style, but it’s crucial to understand how the quality is going to effect the over all immersion into the listening experience. So for our purposes of creating the ultimate luxury listening room, we’ll start off using our flagship the EGB2 as the example.

So please note that some of the coolest features can’t be see at first glance. Not only does this sonic powerhouse have storage for 150 vinyl records built-in, but it also has one of the coolest features you’ll ever find in any hifi record console, a built-in discrete whiskey bar! Talk about taking the listening experience to the next level. We also include 4 gold-rimmed whiskey glasses, a bottle of one of our favorite whiskeys, and a selection of personally curated classic vinyl records that we know you’re going to love to put this console through its paces.

We can complement this gorgeous luxury console perfectly with our Buckley Listening Chair. The style and comfort are unmatched, once you enter its comfort zone, you will never want to get up. But, here’s where we’ve optimized it for the ultimate listening experience, the chair is set to the perfect height to optimize the range of our record console’s sweet spot, so you can achieve THE SOUND!

Next up, decorate vinyl storage units, that not only look good, but are on par with the quality and luxury or the rest of your listening suite are essential, not that there’s anything wrong with it, but you don’t want to go IKEA on this element, because it can be such a beautiful decorative opportunity and personality piece that ties everything in together. For this vinyl listening room we suggest our JAX Vinyl Storage Unit, made with beautiful exotic zebrawood, available in some gorgeous finishes.

If you have less space or you’re looking for a way to display a curated set of records at time time for guests to flip through, and see what incredible taste in music you have, we offer our Flip Tabletop Vinyl Storage unit. Not only is it one of the most functional and style pieces we’ve come across, but it gives you a way to showcase 35 of your favorite albums, and rotate collections for theme and mood of your gatherings when you entertain.

Last but not least, you need to clean and maintain this precision piece of audio equipment, and considering our custom Groovewasher kit not only matches the incredible style of your vinyl listening room, it gives you the best set of tools to ensure your records sound great, but will give you the greatest possible life from your investment.

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