Russ Andrews has teamed up with Swedish husband and wife hifi retailers and authors to bring a little light-hearted relief to the world of h-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 hifi 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, filmmaker and photographer, who came up with the original idea for this new children’s book, the third that Emma has illustrated.

Cables

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”.

Buzz Trolls

‘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.

Andreas sent the original Swedish version, ‘Brumfällan’, to a number of book bloggers and was very pleasantly surprised by the reaction: ‘Quite a few said that after reading the book their kids had asked “Why don´t we listen to music like that?”, or just stated “We need to listen to more music” ’.

John Armer adds, “This is a great reaction from the kids – if we can interest even a few members of a younger generation to really listen to music through quality audio systems, then we will have achieved something. And if all they get is a laugh from the book then that’s equally great”. He goes on to say “On a more serious note, I think the timing of this is perfect. In this period of upheaval and disruption, which is putting great stress on many people’s mental health, music can be a real tonic. And while the hifi industry can’t cure the world’s ills, it can at least bring a little bit of relief through music”.

Price And Availability

‘The Buzz Trolls’ is available now direct from Russ Andrews at a cost of £10.95

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