Photo by: CAROL LOLLIS Terry Culhane in the space he is renovating on Bridge Street in Northampton for his business Tripod Audio.

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By JIM BALDERSTON, Staff Writer

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Monday, October 14, 2002 – NORTHAMPTON

After a six-year hiatus from having a storefront presence in Northampton, Tripod Audio owner and founder Terry Culhane is returning to offer a more visible presence for his custom home electronics design and installation business.

"I've been here all along, but have been invisible from a storefront perspective," he said during a recent interview at his soon-to-be opened location on Bridge Street, in what was once the Lasalle Ice Cream factory.

He bought the building at the corner of Bridge and Lincoln streets in August.

After closing his Main Street store in 1996 due to escalating rents, Culhane focused on an already robust home design and installation business.

"I was doing a lot of custom home installations, and with rents going up I decided to close the store," he said. "I have been doing work up and down the Valley, all the way into Connecticut."

The plan for the new location will differ substantially from the standard audio and home theater stores, Culhane said. "The traditional model for audio stores is shelves and shelves of black boxes. Somehow the salesperson is supposed to have a mind meld with the customer and guide them to the right component," he said. "I don't think that is a model that works."

Instead, Culhane said, customers should have a more detailed conversation to determine what type of home audio system would make sense for their specific needs. He said, "I try to sit down with people, often at their home, and help them determine what they want the system to do for their family."

"We need to decide which rooms need music, talk about how will the system be operated, and so on. Ideally I would like to talk about the specific details of listening to music or watching a movie. What we want to do is intellectually build a system for them. Selecting the components is practically the last step in the process."

Culhane said his showroom will contain four or five different set-ups, including audio and home theater systems, that will allow people to get a feel for what they want their new system to be like.

"I'll have a few systems that may plant seeds in the minds of customers as they think through their options.", he said. By demonstrating various configurations of speakers and other components, Culhane said he can get the feedback he needs to begin designing a system that suits the customer.

Culhane uses computer programs and 3-D modeling software to present layouts of various elements of an installation.

The cost of home audio systems can vary widely, Culhane said. In some parts of the country, where people are building $5 and $10 million dollar homes, such systems may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Culhane said his installations are usually far below that figure; he said the largest project he has worked on was in the neighborhood of $100,000, with most coming in far below that.

Culhane, an energetic and enthusiastic man, last week was eager to show off where various systems will be installed in his showroom. Bounding from room to room in the building, he showed off where home theater systems and audio installation will be. Blue tape on a wall gives the dimensions of a television screen. "Just having that on the wall helps me see how the room will lay out," Culhane said.

The showroom will also feature speakers in ceiling and walls, and controls that will allow Culhane to demonstrate how music can be delivered throughout a home.

Culhane said the showroom will provide a demonstration venue for prospective clients, and will be open largely by appointment. "I don't want to make it difficult for people to get in, but we are out doing installations all the time," he said. "We want customers to come in when they are ready to begin a conversation to help us design their system."

Culhane said he is looking forward to returning from what he called "being a virtual company" to having a physical presence in Northampton.

"I think this will be a good investment for the company by giving my customers a very tangible experience," he said. He hopes to have the showroom open before Christmas.

Culhane and his wife, Julie Culhane, a Fulbright fellow specializing in early childhood education issues, are longtime Northampton residents.

Jim Balderston can be reached at jbalderston@gazettenet.com