Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994                   TAG: 9401110024
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS                                LENGTH: Medium

THOSE BOOMIN' CAR STEREOS ARE A BOON AT THE CASHBOX

While computers and cellular phones have gathered the most attention and dollars in consumer electronics the past few years, car stereos have quietly - or maybe not so quietly - become one of the industry's fastest-growing segments.

At last week's Consumer Electronics Show, dozens of head-popping amplifier and speaker systems were on display, including some customized trucks that will blast at rock-concert levels.

Some of the car stereo systems have remote controls like their cousins on the shelf at home. Big CD changers, the most popular of which rotate 10 discs, require remotes, since they generally are installed out of reach in the trunk.

Car systems also are keeping up with the latest technology. This spring, Sony will introduce a $1,300 dashboard system that rotates four mini-discs, the 2-inch CD-quality format it has been selling for a year on Walkman-style machines.

Because mini-discs are rugged and can be used for recording, Sony and other makers expect people to use them like cassettes, recording their favorite songs from CDs at home.

Car stereo sales are surging because people who switched their home systems to compact discs in the 1980s now are changing over their cars. And the clearer sound of CDs means those who like their music at full blast can crank up the volume.

"The mobile electronic system of today is in essence replacing the hot rod customization of yesterday," said Martin Homlish, senior vice president of audio products in the consumer group of Sony Electronics Inc.

"Before, car stereo used to just be entertaining, but now it's crazy," said Nissim Diz, who sells car stereos at Talli Imports in Los Angeles.

Sales of systems installed by car makers jumped from $2.9 billion in 1991 to $3.2 billion last year, according to estimates by the Electronic Industries Association, which is sponsoring the show. Sales of systems that are installed by custom dealers rose from $1.2 billion in 1991 to $1.6 billion last year, the trade group said.

More manufacturers are jumping into the mobile stereo market because profits tend to be higher, partly because the research already done on products for the home can be transferred easily to those for the road.

Car stereo makers are now concentrating on trying to make amps that are smaller and drain less battery power, hoping that will broaden their appeal.