Audiophiles/videophiles: Monster extends green power control line

Sitting to the right of my desk, tucked into a modest Pottery Barn-era cabinet are four "classic" pieces of stereo equipment, including a Marantz turntable (yes, a turntable!) upon which I can play the roughly 30 or so vinyl albums I will probably never discard. But the real point of my mentioning all of this is what's connecting that equipment to the speakers: fat (no, not phat, fat), copper-colored Monster speakerwire.

Of course, speakerwire isn't ALL that Monster makes, which is the point of this blog post. That's because Monster is getting scary serious about green technology.

During the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, the company introduced two new PowerCenters in its GreenPower products line. These gizmos are designed to fit into home theater installations, and they are meant for your high-definition television, audio/video receiver, Blu-ray player and such. They premise is pretty simple: The PowerCenter will power down all the associated peripherals when you turn your TV off. So, once your kid is through watching her Twilight DVD for the umpteenth time, you can thwart the threat of vampire power by making sure your theater is hooked into a PowerCenter. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, up to 20 percent of home energy use is tied to standby consumption of appliances and electronics gadgets.

The two new products are the HDP 1850G (suggested price is $399.95), which features two outlets that can be powered down via a radio frequency remote, and the HDP 1400G (priced at $299.95), which controls up to five outlets. Both also include surge protection and carry connected equipment warranties of $350,000 for the HDP 1850G and $500,000 for the HDP 1400G.