Volume 12, Issue 2 — January 30, 2015
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Editorial Editorial Editorial
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Industry News rAVe BlogSquad Audio Cables, Furniture, Mounts, Racks, Screens and Accessories
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17 Stands You Must See at ISE 2015
By Gary Kayye rAVe Founder
As you may know, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is Europe’s — and the world’s — largest AV show. Combining both residential and commercial AV technology in one giant trade show venue at the Amsterdam RAI, the show is nicely spread out in 12 easy-to-navigate halls that you can walk without back-tracking as it’s laid-out in a way that allows you to walk it as one giant rectangle.
But, three days is nearly impossible to see it all – and even the show organizers realized this as in 2016 the show will go to a four-day event. With well over 1,000 exhibitors, 100 parties, 255 receptions and nearly 300 educational sessions, you will need to plan accordingly to fit in what you need to see in the three days the floor is open to the public — 10-12 February, 2015.
But, I’m going to help you narrow down your search and navigate you calendar by telling you the MUST-SEE booths (or, stands, as they are called in Europe). You see, we are privy to a bunch of what is commonly referred to as “embargoed” news stories — this is where a company will send us new product news weeks in advance of the product launch so that we are ready to write about it the day it hits the market publicly. Thanks to the relationships we have with the top 400 or so manufacturers in the AV industry, we know about a lot of the new products that are to be launched at February’s mega-AV show. So, here are my top 17 (+1) booths or stands you NEED to make sure you put on your list to visit over the three day event:
First, the +1: We will be in Hall 1 this year — Stand 1-Q100 and we will be video casting, podcasting, blogging and posting new product news LIVE every single moment the show floor is open. If you’re going to be at ISE, please drop by and say Hi!
On to the Top-17 (not in any specific order):
- CAT – California Audio Technology (stand 5-S92): This is likely a company that’s not on your list. But it should be. If you do ANY HomeAV integration and need high-end speakers and amplification, this is the company that you should look at first. This is HIGH-END, though! CAT’s site is here.
- Christie (stand 1-H50): I can’t tell you what Christie is debuting, but I can tell you that if you are an integrator in the commercial AV market and do meeting rooms and classrooms, you won’t want top miss their new launch. You know Christie but here’s their EMEA site.
- AMX & HARMAN (stand 1-F6): You can’t miss them — enter, turn right — there they are. AMX will debut new ENZO products (wireless collaboration BYOD) as well as new version of their digital media switcher at ISE. Watch for 4K to play a big part of their launch: hint, hint. AMX is, of course, here. But, one other thing of note: AMX will be fully-integrated into HARMAN for the first time at ISE — so, the stand is actually a HARMAN stand and they’re going to highlight integration of AMX into the HARMAN product line. Watch for some HiQnet integration both directions, too.
- Microsoft (stand 8-K355): Microsoft purchased a company called Perceptive Pixel back in 2012 and has been quietly — nearly imperceptively — been selling multi-touch 50”, 60” and 65” LCDs into corporate installs — all without the AV market involved. But, now, they’ve just launched an 84” version called the Surface HUB and they want the AV integrator’s help in getting it into the market — think SMART Technologies and Mondopad but with a Microsoft badge. Details on the HUB can be found here.
- SMART Technologies (stand 12-A95): SMART’s best thing out right now has just started shipping in Europe — the SMART kapp. We gave it our Best Overall New Product award in 2014 at InfoComm and it’s something that EVERY AV integrator should be selling. They will debut an 84” version at ISE. You can see it here.
- HDBaseT Alliance (stand 7-E190): Although I think the Alliance isn’t doing a very good job managing its own ‘standard,’ HDBaseT (sending video, audio, control, Ethernet and power via CatX cable) is the future of AV signal routing — at least for now! So, you should really go by their stand and understand the technical aspects of it and how it works – it’s capable all the way up to 4K, too. The HDBaseT Alliance is here.
- LANG AG (stand 1-N53): The best stand in the show — three years running — so there’s no doubt in my mind they will have the best, most impressive demo on the show floor at ISE in 2015. LANG handles a lot of different manufacturers products and is well known as a rental and staging leader all over the world. Whatever they plan to demo will look spectacular! Lang is here.
- Barco (stand 11-F78): You can’t miss Barco in Hall 11 and their stand will look like a space port at this year’s show. But, the gear they will launch is the key – they will fill out every single product category that they had holes in their projector line – trust me. And, they’ll be launching an entirely new product category – so don’t miss stopping by there.
- DENON Professional (stand 9-F146): For years, AV integrators have had to buy consumer AV amps to put in to classrooms, boardrooms and meeting rooms to get surround sound. But, now, DENON has a professional line of them available to the commercial AV integration market. At ISE, they will show the KUDO for the first time — it’s a BYOD wireless collaboration system that allows Android devices, laptops and desktop computers to be wirelessly connected in a room and has both HDMI out to the projector or monitor. You can see all their ISE launch products here.
- NEC Display (stand 4-R24): NEC will probably launch more new stuff than any other display company at ISE. You’ll see larger LCDs, high-resolution LCDs and a new projector lineup. But, watch for their new digital signage stuff as there’s a reason they are the leader in that market. Do not miss going by their stand. It will all debut on their website, too.
- AOPEN (stand 10-P142): If you’re in the digital signage market, then you’ve likely heard of AOPEN as they have the largest lineup of digital sing media players on the market. They will use ISE 2015 to launch a 4K media player as well as some new cloud-based software tools and a new kiosk design. AOPEN is here.
- Listen Technologies (stand 3-C89): Listen Technologies not only provides live tour-guide wireless audio systems, but also has a new line of installed audio solutions that will impress at ISE. If you’re not already a Listen dealer, you should become one.
- ClearOne (stands 3-A106 and 2-A42): ClearOne is plagued by history as being known as that audio company — but they do video, control and collaboration systems — all over the network, too, now. And, most AV integrators see them as just an audio company. Make sure you go by there and see how their IP-based media distribution stuff works — specifically their new Spontania line.
- SpinetiX (stand 8-K205): SpinetiX makes the most reliable, easiest to use media player on the market in the HMP200. We expect SpinetiX to launch a follow-up player and maybe even make a foray into the 4K market. But, their Elementi digital signage software is worth the trip to their stand alone — it’s simple, template based digital sign-ready. I love it. Here they are.
- Cisco (stand 9-C121): Cisco will return to ISE with a totally new look in 2015 as they launched all new products in 2014 and their MX 700 dual-screen TelePresence system. Not only is it videoconferencing in a box, but it’s also got built-in BYOD in that wireless content can be sent to it to be shared via the live and conferenced in group – they will show this and the MX800 (dual-camera version) at ISE.
- Chief & Da-Lite (stand 2-C42): This will be the second year that Chief and Da-Lite have had a truly unified presence at ISE and both a leaders in their respective tech categories. Da-Lite has a new touch-screen screen system that’s already made it’s debut on the new Chief Integrated Interactive Mount systems for the Epson BrightLink projectors — it’s now finger-touch. But, everyone has to project things and mount things so how can I not put these two companies on a list of must-sees as you get two for the price of one! Chief is here and Da-Lite is here.
- Sennheiser (stand 2-A45): Sennseiser’s audio conferencing system, called TeamConnect, made it’s debut at InfoComm last year, but now it’s shipping and most haven’t seen it in action. Sennheiser is branching into the installed systems world in a way they never have before, so this will be interesting to monitor. All the TeamConnect details are here.
Well, that’s it! Well, for now. This is a work in progress. Some companies launch products we’ve never seen or heard of, Iive, at the show and we’ll want you to see them too! So, we’ll be blogging and reporting news LIVE from ISE on our site here. And, you can follow us on your mobile phone as our new website is optimized for mobile so check it often! Leave a Comment
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Review: Gefen High Resolution USB to Analog and Digital Audio Decoder
By Lee Distad rAVe Columnist
I’m an audiophile, but I’m a frugal audiophile. As delightful as big-ticket stereo equipment is, my Scots heritage and its accompanying frugality informs my preferences.
In short, I get thrilled by equipment that delivers best bang for the buck.
Gefen is best known as a maker of video dongles for a variety of streaming and distribution solutions. Since I have a well-documented passion for dongles, widgets and problem-solving devices I’ve used and tested a broad variety of Gefen hardware in the past, often with a broad variety of results: from poor to excellent.
With that breadth of prior experiences, I endeavored to maintain an open mind.
The company’s High Resolution USB to Analog and Digital Audio Decoder is intended for users who want to listen to streaming digital media from their PC or laptop, connected to their audio system, and who want to experience a higher degree of musical fidelity than they’d get from the headphone jack output to a 3.5mm to stereo RCA adapter cable.
The decoder supports digital audio up to 24 bits and 192kHz sampling rate coming from the USB port of a Windows PC or Mac, and converts it to both optical digital (TOSLINK) and analog left/right audio. The outputs of the decoder can be connected to A/V Receivers, analog pre-amplifiers, or headphones. It should be noted that your audio output must be configured to output high resolution, two-channel LPCM audio through USB. The decoder does not support Dolby Digital or DTS.
In my case, in my home office, I connected the decoder to my laptop (a Dell 14-inch, running Windows 7, in case you’re interested) via USB, and then ran the analog L/R outputs first into a Ground Loop Interrupter from Monoprice and straight into the L/R inputs of my home office sound system: a Speakercraft Big Bang BB2125 (two 125-watt ouputs, get it? Speakercraft always did clever nomenclature like that) and a pair of battered and well broken-in first-generation PSB Alpha bookshelf speakers, on isolated metal floor stands.
“Wait,” you say, “Back up. What was that about something from Monoprice!?”
It’s called a Ground Loop Interrupter. Because it’s my home office, and because all the 120-volt outlets in the room are on the same circuit, the interplay of power and data cables connected to laptop, printer, scanner, hard drives and AV equipment, even with the use of a filtering power bank causes a 60Hz hum to manifest from my amplifier to my speakers.
After much unplugging and replugging of every cable and cord in the room, only for the 60Hz hum to reappear at random sometimes days later, like electricity, I took the path of least resistance.
Like Alexander the Great cutting the Gordian Knot in half with his sword, I fixed my system’s intermittent hum with a fourteen dollar mail-order part.
That doesn’t make me a philistine, it makes me smart.
Out of the box, the Gefen decoder is compact, about the size of an Apple TV unit, and very light. Unlike more expensive DACs, Gefen doesn’t try to bamboozle your senses by packaging the DAC circuits in CNC machined metal billet with fancy engraving.
It’s a box. Signal goes in. Signal goes out. Everything else in this business is marketing and window dressing.
The decoder is powered by the 5V input from the USB source connection, which is smart: one less detail to fuss over.
Apparently the decoder is totally plug and play for Mac users, but since I’ve got a Windows laptop I had to download the USB drivers from Gefen’s website, which generated the only real snag in doing this review.
While unpacking the USB driver and installing it my laptop froze up and had to be hard booted. Twice.
In all fairness I cannot, with a scientific mind, blame that entirely on Gefen and its software. Notwithstanding any sarcastic Tweets I may or may not have sent at the time, my elderly laptop and my tendency to have way too many tabs open at once could easily have been to blame.
Once installed, right clicking on the speaker icon on your task bar will allow you to open the window to “Speaker Properties,” which allows you to toggle the sampling rates that the decoder will work at, from 16-bit, 44,100 Hz (CD Quality) to 24-bit 192,000 Hz.
I picked a selection of tracks from my iTunes library, specific ones that I’m deeply familiar with, and selected for their distinct lows, mids and highs:
Granted there was no option to do blind-listening so bias pertains, but toggling between 16-bit, 44,100 Hz (CD Quality) to 24-bit 192,000 Hz output on repeated listening of each track demonstrated noticeable sonic improvements when on the 24-bit 192,000 Hz output: richer lows, fuller highs, and more involved, encompassing soundstage to the two-channel mix.
I’m fairly jaded as a listener, but listing to some old favorite tracks through the Gefen decoder had me hearing details to the music that I’d not noticed in a long time. It definitely enhanced my listening enjoyment. Considering how much time I spend sitting at my desk working, that’s a huge plus.
The bottom line is that in the hi-fi marketplace DACs abound, and are available at prices that range from frugal to eye-watering. Not only is the Gefen decoder the least expensive DAC I’ve listened to, I’d rank it as one of the best, certainly on a pound-for-pound basis.
If you like audio and want to improve what’s coming out of your iTunes collection for the cost of reloading your Starbucks card you’d be hard pressed to get more bang for your buck.
The High Resolution USB to Analog and Digital Audio Decoder’s features and specs: if you like that sort of thing:
- Accepts high resolution digital audio from a USB source, and outputs digital audio and analog audio
- Accepts up to 24 bits of uncompressed 2-channel LPCM digital audio at 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, or 192 kHz sampling rate
- Outputs 2-channel LPCM digital audio up to 24 bits and 192kHz
- Outputs 2-channel analog audio via L/R RCA outputs and 1/4-inch headphone jack
- Allows listening to locally stored or streaming digital media from a PC or MAC using an AV receiver, analog amplifier, or headphones
- LED status indicators for power/streaming and sampling frequency
- 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch (3.5mm) headphone plug adaptor included
- Specifications
- Audio Input Connector: (1) USB Mini-B
- Audio Output Connectors:
- One TOSLINK (optical)
- One L/R analog audio (2 x RCA female)
- One 1/4-inch stereo headphone jack
- Power/Streaming indicator: (1) LED, blue
- Sampling Frequency indicators: (6) LEDs, blue
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 110 dBA
- Frequency Response: 10Hz – 20kHz ± 0.1 dB
- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)+N: <0.02% 1 kHz, 2Vrms
- Operating Temperature: +32 to 104 °F ( 0 to +40 °C )
- Operating Humidity: 20 to 90% RH, no condensation
- Storage Temperature: -4 to +140 °F ( -20 to +60 °C )
- Storage Humidity: 0 to 95% RH, no condensation
- Power Consumption: 2.5W (max.)
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 3.4″ x 1.3″ x 3.4″ (86mm x 34mm x 86mm)
- Shipping Weight: 1 lbs (0.45) kg
- USB Driver :
- High Resolution USB to Analog and Digital Audio Decoder Driver version 1.56
- SKU: GTV-192KUSB-2-ADAUD
- MSRP: $49.99, direct from Gefen.com
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CFL Light Bulbs Can’t Go Away Fast Enough
By Lee Distad rAVe Columnist
One of my favorite axioms (and if you’re a regular reader you know that I LOVE axioms) came to me from engineer friends. I find it incredibly apt for many scenarios, not least to AV install and design.
The axiom is: “Every solution has two problems.”
AV pros need to remind themselves that their equipment doesn’t operate in a bubble. Your systems interact with other systems in the home. I don’t mean that just in the obvious sense, where a control processor turns light switches on and off. Rather, I mean that things that are connected together will interact, and not necessarily in the way you want them to.
The most fundamental relationship between systems is with the home’s AC power and the home’s lighting. What you plug into the light fixtures impacts other systems that are connected to the home’s power.
In many countries, the curtain has been drawn on incandescent light bulbs. Once they’re all gone, they’re gone. Obviously, substitute technologies have propagated. One of the earliest replacement technologies, compact fluorescent (CFLs) is one of, if not the absolutely most prevalent. By now most households have been replacing incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs.
It’s too bad that it’s such a terrible technology.
Green initiatives and energy savings, but CFL bulbs are problematic on several counts. For one, disposal of them is an ecological problem. I have some eco-conscious friends who have outright banned them from their houses.
Worse, many models of CFLs are undimmable, which restricts the lighting control options that either the AV pro or the home décor consultant has when it comes to creating pre-programmed lighting scenes for different room settings.
Dimmable CFLs do exist, but there’s two different kinds: “standard dimmable” and “switch dimmable.” Between those and the undimmable models sitting on the shelves of the light bulb aisle at Home Depot have fun coaching your clients on which light bulbs they’re allowed to buy.
But the biggest issue is that a home full of CFLs can cause issues for AV equipment racks.
Here’s why, as explained to me by an electrical engineer of my acquaintance who works for the local utility company: Normal incandescent light is a resistive load. It simply consumes watts, and creates light and heat. CFL bulbs, which have a ballast, are an inductive load. As he put it, “Inductive loads reduce the amount of overall voltage available. This means that the voltage available on the entire grid is dropping as more of these things that are installed. The more sensitive data centers and communication network buildings are starting to notice this already.”
While the refrigerator probably doesn’t care about not getting exactly 120V AC, AV pros know that at 105V AC or less, devices with microprocessors and hard drives start getting weird, either acting erratically or crashing. Those who don’t know that will find that out first hand, eventually.
My friend also pointed out that the inductive loading also adds a lot of noise to the home’s AC system. Obviously there can be negative consequences to that, not least of which are issues with video and audio quality in the client’s AV systems.
So what does this mean for you and your clients?
First, it means you should do everything in your power to talk them out of using CFLs at all, and into other technologies.
Second, it means that you need to specify power management that not only provides noise filtering, surge suppression and UPC, but also voltage regulation. But you’re all already doing that, right? Leave a Comment
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CEDIA Returns to ISE 2015 With New Training CoursesBuilding on a successful show in 2014, CEDIA, joint venture partner of ISE, will be delivering an extensive training program, incorporating several new courses at ISE 2015.
The aim of this year’s training program is to educate attendees on the latest industry developments in short bite size sessions. With over twenty courses available, installers will walk away with a more in depth knowledge of technologies such as Atmos and Auro 3D sound, 4K Ultra HD and HDMI 2.0.
A number of new courses have been introduced this year. Here, the presenters provide you with reasons why you should attend these sessions.
- Atmos, Auro 3D & More: Object Based Audio from the Cinema to the Home Theatre – Tuesday 10 February, 2:00-3:30, Room D201.
Guy Singleton, Imagine This, UK: “Join me in my object based audio session and learn how to incorporate the newest audio formats from cinema into your home theater designs. We discuss the technical design detail and real world implementation of audio formats, including Atmos, Auro 3D and more, and look at how to confidently incorporate these exciting new formats into your own home theater designs.”
- Ecological Automation – The Basics of Energy – Wednesday 11 February – 9:15 – 10:45, Room D202.
Daniel Knight, Fibaro, UK: “The course focuses on providing installers and integrators the tools and knowledge to identify, monitor and actively manage the energy consumed in residential environments through the use of Smart Technologies. We’ll talk mostly about demand control, but touch on some exciting new developments in supply efficiency and sustainable energy harvesting.
Aside from learning about simple, easy to implement energy saving ideas for Connected Homes, delegates will see new market opportunities that can positively contribute to the bottom line of their businesses.”
- Introduction to Building Management Systems – Wednesday 11 February – 2:00 – 3:30, Room D201.
Dave Robinson, Sensible Heat, UK: “These days, custom installers are expected to be more than just AV specialists. They have to be the technological gatekeepers on many projects, providing a user-focused human interface for a wide range of disciplines. Perhaps one of the most complex and alien of these disciplines is the area covered by Building Management Systems (BMS) – the systems which control the mechanical and electrical services in the building, particularly the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems. So, how do we understand enough of the BMS world in order to be able to interface with it successfully, or maybe take responsibility for the supply of the BMS package?
This course will help you to understand some of the common issues and jargon terms used in the BMS world, and will aid you in being able to set limits to the scope of your involvement with BMS. We’ll explore why you need to use a separate specialist system to control some of these services, and look at the threat vs opportunity equation — you may not want to get involved with BMS, but if that’s what your customers want, can you afford not to?”
- Fifty First Dates – Finding Love for Your Brand Online – Thursday 12 February – 11:00 – 12:30, Room D201
Geoff Meads, Presto AV, UK: “If you’re confused by online marketing channels or don’t know how to co-ordinate your efforts then this session is for you! To build a loyal customer base we need to take a planned approach to online marketing. It’s a staged process that takes time
In this course we’ll look at taking a more organized approach to online marketing activities. We’ll discuss platforms, identity, activity and building a coordinated plan of action. Attendees can expect to leave with an outline plan for their own business. They will have a clear objective, a set of actionable tasks and methods for measuring success!”
Prices for CEDIA education courses at ISE 2015 are as follows:
- 90 Min Course: €55 (member), €70 (non-member)
Don’t forget to visit CEDIA at the show on stand 1-F21. CEDIA representatives will be throughout ISE 2015 to answer questions and provide information about its work across EMEA (the UK, Europe, Africa, the CIS, the Middle East, India and Pakistan) and the benefits that membership brings.
Every member who stops by the CEDIA stand will receive a FREE beanie hat, while any company who signs up for CEDIA membership will be given a FREE CEDIA jacket.
For more information on CEDIA education at ISE contact CEDIA Education Coordinator, Aneta Armova-Levin — education@cedia.co.uk or +44 (0)1480 213744.
For the full list of training courses at ISE 2015, go here. Leave a Comment
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Origin Acoustics Launches New ThinFit LoudspeakersThe team that invented the in-wall loudspeaker (at SpeakerCraft) have a new company, Origin Acoustics, and they’ve announced the release of three models in their ThinFit Collection. Designed specifically for installations with limited depth requirements, all three models feature an integrated back-can with a mere 70mm depth.
The TF34 and TF36 share a similar driver configuration. Dual 88mm woofers and dual 88mm midwoofers surround a 20mm tweeter. The TF34 feature Injection Molded Graphite (IMG) woofers and midwoofers with an aluminum tweeter. The TF36 steps up to Glass Fiber woofers and a silk-dome tweeter. Both are mounted on an injection-molded baffle that integrates into the steel back-can creating a ported enclosure.
The TF64DT features a 17cm dual voice-coil, IMG woofer and two 20mm aluminum tweeters. These are also mounted on an injection-molded baffle, which attaches to a steel back-can creating a sealed enclosure. The dual-tweeter design allows both left and right channels to be produced from a single speaker. All three models use the same bezel-less magnetic grille assembly found on the Director D80 series.
The acoustic dampening enclosures are fully integrated with the woofers to create a superior sonic result. Origin says the enclosures also cut down on room-to-room sound transfer by up to 9 dB.
The ThinFit Collection will begin shipping in April 2015 and you can see all the detailed specs here. Leave a Comment
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Rotel Introduces New RSP-1582 Reference Surround Processor Rotel Electronics has just launched what it’s calling a “reference” surround processor: the RSP-1582. Rotel says the DACs in the RSP-1582 preamp/processor consist of six 24-bit/192kHz Wolfson WM8740 chips, four dedicated DACs for the front left, front right, center and subwoofer channels and shared stereo DACs for the rear and surround channels. Also included is a Texas Instruments PCM1804 audio-performance analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The processor is 7.1.
Multi-channel soundtracks are decoded by a Texas Instruments Aureus TMS320DA808 DSP chip with a 10-channel Parametric Equalization (PEQ). Digital inputs include: three optical, three coaxial, PC-USB input supporting 24bit/192kHz audio and an embedded aptX Bluetooth receiver for CD quality wireless connectivity.
The RSP-1582 has an analog Bypass function for relevant input signals, which circumvents the DSP section to obtain the purest analog signal path. The analog inputs include phono stage, four auxiliary, XLR balanced input, 7.1 channel input and six conventional stereo analogue inputs. The analog pre-outputs are presented on fully balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA connectors, both with twin subwoofer connections. The volume control allows for fine adjustments of level in increments of 0.5 dB.
The RSP-1582’s eight HDMI 4K video pass-through inputs utilize a Silicon Image Sil9573 2K/4K HDMI transceiver. There are also two HDMI 4K video pass-through outputs (one ARC/CEC enabled). And front-panel HDMI input with 4K video pass-through.
Other features include:
- 7” TFT display on the front panel
- Front-panel USB input for Apple devices with 2.1 amp charging capability
- RS232 and IP network interface for control
- Two IR output connectors for IR pass-through and wired IR remote input
- Three source independent trigger outputs.
It’s available in either black or silver finishes and will ship in April at a list price of $3,499. Detailed specs are here. Leave a Comment
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HARMAN’s Crown Audio Announces “Empower by Crown” Amplifier Program HARMAN’s Crown Audio today announced Empower by Crown, a new embedded amplifier program to provide third-party active loudspeaker manufacturers of elite consumer electronics (CE) and customer integration (CI) finished product with special access to the Crown Audio portfolio of amplifier technology. Built on Crown’s proprietary DriveCore platform, all Empowered by Crown Amplifiers are designed for integration into virtually any loudspeaker configuration.
The first Empowered by Crown amplifiers offer power points from 75W up to 2x750W continuous and 2x1000W burst @ 2 ohms and they claim an ultra-low distortion spec (<0.1 percent) and noise (>110dB S/N). Empower by Crown Amplifiers are EuP compliant, and feature an integrated power supply, plus aux DC supply for input cards and networking options.
An example of innovation now being deployed across multiple products is Crown’s DriveCore technology. The DriveCore chip, co-developed with Texas Instruments, combines the amplifier drive stage into the power output stage circuits that are typically much larger in size and power requirements. As a result, Crown says power consumption is dramatically reduced and the amplifiers are far more energy-efficient.
Ideal for confident deployment in high caliber powered speakers, Crown Embedded Amplifiers will feature an integrated protection suite including Clipping, Temperature, Shorted/Failed driver, over-current, AC mains over/under voltage that is managed locally through Drivecore.
More details are here. Leave a Comment
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DENON Launches Audio Extractor — DN-271HEThe new DN-271HE is an audio extractor that essentially isolates the encoded audio content from HDMI so it can be routed separately — for example, to a mixer or sound reinforcement system.
With support for ultra-high definition signals, the DN-271HE enhances the flexibility of any display-plus-speakers system up to 4K2K video with 192kHz audio. Unique audio outputs are available on line level Euroblock connections, making it simple for integrators to incorporate the DN-271HE into space-challenged installations in series with other components. The DN-271HE supports CEC bypass for uninterrupted use with A/V equipment.
Denon Professional DN-271HE:
- 7.1 Channel HDMI Audio Extractor
- Separates audio signals from digitally encoded content
- HDMI and Optical audio input
- Line level Euroblock connectors
- Supports HDMI and Optical audio sampling rates up to 192kHz
- 4K2K ready; works with current and next generation UHD signals
- EDID switching between 7.1 channel LPCM, Bitstream and TV (external)
- CEC bypass ensures seamless operation with other A/V components
The DN-271HE will be available in Spring 2015 at a US price of $299.99 and is here. Leave a Comment
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Stealth Acoustics Ships SA255 350W Mono AmpBuilt as a replacement of Stealth Acoustics’ 255R model, the new SA255 includes Stealth’s new blue back-lit front panel graphics and features a variable low-pass filter for use with Stealth, or other passive subwoofer speakers, and provides 350 watts of power at 4 ohm loads. The filter stage can be bypassed to allow for full range mono-brick operation.
In addition to a built-in limiter stage to help resist overloads and tighten up bass response, Stealth the SA255 features a wide array of input integration options; balanced XLR inputs, unbalanced RCA line-level inputs and speaker level inputs, all with pass-through outputs providing maximum flexibility in integrating the amplifier to a wide variety of sources. A no-signal auto mute function turns the amplifier off for energy conservation when audio signals are not present and immediately switches the amplifier back on upon resumption of source content.
The SA255 is shipping now. Here are all the detailed specs. Leave a Comment
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Salamander Launches New Custom Configurator to Design Your Own Premium Theater Seating Salamander Designs’ new Custom Seating Configurator offers consumers and integrators enhanced online design capabilities. Salamander’s Premium Leathers have added two new luxury choices. Seating comfort and ergonomics have also been improved, and new non-reclining mechanisms are now available as well.
A new Design Your Own (DYO) Custom Seating Configurator features the following improvements:
* Enhanced User Interface and Experience
* Photo Realistic Chair Rendering
* Features All Products/Chair Styles
* New Cover Materials and Custom Details
* Design, Print and Save Systems for Customers
Salamander launched its first configurator in 2000, an interactive web tool that’s been a key element of the brand’s website for nearly 15 years now. The Custom Seating Configurator provides an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that allows shoppers to build the perfect seating solution, creating accurate graphic representations of preferred style, materials, arrangement and functionality. A Custom Configurator is also available to help build a modular Synergy System cabinet system. Try either configurator here.
New Royal and Luxe Premium Leathers expand a robust line of luxurious seating materials offered for high-end, discerning clients. Royal is fine Italian, aniline dyed leather with a soft and subble hand. Fine graining enhances its beauty and gives it a warm, cozy appeal. Colors exhibit and earthy hue reminiscent of a fine pair of worn chaps. Luxe comes from American dairy cowhide meticulously selected for a natural, even, pebbled grain. Luxurious looking with excellent durability, Luxe is recommended for the contract, hospitality and residential markets.
Salamander seating is as renowned for its comfort, ergonomics and durability as it is for distinctive, love-at-first-sight styles. Construction innovations include a new spring suspension that improves the “sit” and “support,” and multi-layer cushions now include a top layer of Memory foam for a luxurious feel that can be enjoyed time after time, year after year.
New non-reclining mechanisms are available for Alex and Olivia custom seating collections. Customers can now choose between non-recline versions as well as fully adjustable, quiet motorized and 3-position manual “wall-away” recliners for close-to-wall positioning.
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