NHT's Founders Return To Home With A Vergence
By TWICE Staff -- TWICE, 5/29/2000
BENICIA, Calif. - Pro audio supplier Vergence Technology, launched in 1998 by the founders of the NHT home audio brand, will enter the home speaker market with active speakers based on the company's pro audio designs.
Vergence Technology is targeting June availability for its first home products, followed by the introduction of additional models at the CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) Expo in September. Distribution will be through independent specialists and custom installers.
Managing director Chris Byrne and Ken Kantor, Vergence's chief technology officer, founded NHT in 1986. In 1990, they sold the company to International Jensen, and in 1996, Jensen sold its home and aftermarket car audio business, including NHT, to Recoton.
Byrne and Kantor left NHT at the end of 1997, formed Vergence in 1998 and delivered their first pro products under the NHT name in February 1999. The pair licensed rights to the NHT name in the pro audio market until January 2000.
Using the Vergence brand, the two will target the home audio market with small high-performance speakers for use in small- and medium-size rooms, said Byrne.
One product due in June is a $7,200-suggested-retail active home theater system featuring five small satellites and two subwoofers, each powered by outboard amplifiers delivering total system output of 7 x 250 watts. The 7 x 14 x 8.5-inch satellites deliver peak output levels of 117dB.
Their companion amps, available in a choice of two-channel or mono models, incorporate all satellite-speaker equalization and feature balanced outputs to the speaker. The satellites' active-crossover system is split between the speakers and the amp.
On the satellite-speaker amps, Vergence offers boundary-compensation controls to adjust bass response when speakers are placed near walls. The amps also adjust high-frequency response to compensate for a room's liveness.
The system's two 14-inch-square subs use a single two-channel outboard amp to deliver 110dB output at 40Hz through the subs' 10-inch drivers. The sub system also features 90- and 180-degree phase-adjustment switch and a boundary control to compensate for corner loading.
The sub system will be available separately at $2,000.
Vergence is also opening distribution of a pair of pro speakers to the consumer market. Both of the aluminum-enclosure M00 mini monitors feature a built-in 75-watt amp with a high-frequency compensation switch for near- or far-field listening.
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