ADA Adds New Capabilities To Lineup
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 8/7/2006
White Plains, N.Y. — Audio Design Associates (ADA) continues to roll out new audio products for the custom channel, expanding its line with a third home theater preamp/surround processor and with a multiroom-A/V system intended for the largest estates.
The introductions follow ADA's launch earlier this year of a second multiroom receiver, its first color touch screen and its first HD Radio tuner.
The estate-targeted system, called the Omega CB (Custom Built), is capable of routing 32 high-definition video sources and 64 digital-audio sources to 106 independent zones. A 16-zone system would typically sell for more than $100,000, excluding installation and sources, said sales and marketing VP Richard Stoerger.
The Omega CB and the new Cinema Reference Mach III preamp processor ship in the summer and will be displayed at September's CEDIA Expo.
Omega CB exceeds the capabilities of ADA's most robust system to date. That system, the Suite 16, routes up to 16 audio or video sources to 16 zones, with expansion capability to 96 zones. But “the number of inputs is the key, not necessarily the number of zones,” Stoerger said. “Some dealers need more than 16 sources,” which could include multiple satellite radio tuners, a music server, multiple satellite TV and cable boxes, multiple networked DVRs and local iPods, all independently controllable from each zone. The number of inputs also “future-proofs” the system by letting installers add new sources in the future, he added.
Each zone is capable of receiving a 7.1-channel surround signal, turning each zone into a home theater for video viewing or into a concert hall for listening to multichannel music, he said. Multichannel music can include Dolby Pro Logic II and IIx up-conversion of two-channel CDs to multichannel sound, he noted.
Audio and video content is shipped over CAT-5 cable to remote rooms from the central A/V stack, where a 3.5-inch by 19-inch Omega module must be installed per zone.
For simpler folks, ADA is launching the Cinema Reference Mach III home theater preamp/processor and multiroom audio controller. It's ADA's new top-end piece at $11,999. The other models are priced at $6,000 and $3,500. It also delivers 7.1 channels but adds more switching capabilities, including eight analog and eight digital audio inputs for multiroom music sources; a DVD-Audio/SACD input with on-board digital bass management; and composite-, S- and component-video inputs numbering eight each. It also offers two outputs for each of the three types of analog-video signals, balanced-audio outputs and an Ethernet port.
At the CEDIA Expo, ADA plans a limited-edition version with tube-output stage for $99,000.
Earlier this year, ADA began shipping its second multiroom receiver and its first color touch screen, and first HD Radio tuner.
The HD Radio module is sold separately at $600 or included in the price of the company's two- and four-tuner component tuners. The component tuners are the $1,999 Duo and $2,999 Tune Suite. At those prices, each comes with an analog AM/FM and choice of one $600 premium tuner: XM, Sirius or HD Radio. Additional premium tuners can be inserted into the Tune Suite.
The HD Radio tuner also ships in a single-module black-box chassis at $999.
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