Audio System Suppliers Get Creative
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 1/6/2008
Las Vegas – The long-term systematic decline in home-audio system sales is forcing suppliers to get creative to spur repeat sales and tap new consumer segments.
New compact stereo shelf systems and home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems here at CES will reproduce music from a new generation of music sources, including iPods, Bluetooth-equipped cellphones, and USB flash-memory drives. More HTiBs are adopting industrial designs to complement flat-panel TVs, and more HTiBs are incorporating virtual-surround technologies to eliminate aesthetic objections to cluttering a room with five to seven speakers.
Factory-level sales of HTiB systems are well below their 2003 peak of $961 million, and sales of compact shelf systems are down from their 2000 peak of $1.78 billion, CEA statistics show. CEA’s 2007 forecasts have called for a 7.6 percent decline in factory HTiB volume to $728 million and a 21 percent drop in compact stereo dollars to $386 million, although actual volume reported to CEA during the first nine months of 2007 showed HTiB sales up 5 percent to $525.5 million and compacts down only 17 percent to $259.1 million.
To pump up interest in systems, suppliers are incorporating iPod docks in a growing selection of models and delivering a greater selection of virtual surround systems, many of them bar-type speaker systems built around a single-enclosure speaker system designed to complement flat-panel displays and deliver five-channel sound. At least two HTiBs on display are the first to incorporate integrated high-definition disc players. The Blu-ray HTiBs are from Samsung and Panasonic.
In virtual-surround sound-bar systems, Philips is expanding its selection, and Samsung is launching its first. Polk is showing its first powered surround-bar HTiB, joining a pair of passive models that lack amplification and video sources. For its part, Definitive is showing its first two passive five-channel surround bars (see page xxx).
Also at CES:
— Samsung is launching seven new DVD-based HTiB systems that include its first soundbar system, first six systems with stereo Bluetooth, and first three with embedded iPod docks.
—Panasonic is launching its first HTiB with integrated Blu-ray player and enhancing its entire selection with enhanced iPod and settop-box connectivity while reducing chassis depth to fit on shallow-depth flat-TV furniture.
—Sony is showing its first iPod-docking stereo shelf systems, joining iPod-docking HTiBs and AV receivers.
—and at least two companies are dropping XM-ready ports from their HTiB selections. They are Panasonic and JVC, which is also dropping the feature from shelf systems.
Here are the details for dealers:
JVC: Besides launching its first two dedicated iPod speaker systems, the company is unveiling three iPod-docking HTiBs, two new docking minisystems, and one docking microsystem. They follow the launch of the company’s first docking products in late 2006 and in 2007.
The company doesn’t plan here to introduce new AV receivers.
Overall, the company is paring its minisystem selection to two SKUs from three, scaling back its selection of shelf systems and HTiBs with USB Host to one in each category, but will continue to offer one HTiB with Ethernet port and DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certification to stream music from a networked PC.
The iPod-docking HTiBs start with the 5.1-channel TH-G40 with standalone included dock at an expected everyday of about $300, down from $399 in the 2007 lineup. The $400 iPod-docking TH-G50 HTiB is JVC’s first HTiB with wireless surround speakers. Both systems ship in April.
Next, the $500 TH-F3 virtual-surround system consists of an aluminum tabletop control unit incorporating AM/FM, DVD player, JVC’s proprietary Front Surround processing, and four-channel amp driving a pair of small cylindrical speakers. Each speaker incorporates a surround driver and a front-channel driver. A subwoofer is included with the system. The F3 is due in June with USB Host, HDMI output, 1080p upscaling, and HDMI CEC to coordinate operation of a connected HDMI CEC TV. It’s JVC’s first audio product with CEC.
One of two new minisystems with embedded iPod docks is the $180 MX-KC38 with AM/FM, and MP3/WMA-CD playback and 2x100-watt output. It ships in May. The $200 MK-KC68, due in April, adds separate powered subwoofer and total 400-watt output.
The docking microsystem is the three-piece UX-GP5 with flipdown dock, MP3/WMA-CD playback, and 70-watt output at an expected everyday $150. It ships in April.
Panasonic: The company’s first home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) system with integrated Blu-ray Disc player debuts here at CES, where the company is also enhancing its entire HTiB selection with enhanced iPod and settop-box connectivity, a new user interface, improved ease of use, and better sound quality.
The company is also reducing chassis depth from an industry-standard 424mm to 324mm to fit on shallow-depth flat-TV furniture without protruding out the front, said home audio marketing manager Paul Sabo.
The SC-BT100 Blu-ray HTiB, due in May at an unannounced price, is a 5.1-channel single-disc system incorporating all of the standard and optional surround-sound formats authorized for use on Blu-ray discs, including 7.1-channel 96kHz/24-bit PCM. To deliver all 7.1 channels, consumers can buy an optional wireless-speaker pair to add to the system, which already comes out of the box with a pair of wireless surround speakers. With the added wireless speakers, the BT100 could be the industry’s first HTiB with four wireless surround speakers. Although the number of 7.1-channel Blu-ray discs is limited, Sabo said, more will come in 2008.
The BT100’s player will conform to the full Blu-ray Final Standard Profile (version 1.1), and the system itself will be Panasonics’ first HTiB with an SD card slot. The slot, which will accept SDHC cards, will play back stored compressed-music and compressed–video files, including video from 1080p high-definition AVC-HD camcorders that store video on SD cards, Sabo said. The chapters of home videos stored on the SD cards will be displayed on a TV screen through the HTiB. Playback of AVCHD video stored on SD cards is also available on Panasonic’s standalone Blu-ray players, he noted.
As a Final Standard player, the BT-100’s player is capable of playing Bonus View BD discs that carry additional content, such as director’s commentary, that can be played back simultaneously while the movie is playing. It will also play back such content downloaded to a PC and transferred to an SD card that slides into the Panasonic model.
The BT100, which also upscales DVD video to 1080p, comes with five 12x5x4.5-inch D’Appolito-array speakers, which come with stands but can be wall-mounted vertically.
Like the three new DVD-based HTiBs on display here, the BT100 features newly enhanced connectivity with iPods. As in the 2007 line, all new 2008 HTiBs feature an iPod-charging cradle and a system remote that controls the HTiB and the docked iPod. This year, however, the cradles are embedded in the HTiB, and the cradles will for the first time pass through iPod-stored videos on a connected TV. The cradles will also be Panasonic’s first in an HTiB to display a menu of iPod functions on the TV. The cradle is embedded in the systems’ front panel and flips open to enable docking.
The three DVD-based HTiBs are the SC-PT660 at a targeted suggested $299, the SC-PT760 at a targeted $399, and the SC-PT960 at a targeted $499. All come with a new five-disc elevator-style DVD changer to reduce chassis depth. Like the carousel mechanism it replaces, the elevator mechanism lets consumers play one disc while swapping out the other four. All provide 1080p upscaling, and all but the opening-price model ship with wireless surround speakers. The opening-price model, however, can be outfitted with an optional $299 wireless kit to deliver surround channels wirelessly to the surround speakers.
To improve connectivity, all of the new HTiBs are Panasonic’s first with optical digital input to connect digitally to cable and satellite settop boxes. “An optical input is the most compatible digital audio connection for settop boxes, DVRs and gaming systems,” Sabo said.
For ease of use, the HTiBs continue to offer EZ Sync, now renamed Viera Link, which uses an HDMI connection to coordinate the turn-on and setting selections of home theater systems incorporating all Panasonic components, including flat-panel TVs. The new models, however, add automatic aspect-ratio selection, which checks the aspect ratio of the disc content to automatically select the player’s correct aspect-ratio settings.
Panasonic also simplified the HTiBs’ menu to enable all features to be accessed from the top menu without drilling down through a series of menus.
Philips: In HTiBs, the company is expanding its selection of bar-type Ambisound HTiBs to three from one and adding iPod docks to almost every HTiB in calendar 2008, excluding an entry-level HTiB.
In two-channel stereo systems, the company is expanding its selection of systems that connect with multiple digital audio sources, mostly with iPods, but a greater selection of models will also connect with music-laden USB drives, SD memory cards, and Bluetooth-equipped MP3-cellphones.
The company’s iPod-docking boombox selection will grow in 2008 from one model to as many as three.
“Our goal in 2007 and 2008 is to supply products that allow you to access content no matter if it’s on SD card, USB drive, cellphone, iPod or CD,” said Cesar Martinez, home entertainment solutions marketing VP.
Almost every Philips music system will feature an embedded iPod dock, a tethered outboard dock, or a wireless Bluetooth dock that can be placed away from the music system in a more convenient place, he added. iPod-docking music systems ranged in price in 2007 from $99 to $200, and the 2008 selection will start at $79.
The company’s first Bluetooth shelf system, the $199-everyday BTM-630 single-chassis microsystem, was also the company’s first shelf system to connect to four digital sources: iPods via embedded dock, SD card, USB drive, and Bluetooth cellphone. The system, currently available, doubles as a speakerphone for Bluetooth cellphones and automatically mutes the music when a call comes in.
At least one more Bluetooth microsystem at CES will be displayed, possibly followed by additional models later in the year, Martinez said. The CES model is a vertically oriented model with separate speakers and packaged Bluetooth iPod dock.
In HTiBs, Philips is adding iPod-docking capability to almost every HTiB in calendar 2008, excluding an entry-level HTiB. That’s up from half of the company’s HTiBs SKUs in 2007. Models will ship with embedded, wired-outboard, or Bluetooth-equipped wireless docks.
HTiB models with iPod docks include five home theater systems with proprietary Ambisound virtual-surround technology, which delivers surround sound through only one or two speaker enclosures. Here at CES, the selection of Ambisound systems grows to five from two with the introduction of bar-type systems for use with flat-panel TVs and the introduction of system using separate left and right speakers. All Ambisound systems also come with a separate subwoofer.
The company’s selection of bar-type Ambisound systems will grow to three from one. The current $799 HTS8100 packs main speakers, DVD player, AM/FM tuner, amplifiers and proprietary surround processing in a wall-mountable bar accompanied by an outboard subwoofer and tethered iPod dock that displays an iPod menu on the TV screen. It features Faroudja DCDi 1080p upscaling with one HDMI output. The bar incorporates three drivers on each side, each three-driver complement receiving digitally processed sound to create an immersive listening experience without reflecting sound off side walls, the company said.
The new bar-type systems will expand the line down with tentative $699 and $599 suggested retails. The step-down $699 HTS6100 bar, for example, will be smaller than the $799-suggested 8100 and will lack Faroudja video processing, but like its predecessor, it comes with tethered iPod dock, DVD player, 1080p upscaling HDMI output, and AM/FM tuner. It also features USB port and playback of USB-stored audio and video files and photos. The $599 bar lacks DVD player and upscaling but features two HDMI ins and outs, AM/FM tuner, and iPod dock.
The company is also expanding its selection of Ambisound-equipped home theater systems with separate flat left-right speakers. The Ambisound HTS6515D, due in May at a suggested $499, features embedded iPod dock in the system’s DVD-equipped control console, which lies low and flat on a shelf or can be wall-mounted. It features 1080p-upscaling HDMI output, USB port, and playback of audio and video files stored on a USB flash drive or burned to CD. It will join the currently available $599-suggested HTS6600, also featuring wall-mountable center console.
Polk: The $1,099-suggested SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater, due in the first quarter, is the brand’s first powered virtual-surround soundbar, which is packaged with control console that features embedded DVD player, AM/FM tuner, amplifier, and Dolby and DTS 5.1-channel surround processors.
The company’s two passive Surround Bars uses passive SDA Surround technology to deliver surround effects without reflecting sound off side walls. The technology widens the soundstage and equalizes the surround drivers’ signals in a way that alters the perceived direction of sound. The SurroundBar 360, on the other hand, “is capable of producing an even more enveloping sound field with the use of fewer drivers than either of the passive units by virtue of a combination of active and passive SDA circuitry,” said product manager Al Baron. The new unit’s 44.5x4.9x4.1-inch gloss-black speaker chassis reproduces the center channel as well as front and surround channels via eight “very-high-output, high-excursion drivers,” and it delivers plenty of bass without the need for an additional subwoofer, he added.
The speaker bar comes with wall-mount bracket and cradles for placement above or below the flat-panel display. Other features include Faroudja DCDi upscaling to concert any video input up to 1080i quality. A USB port enables playback of MP3 music from USB flash-memory drives and display of stores photos in the jpeg and Kodak Picture Disc formats. The surround-decoder complement consists of Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital EX, DTS and DTS EX, and Dolby Pro Logic II.The system is compatible with CDs burned with MP3 and jpeg and Kodak photo files.
Samsung: After shipping the industry’s first home theater in a box (HTiB) system with Blu-ray disc player in December, Samsung is here at International CES with seven new DVD-based HTiB systems that include the company’s first soundbar-style system, first six systems with stereo Bluetooth and first three with embedded iPod docks.
The company is also expanding USB 2.0 inputs and HDMI CEC bidirectional communications protocol to its entire HTiB selection. HDMI CEC allows for one-touch turn-on of a home theater system built from multiple brands.
In other audio-related announcements, the company is launching a fourth-generation Blu-ray player at $399 MAP and two combination Blu-ray/HD DVD players at $599 and $699 suggested retail with internal decoding of all mandatory and optional surround-sound codecs approved for use on high-definition video discs. They also feature HDMI 1.3 outputs to permit decoding by connected A/V receivers equipped with the decoders, along with 7.1-channel analog outputs to allow for decoding in the player and connection to other A/V receivers.
The Blu-ray HTiB, the $1,499-suggested HT-BD2, is an integrated model equipped with four tower speakers, two smaller back-surround speakers, a subwoofer, selectable 24/60 fps playback and 1080p up-scaling of DVDs. It decodes most surround-sound codecs approved for use on Blu-ray discs except for the DTS HD Master Audio lossless compression. It does, however, decode the DTS HD High Resolution lossy compression codec, the lossless Dolby TrueHD codec, Dolby Digital Plus, and uncompressed multichannel PCM.
Among the seven new HTiBs being unveiled here, the BD-2 will share top-end pricing with the new$1,499-MAP HT-TX500 “Freestyle” 5.1-channel system. The other models have suggested retails from $499 on up.
The Freestyle, due in February, features four slim towers, 1080p DVD up-scaling, HDMI CEC, and, like all the other new HTiBs, USB Host input to play MPEG-4 and DivX videos, MP3 and WMA music files, and JPEGs stored on a connected USB flash drive or portable MP3/video player. It will also connect and control iPods if connected through USB adapter cables, a spokesman said.
The company’s first home theater sound bar, the $699-suggested HT-X810, is a wall-mountable piano-black product with built-in single-disc 1080p up-scaling DVD player and wireless subwoofer. It also features stereo Bluetooth 2.0 to stream music from Bluetooth-equipped cellphones and MP3 players, HDMI CEC and USB 2.0. It ships in April.
Three 5.1-speaker HTiBs with five-disc DVD changers are the company’s first HTiBs with embedded iPod docks. They are the $379-suggested HT-Z510, $429 HT-Z512 and $479 HT-Z515, all due in March with different speaker configurations. The lowest-priced model comes with four small speakers, and the top model comes with four tall speakers. The middle product comes with two of each. All, however, offer stereo Bluetooth, USB 2.0, 1080p up-scaling, HDMI CEC, DVD-Audio playback and wireless surround speakers. All three are also XM-ready. Three HTiBs were also XM-ready in 2007.
The remaining two models are the $499 HT-X710 virtual-surround system with 2.1 speakers and the 5.1-speaker version, the $599 HT-X715. Both ship in April with single-disc slot-load DVD player and compact chassis that can be placed horizontally or vertically. Both also feature stereo Bluetooth, HDMI CEC and USB Host. The virtual surround model features 400 watts of amplification, and the 5.1-speaker version comes with 800 watts of amplification and wireless-ready surround speakers.
Sherwood: The company is packaging its flagship Newcastle-series $1,799-suggested R-972 AV receiver with a high-end 7.2-channel speaker system featuring a choice of bookshelf or in-wall versions of two-way satellites, which incorporate horn-loaded tweeter and 6.5-inch vented woofer. They’ll be packaged with two sixth-order vented subwoofers, which, when combined with the receiver’s room-acoustics compensation circuitry, will deliver bass within 1dB accuracy within the listening area, the company said.
The R-972 incorporates Trinnov Optimizer room correction technology previously available only in $13,000 professional equipment, Sherwood said. The 7x100-watt receiver comes with RF remote, internal decoding of all mandatory and optional surround-sound formats approved for use on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, and HDMI 1.3 connections that support Deep Color and xvYCC.
Sony: The company’s first six iPod-docking stereo systems, which join iPod-docking HTiBs and AV receivers, consist of an iTunes-tagging tabletop HD Radio with embedded iPod dock and five stereo shelf systems, two of which feature embedded dock. The other three shelf systems are equipped with a Digital Media Port, first available on AV receivers and HTiBs in 2007, to connect to iPod-docking cradles, the first cradles designed to dock with Sony’s Net Walkman headphone MP3 players, the company’s first stereo-Bluetooth audio adapter, and the company’s DLNA-certified Wi-Fi adapter to stream music from a networked PC.
An iPod cradle is included with one of the three Media Port-equipped shelf systems and is sold separately for the other two.
The two shelf systems with embedded dock are the CMT-BX20i and BX50BTi microsystems, both due in February. The 2x25-watt BX20i, expected to retail for about $150, features single-disc MP3-CD player and 3mm input jack for amplifying other Mp3 player brands. The BX50BTi, due at around $200, add such features as embedded stereo-Bluetooth capability.
In minisystems, the MHC-EC68Pi comes with Digital Media Port and included iPod dock at around $130. It ships in May with single-disc MP3-CD player, 3mm input for other-brand MP3 players, remote, and three-way speakers. Two other minisystems with Digital Media Port accept optional iPod docks. They are the MHC-EC78Pi and MHC-EC98Pi, both due in February at around $150 and $200, respectively. The EC78Pi features three-disc MP3-CD changer, three-way speakers, and 380-watt output. The step-up EC98Pi adds a 150-watt powered subwoofer.
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