More Satellite Radios Go Custom
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 1/26/2004
LAS VEGAS— Satellite radio is increasing its potential in the home market, in large part as a component in upscale distributed-audio systems.
At CES, Audio Design Associates (ADA) unveiled its second XM Satellite Radio product, and Russound unveiled its first satellite radio tuner, also an XM model. They're designed to integrate with distributed-audio systems, thanks to RS-232 and proprietary connections.
Those products will join Crestron's single-zone XM tuner and a multi-zone XM model from NetStreams.
In other announcements, Niles and Tivoli said they have licensed Sirius Satellite radio technology. Niles is targeting the fourth quarter to deliver a Sirius tuner for custom-install applications and said it expects its first Sirius-equipped product to be a multi-zone receiver. Tivoli, the maker of upscale tabletop radios, didn't announce a target ship date.
Home tuners receiving Sirius Satellite service are already available from Kenwood and Audiovox as single-zone models and from Antex in a three-zone model.
XM and Sirius services are also available with multiple transportable tuners that dock in home, car, and portable docking stations.
During CES, ADA unveiled the multi-zone XM-equipped HTR-2400 A/V receiver, which simultaneously powers a 7.1-channel home theater and an eight-source, eight-zone distributed-audio system. The receiver can be controlled remotely from the company's existing assortment of CAT-5-connected in-wall keypads. The 24x100-watt receiver ships in the third quarter at a suggested $9,900. Keypads, some with alphanumeric display, start at $250 each.
The receiver will be ADA's second XM device, joining a device that accepts a mix of four XM and AM/FM tuner cards.
For its part, Russound unveiled its first XM Satellite Radio tuner. The ST2 Smart Tuner, a variation of the ST2 dual-tuner AM/FM tuner, will ship with one AM/FM tuner and one XM tuner at $999 retail. The original ST2 ships with two AM/FM tuners at $699 retail.
An optional Smart Tuner in-wall keypad at $199 retail will display station and song names and let users select preset stations.
