Object-based surround options for home theaters continue to grow at the CEDIA Expo, where Triad Speakers expanded its selection of Dolby Atmos speakers and Indy Audio Labs unveiled its first audio/video processor (AVP) with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding.
Triad’s new speakers include one of the industry’s first in-wall Dolby Atmos elevation speakers. Elevation speakers, whether in-wall or in-room, direct overhead-channel sound toward the ceiling. The sound is then reflected down toward the listener. Elevation modules can be used when consumers don’t want to install height speakers in the ceiling.
SpeakerCraft also showed its first in-wall Atmos height speaker.
Here’s what Triad and Indy showed:
Indy Audio Labs: The company, which makes Acurus and Aragon audio electronics, unveiled its first electronic component with Atmos and DTS:X decoding. The Acurus ACT4 AVP, shipping in six weeks at a suggested $8,499, supports Dolby Atmos in up to 7.1.4 and 9.1.2 speaker configurations. It ships out of the box with DTS:X decoder without a need for a later firmware update.
The AVP comes with 7-inch front-panel full-color touchscreen to simplify setup. Setup, configuration and adjustments can also be made from mobile devices, PCs, and third-party control systems.
Triad Speakers: A prototype in-wall Dolby Atmos height-channel speaker, called the InWall Height Module, is unusual in that it incorporates a pivoting ribbon tweeter. The tweeter can be pivoted up and down and to the left and right so that the sound reflected off the ceiling arrives right in front of the listening position.
To help installers pivot the tweeter to its optimum position, the tweeter baffle features a battery-powered laser. When a mirror is held up against the ceiling, the laser reflects off the mirror to show where the sound waves would arrive relative to the listening position.
The pivoting tweeters will give installers more flexibility in choosing installation locations, said marketing director Paul Teixeira.
The speaker matches the width of other Triad in-wall speakers and can be mounted right above those speakers. A single grille will be available to cover both speakers to make it appear like only one speaker is in the wall. The speaker can also be mounted on the wall.
Pricing wasn’t disclosed.
Also new: the companys’ first two Atmos height-channel modules, which are designed for placement on top of a consumers’ existing left-right speakers or on a shelf up to five feet away from the speakers.
The InRoom Bronze and InRoom Silver modules were designed specifically to sit on top of Triad’s Bronze and Silver LCR cabinet speakers, matching their cosmetics and shape. The modules are priced at $500 and $600 each, respectively.
Each Triad module consists of an upward-firing driver array. Bronze features four 2-inch drivers, and Siler features four 3-inch drivers.
The two modules ship in 60 days and join two left-right speakers that integrate top-mounted height-channel drivers. One of them, the $1,000-each InRoom Bronze LR-H, launched last year. The other, launched this year, is the $1,500-each InRoom Silver LR-H.
