Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×

Freestanding Speakers Take Front Stage At Expo

INDIANAPOLIS

— With many A/V specialty stores
having closed their doors in recent years, consumers
in some markets have turned to custom integrators to
fill the gap for a range of CE products.

So it makes more sense than ever for audio suppliers
to come to the CEDIA Expo to unveil products that
require professional selling but don’t necessarily require
elaborate installation.

Attendees will find many such products at the show,
ranging from active and passive soundbars, freestanding
in-room speakers, wireless subwoofers and highperformance
tabletop iPod/iPhone-docking speakers.

Here’s what dealers and installers will find on the
show floor:

Atlantic Technology

is bringing H-PAS (Hybrid
Pressure Acceleration System) bass technology to an
active soundbar for the first time to deliver deep bass
from a soundbar without the need for a separate powered
subwoofer.

The PowerBar 235 is a two-channel powered sound
bar that packs a digital amplifier and virtual surround
sound processor in a 42-inch by 5.25-inch by 5.75-
inch cabinet that delivers bass response down to
47Hz at –3dB. It’s expected to ship at the end of the
year at a price that wasn’t disclosed.

Atlantic Technology is also in the process of licensing
H-PAS technology to a range of loudspeaker and
consumer electronics manufacturers.

Definitive Technology

is showing a completely new
bookshelf-speaker series, its first two wireless-ready
subwoofers, and the first passive multichannel soundbars
in the company’s XTR series of ultra-thin on-wall
speakers for use with ultra-thin flat-panel LCD displays.

Energy

, a Klipsch Group brand, is launching its first
soundbar, the active $399-suggested Energy Power
Bar, a two-way model with included wireless 8-inch
down-firing subwoofer.

Total system power is 200 watts peak, and frequency
response is 50Hz to 20kHz at +/-3dB. It features
one optical digital input and one analog RCA input.

MK Sound

is taking the wraps off three powered
subwoofers and its first floorstanding speaker.

The X8, X10 and X12 subwoofers feature two 8-inch,
two 10-inch and two 12-inch drivers, respectively. In
each sub, the drivers are arrayed in a push-pull configuration
with front-mounted woofer and identical bottommounted
“back-out” woofer to deliver high SPLs and
accurate extended low frequencies, the company said.

The brand is sold direct to brick-and-mortar retailers
and installers, though a few items have been sold
online by Abt. “However, going forward this will most
likely not continue,” said MK Sound USA executive director
Aldo Filippelli who said the plan is now to sell
through specialty audio retailers and custom installers
“who only sell in their stores or businesses, and not
online sales.”

MK Sound of Denmark established MK Sound USA
in June as its U.S. subsidiary to replace Abt and its distribution
company, The Dolphin Group, as MK’s U.S.
distributor.

Paradigm,

the Canadian speaker maker, crosses
the border with a completely redesigned value-oriented
Cinema series said to step up performance with
the adoption of technology from its Reference series.

The series of tabletop- and wall-mount speakers also
sports new curved and sculpted acoustic-suspension
cabinets with high-gloss finish.

The replacement series delivers lower frequency extension,
reduced distortion, sustained sensitivity and
improved dispersion, the company said.

The seven-SKU series consists of a $349 subwoofer,
a $999 5.1 speaker package, and two- and 2.5-way
speakers with estimated suggested retails ranging up
to $549 each.

Procella Audio

is launching its P610 biamplified
full-range L/C/R speaker and the P10Si room-balancing
subwoofer.

The three-way freestanding P610 is priced at
$3,199 each without a companion rack-mount DSP
amplifier, which biamplifies the speaker. The P10Si is
$1,495 each. Both products are scheduled to ship in
September.

One or more P10Si subwoofers can be used in
conjunction with one or more P18, P15 or P10 subwoofers
to smooth out low-frequency modes in a room
to reduce seat-to-seat variances in low-frequency response,
the company said.

The P610 L/C/R is designed for large to midsize
rooms up to 30 feet deep and extends down to 40Hz.
It features 1-inch compression driver on an elliptical
waveguide, a 6.5-inch midrange with 1.5-inch voice
coil, and 10-inch long-throw woofer with 2.5-inch
voice coil.

The P610 is said to produce THX cinema referencelevel
playback levels of 105dB continuous in all but the
largest screening rooms and home theaters.

It is optimized for use with the planned four-channel
rack-mounted DSP amplifier. One amp will biamplify
two P610 models.

The P610 features a shallow depth of 5.9 inches for
placement in a wall niche. It is 27.6 inches tall and 21.3
inches wide.

Proficient Audio’s

halo in-room speaker series is
the Proficient Signature series. It consists of the GL6
LCR speaker with dual 6.5-inch graphite woofers and
1-inch silk-dome tweeter and the GS10 10-inch 250-
watt subwoofer. Both feature piano-black seven-layer
gloss finish.

Wharfedale

via Sound Import, the brand’s U.S.
distributor, is launching the $799-suggested Wharfedale
DX-1 home cinema speaker package system. It
ships in November and consists of four wall-mountable
two-way compact satellites, a compact two-way center
channel, and powered 8-inch 150-watt subwoofer.
The speakers are available high-gloss black or highgloss
white.

Featured

Close