CES 2014
Las Vegas – Startup ClearView Audio is targeting A/V specialists and high-end design, home furnishings, and department stores for a tabletop 2.1 Bluetooth speaker that uses a thin, curved transparent acrylic sheet to generate music with a wide sweet spot.
The company is also targeting high-end home furnishings catalogs, wireless carrier stores, and wireless specialty stores, said Allan Evelyn, business development VP.
The AC-only ClearView Clio, positioned as décor friendly and unobtrusive, will be available direct to consumers from www.clearviewaudio.com at the end of March for $349. It will ship to retailers shortly after in the second quarter.
Clio, named after one of nine goddesses of music and dance, will be the first of multiple speakers incorporating the company’s patented Edge Motion technology, which uses piezo drivers on the left and right sides of the 1mm-thick acrylic sheet to flex the sheet inward to create sound. The sound from the scratch-resistant sheet is complemented by a 2-inch downfiring woofer in the base, which is available in three colors.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company plans “additional speakers in various form factors for the home,” said CEO Stefan Bokamper, whose CE background includes positions in the cellphone industry.
The company’s senior acoustical engineer, David Logvin, was formerly with Snell and Boston Acoustics. And Evelyn was a former Boston Acoustics president and Bose executive.
Another advantage of the technology is that the speaker delivers the same soundfield in back as in front, letting consumers stroll around a room and hear stereo if the speaker is centrally located in a room such as a kitchen. The speaker also delivers “great detail and clarity” and enough SPLs to fill a bedroom, den or kitchen, Bokamper said.
