NetStreams’ SpeakerLinx SL254 Brings Uncompressed Audio to IP-Ready Speakers

NetStreams is making it easier to create a multiroom audio system that delivers uncompressed audio over an end-to-end IP network -- from the source to the speaker.

The company's new SpeakerLinX SL254 powers two speakers that are specially equipped to handle NetStreams' audio-over-IP technology, called StreamNet.

StreamNet is patent-pending technology that, among other things, enables networked audio devices to remain almost perfectly in synch, regardless of their distance to the source. Latency from zone to zone is imperceptible, meaning no irritating echoes that plague traditional IP-based audio solutions.

Many top manufacturers have announced StreamNet-Ready speakers that connect directly to NetStreams' DigiLinX multiroom audio system. From the SpeakerLinx module, the Cat 5 cable "connects directly to the driver," says NetStreams CTO Michael Braithwaite. "It bypasses the speaker's passive elements."

Triad, Sonance, Polk and most recently Atlantic Technologies have all announced StreamNet Ready speakers. In some cases, Braithwaite says, "the manufacturers don't want to have two SKUs of the same speaker. On the PCB itself, they have extra traces that go around the coils, directly to the driver."

In the SpeakerLinx firmware, when the modules are auto-discovered via PC software, the dealer can assign the appropriate filter and crossover definitions based on the characteristics of the connected speakers.

The SpeakerLinx's own DSP processes the digital signals based on these definitions.

The SL254 is the third NetStreams product in the SpeakerLinx line. It delivers 25 watts to four channels. The two earlier models, the SL220 and SL250 support only two channels each, with 20- and 50-watts per channel, respectively.

Braithwaite explains that, with IP-ready speakers, "you're kind of bi-amping the speakers" so each speaker requires a two-channel SpeakerLinx.

In the case of the SL254, only one SpeakerLinx is needed for a pair of speakers, making an installation considerably less expensive and space-consuming.

The SpeakerLinx module is about the size of a deck of cards. It can be mounted near or immediately adjacent to virtually any in-wall speaker.


Learn more about NetStreams, Booth 930 at CEDIA Expo 2008