Sunfire, Bob Carver Talk Audio, Intro Products

Sunfire is rolling out a slew of new products over the next few months.

Bob Carver, audio legend and founder of Sunfire, and Eric Harper, director of marketing and product development, brought a number of the products to demo for CE Pro and Electronic House.

Harper played several tracks through the TGR-401 7.1 channel receiver. It delivers 150 watts from each of the seven channels and is compatible with Elan’s Ole XL keypad multiroom controller. It will ship in June for about $4,000.

The 401 series also includes the TGP-401 pre-amp/processor and the TGA-7401 seven-channel amplifier come with the 5401 and 5201 five-channel amps.

The TGP-401 will retail for about $3,500, while the amplifiers will range from the mid $2,000s up to over $4,000.

The company says its new Cinema Ribbon Bi-pole on-wall speaker, the CRM-2BIP, will be the only on-wall bi-pole ribbon speaker on the market.

At 3 5/8 inches deep, it has dual, side-firing ribbons and 400 watts per cabinet. Intelligent Tweeter Shaping allows listeners to adjust control frequencies and tonal balance. They’ll go for about $1,750 per pair and will ship in June.

Harper discussed Sunfire’s HRS (High Resolution Series), which includes satellite speakers with 4.5-inch woofers at $450/each.

He described its installer-friendly setup, which allows for simple clamping without screws. An entire HRS 5.1 system is about $3,100.

Harper also talked about the Power of Three, a marketing program that will allow dealers to leverage the cohesiveness of selling Sunfire, Elan and Homelogic products together.

The program will launch at Elan’s Tech Week ’08, May 13–16 in Lexington, Ken.

Carver Talks Audio Engineering, New Products

Listening to Bob Carver talk about speakers is like listening to Jack Nicklaus talk golf.

The visit was to introduce new components, but the lasting impression was Carver’s thoughts on audio engineering.

Carver was excited to show off how thin the Subrosa subwoofer is, jumping out of his seat, exclaiming, “I’ve got to show you something.” He pulled out a business card. “This is a normal card!”

Placing the card next to the Subrosa, showing they have the same depth, he reiterated, “This is a normal card!”

Carver's goal with the Cinema Ribbon compact speakers was to provide as much punch as his legendary Amazing Speaker, which had a 5-foot ribbon.

He keep the 5-foot ribbon, folding it into the smaller speakers. The results, he says, are an amazing amount of “power output” from small speakers and “wider sweet spots.”

He also described how Sunfire's anti-shake in-wall subwoofer technology helped his products evolve.

“Dealers told me the drywall turned to dust and crumbled,” Carver says of the first generations of in-wall subwoofers.

"Most manufacturers turn down the woofers. I put an actuator that moves in opposition to the woofer."

"You can really play it loud! It also reduces cabinet vibration in non-in-wall applications so it actually enhances the bass.”

Selling Luxury Products

Harper, a former dealer, said it is important for integrators to have the infrastructure for selling luxury products.

They don’t necessarily need a conventional showroom, he said, but they need a professional environment where consumers feel comfortable listening to systems.

He alluded to the relatively slow businesses that many CE pros are experiencing. In the May 2008 issue of CE Pro, it will be reported that CE Pro 100 companies report growth of 9 percent.

“It’s not the double-digit growth we’re used to, but the good news is that it’s growth.”

Harper suggested that some dealers try positioning themselves as “luxury dealers.” The problem is, he said, “you can’t just decide to do that. Not without the systems in place.”

He named Dallas-based Starpower and New Jersey and New York-based 6th Avenue Electronics as good examples of Sunfire dealers that have the correct infrastructure in place.