All Products Filed in Speakers

Monday, February 13, 2012

Since the mid 1970s the North Carolina-based company GTL Labs has quietly been serving the custom installation market with a variety of architectural speaker products.

GTL Sound Labs' latest product is the AE 82 in-ceiling loudspeaker and the company says this new speaker is designed for whole-house audio applications, as well as other hidden audio installations. GTL says the speaker is engineered to provide homeowners with a dynamic bottom end, clean midrange and natural top end to faithfully reproduce lossy and lossless audio files with clarity.

The company states the 8-ohm speaker is capable of providing a frequency response of 36Hz to 20kHz, and that it is 89dB sensitive which means a variety of traditional Class A/B and newer digital amps can effectively drive the speaker. The two-way speaker incorporates an 8-inch carbon-fiber woofer and two-inch titanium silk dome tweeter.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A couple of years ago the suburban Boston-based company Atlantic Technology played a trick on the assembled press corp during its CEDIA news conference by playing its then new set of speakers next to a subwoofer. Later during the press conference company president Peter Tribeman revealed that the sub was never on and the bass output from the system was reproduced by the small footprint floorstanding speakers that were on display.

Using the same technology from its small footprint floorstanding AT-1 speakers Atlantic Technology recently launched its AT-2 bookshelf loudspeakers. Standing about 16 inches tall the AT-2 employs the company's H-PAS enclosure technologies, which it says are completely unique when compared to the industry standard acoustic suspension, ported and transmission line designs, and because it implements the H-PAS technologies it can play down to 41Hz. Handling the speaker's top end is a single Atlantic Technology Low-Resonance Tweeter (LRT), and in tandem with the cabinet technologies, 51/4-inch woofer and crossover network the speaker can create a frequency response of 41Hz to 20kHz.

The speaker can be used for a variety of residential sound applications, and Atlantic Technology says the 6-ohm speaker is 88dB sensitive, which means it can be used with a majority of A/V receivers and amplifiers.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Arguably no speaker company has done more to advance the decades old electrostatic speaker technology than MartinLogan.

Adding to its legacy of unique electrostatic speaker designs, the company recently rolled out its new Montis loudspeaker, which will be part of its Reserve ESL series of products. The approximately 5-foot tall speaker features a small footprint and a hybrid design that includes the incorporation of its XStat curved electrostatic panel, along with its Vojtko crossover network, and DSP engine that's used in conjunction with the speaker's 200-watt Class D amplifier that drives and controls its 10-inch cone woofer.

MartinLogan says the 4-ohm speaker produces a frequency response of 29Hz to 23kHz and that it is 91dB sensitive. The speaker is available in a choice of black ash, dark cherry and high-gloss black cherrywood, and electronics professionals can set the speaker up with its 3/8-16 ETC spikes that are designed to improve the speaker's stability on carpets, while also offering an added level of speaker positioning capabilities.

Monday, January 16, 2012

The Canadian speaker manufacturer Paradigm is constantly tweaking existing products or simply introducing new products to ensure its speakers stay current with the latest residential audio trends.

At the recently completed Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the company announced that it has updated its Monitor Series of products. The new Monitor Series 7 speakers features the Atom Monitor, the Mini Monitor, the Monitor 7, Monitor 9, Monitor 11, Center 1, Center 3, Surround 1 and the Surround 3 speakers, and each one of the speakers incorporate a 20 percent smaller footprint along with 3/4-inch baffles, self-aligning magnetic grilles, and the company's state-of-the-art 1-inch S-PAL tweeter and S-PAL satin-anodized aluminum cone drivers.

The speakers also utilize co-polymer polypropylene woofers with new motor structures and they are available in a choice of black ash or heritage cherry finishes.

Friday, January 06, 2012

James Loudspeaker has consistently produced some of the most unique and best sounding loudspeakers in the specialty world of audio for a number of years. Just recently the company added to its legacy with the launch of its latest product series the Small Aperture line of architectural speakers.

Included in the Small Aperture line of products is the 63SA-7 in-ceiling product, which the California-based company says is designed to provide installers with a speaker that produces a wide dispersion pattern and deep frequency response. The three-way 63SA-7 incorporates a 20mm tweeter, along with a 50mm midrange driver and James' 165mm PowerPipe subwoofer all concentrically mounted to enable the speaker to provide significant low-frequency reinforcement. James engineered the speaker so that homeowners only see a 76mm round opening (or square) and the speaker grille is designed to allow the speaker to match its surrounding decor, which includes light fixtures.

Installers ordering the speaker will order it in two parts: The preconstruction kit, which includes the subwoofer. It is installed before the drywall is installed. After the construction is completed the tweeter/midrange module is installed into the 76mm (3 inch) opening. To complete the install an installer chooses a grille trim kit to finish the job.

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

The Italian speaker manufacturer Sonus faber is one of the most revered companies in the entire world of specialty consumer electronics. The brand, which has been distributed in the U.S. by Sumiko for a number of years consistently produces products for the two-channel audio market, and to a lesser extend the home theater channel.

Recently the company introduced its latest product, the newly launched AIDA freestanding loudspeaker. The new loudspeaker is described by the Italian manufacturer as a product that is "as grandiose as a Guiseppe Verdi opera ... able to radically renew and at the same time express the unchanging Sonus faber values." Defining this statement in real-world terms the AIDA is a 3.5-way loudspeaker that incorporates a pair of the company's W22 XTR-12 woofers that are set up for mid-bass frequencies. Located above these drivers on the speaker's baffle plane is a single Sonus faber M18 XTR-08 midrange driver and above this driver is a single Sonus faber Arrow Point DAD 29 XTR-06 tweeter. Augmenting this driver array is Sonus faber's integrated SW32 XT-8 infra woofer, and this multi-driver array is controlled by the company's complex, non-resonant Paracross topology design crossover network.

All of this audio technology is housed in the company's furniture-grade cabinetry that's highlighted by the enclosure's Lyra shape dual-side curvature design. Sonus faber says the 4-ohm speaker is 92dB sensitive and it provides users with a frequency response of 20Hz to 35kHz.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Danish speaker company DALI has always been a respected manufacturer of audio products within the audiophile community.

This past fall the company introduced its latest speaker the Fazon F5 at the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival in an exhibit conducted by its U.S. distributor The Sound Organisation. The Fazon represents a bit of a departure in design from the company's traditional products and the company's goal with the industrial design was to produce a product that offered a high level of sound quality within a form factor that would complement the decor of a modern home. The Fazon F5 stands approximately 3-feet tall and it utilizes a sleek, contemporary cabinet design that incorporates bass reflex technologies.

The 6-ohm speaker incorporates an oversized 1.1-inch dome tweeter along with two 5.5-inch woofers and together the speaker is stated to deliver a frequency response of 49Hz to 23kHz. DALI says the speaker is also 87.5dB sensitive and its standard color choices are black and white.

Monday, December 12, 2011

The world of home audio has come a long way since the days of big speakers dominating the floor space within a home.

The Canadian manufacturer Aeria proves the days of big ugly speakers dominating a home are over through its problem solving product the 801 Series transducer. This device is an 8-ohm unit with no moving parts and it presents a nominal amount of impedance to allow a variety of amps, including digital amps to effectively drive the device.

The 801 Series is designed to provide installers with a stealth way of incorporating audio into an environment that can’t host audio under normal circumstances. The 801 Series can be used in scenarios in which a client doesn’t want holes punched in their walls or ceilings to provide a means of music in a space that otherwise would be silent.

It's almost cliche at this point to mention that speaker engineers have worked hard over the past several years to distance their products from the look of their ancestral predecessor products, which were noted for their bland coffin-like appearances and just as cumbersome awkward sizes.

The British speaker manufacturer Monitor Audio has always been a company that's been ahead of the curve with both its audio technologies and industrial designs, and its newly introduced Shadow Series of speakers is the latest example of how the company is innovating in the areas of audio technologies and industrial design. The line of products includes the Shadow 25, which Monitor says is engineered for satellite speaker and rear surround applications. The Shadow 50 is a step up, larger model that's designed to complement the physical dimensions and industrial designs of 50-inch flat-panel TVs. The Shadow 60 is engineered to mate with televisions larger than 50 inches, and like the Shadow 50, it uses a D'Appolito driver array. The line's center-channel product is the Shadow Centre and it employs the same driver array as the Shadow 50 and Shadow 60 products to enable electronics professionals to create a timbre-matched solution that integrates neatly with a variety of flat-panel TVs.

Within the speakers Monitor incorporates its 4-inch low-profile bass/midrange driver and a floating driver assembly that utilizes a design that bolts the drivers to the rear portion of the cabinet and a decoupling design that separates the baffle of the speaker from the driver through the use of a neoprene airtight seal. In addition, the speakers also incorporate Monitor's 1-inch C-CAM tweeter and overall, the speaker cabinets offer a depth of just 1.5 inches.

Friday, December 09, 2011

Within the world of specialty electronics a good case could be made for the loudspeaker category being the biggest in the entire market. A good example of just how big the category is can be found when looking at the 30-plus year old manufacturer GTL Sound Labs. The U.S.-based company has quietly been in business since 1976 and it offers a complete line of products, which ranges from one-off custom products, to production products like the AE 963 in-wall loudspeaker.

The company says the AE 963 has been engineered to provide the highest levels of performance and the product is designed for either vertical or horizontal mounting to allow it to be used in a whole-house audio system or home theater system. GTL says the speaker employs a sealed enclosure that minimizes sound leakage into adjacent rooms, and internally the speaker houses a three-way design that includes a 9-inch carbon fiber woofer, a 5.25-inch poly paper midrange driver and a 3-inch silk-dome tweeter.

GTL adds the speaker fits into a standard stud bay and the speaker offers a frequency response of 26Hz to 20kHz.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Approximately five years ago the California-based speaker company Magico debuted its V3 loudspeaker, which was critically accepted with the audiophile press and adored by music lovers.

Recently the company announced that it is retiring the V3 and replacing it with its new S5 floorstanding loudspeaker. The new three-way floorstanding speaker employs a multi driver array that features the company's new dual 10-inch hybrid Nano-Tec woofers along with a 6-inch Magico M380 midrange driver and 1-inch Magico MB30 tweeter. The company houses the speaker's driver array and crossover network in a curved enclosure that incorporates 1/2-thick 16-inch extruded aluminum walls, which Magico says helps to minimize the effects of diffraction and internal resonances. The speaker is finished in a black anodized exterior that can be painted to help the speaker blend into a variety of home environments, and the company also offers the speaker in a choice of its gloss and satin finish M-COAT finishes.

Magico rates the 4-ohm speaker's sensitivity at 90dB and its frequency response at 22Hz to 50kHz. In addition, it says the speaker is capable of playing at volume levels as high as 118dB to support its use with a variety of content, which includes rock music and home theater.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

It's almost unbelievable to think that for years people listened to the awful sound produced by their TVs' built-in junky speakers. Now however because of the physical limitations of flat-panel TVs and the sound of these products being degraded from bad to worse an increasing amount of people are upgrading their TV sound to include some type of external speaker to compensate.

The latest speaker product from Energy fulfills the public's desire to upgrade the sound of their flat-panel TVs and it adds more options such as wireless subwoofer connectivity and Dolby Digital processing. The newly launched Power Bar Elite is designed as a "plug n' play" audio product to improve the sound of a flat-panel TV and the package includes a wireless, side-firing 10-inch subwoofer that is said to automatically link with the soundbar once it is plugged in. The matte black finish integrated speaker product also incorporates a two-way design and connections for 1.5m optical and analog RCA.

Other features bundled into the speaker include the company's 3D Surround Mode that creates a more spacious soundstage, a small, "credit-card" size remote control, and a template for wall mounting.

Monday, November 21, 2011

For the most part the powered speaker category has mostly been the domain of the professional audio community that uses these products for a variety of sound recording and mixing applications. Lately however with the computer audio market gaining a significant amount of momentum the consumer electronics community has been increasingly embracing the concept of self-powered speakers for home use.

The latest consumer electronics manufacturer to introduce a powered speaker is the Benicia, California-based company NHT. Using product concepts from its SuperZero 2.0 NHT passive consumer electronics speaker the company engineered its new, small footprint powered monitor for use with portable media players, computer-based audio systems and home recording systems. The two-way speaker incorporates a 4.5-inch long-throw woofer and a 1-inch silk dome tweeter and these drivers are housed in an acoustically sealed enclosure that's finished in a high-gloss black laminate.

Internally the speakers feature a 90 watt amplifier, and the company says the speaker has the ability to play down 72Hz while producing SPL levels as high as 111dB. In addition, NHT supports the speaker with its optional $59 SuperPower DeskStand speaker stands and its $99 PVC PC passive volume control, which allows for easy control of the speaker's volume and it facilitates the integration of an optional NHT Super8 subwoofer.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Earlier this fall the speaker company Pinnacle Speakers introduced its Wafer line of products. Quickly following up that initial product release the company has just debuted its Wafer Series in-wall/in-ceiling speakers.

The competitively priced speakers are designed to disappear into a home's interior environment to complement the design of just about any residential space. The slim-profile industrial design of the speakers enables them to protrude no more than 3/16 from the wall to provide a near flush appearance. The bezel-free speakers also utilize a microperf grill with magnetic fasteners, and internally the speakers incorporate Pinnacle's latest crossover designs and polymer woofers that are said to remain stable throughout a variety of operational conditions.

The Wafer in-wall and in-ceiling product line includes four models: the WAFR FLUSH CTR 525 5.25-inch center-channel speaker, the WAFR FLUSH CLNG 626 6.5-inch two-way in-ceiling speaker, the WAFR WALL 606 6.5-inch in-wall loudspeaker and the WAFR FLUSH CLNG 8-inch two-way loudspeaker.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Magico is a relatively new comer to the space of high-performance consumer audio, but over its brief 10-year history the company has made quite the impression on the audiophile crowd.

Recently the California-based company replaced its Mini II monitor with the new Q1 monitor. The Q1 is a two-way, stand-mounted monitor that features a fully braced, fully damped aluminum and copper anodized enclosure. Internally the speaker incorporates a pair of Magico designed drivers: a single 7-inch Nano-Tec woofer and a 1-inch MBe-1 tweeter and these drivers are controlled by an advanced crossover network.

Through its Q platform technology, Magico says that it has also addressed the problem of stand-related resonances by coupling the speaker directly to the stand with the stand serving as a damping mechanism. Magico says the 5-ohm Q1 is 86dB efficient and it is rated to deliver a frequency response of 32Hz to 50kHz.