Throughout the early 2000s until the housing market crash in 2008 few electronics companies could match the growth and popularity of Russound and it’s selection of home theater and sound systems.

In its early days the company built its reputation on its volume control products, and by time the whole-house audio or multiroom audio market started to gain momentum the company was helping to spearhead the growth of advanced whole-house audio system adoption.

Since the reimagining of the home technology market to better reflect the existing home market and the continuing interest in smart home technologies, Russound has kept pace and evolved its product line to coincide with the latest trends.

Entering 2024 rather than being content with keeping pace with the market, company executives have made the decision to be more aggressive in providing integrators with more options to meet their clients’ entertainment requirements, and after stopping by to see the company while at CEDIA Expo 2024, I would say the renaissance is well underway.

A New Era of Russound Product Solutions

Today with residential integrators crossing into the light commercial market and the plethora of streaming media services available to homeowners driving high levels of content consumption, Russound is responding with several new products.

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The N.H.-based company is supporting its product line with a growing number of drivers to help dealers easily integrate its products into a wealth of third-party control systems. Some of the drivers Russound offers include solutions for Control4, URC and RTI.

Addressing the crossover of residential dealers into the light-commercial market Russound offers its MIXAMP-60 Mixer Amplifier. This product provides options such as 100-volt/70-volt capabilities, along with the ability to accept up to three microphones, as well as four external sources. The MIXAMP-60 also includes a built-in FM tuner, Bluetooth receiver, USB connectivity, and a SD MP3 player.

Russound says the product can be used for light-commercial applications where background music, public announcement and paging are required.

Staying true to its roots, the company’s emphasis remains as a provider of whole-house audio solutions. In the spring of 2024, the company launched its D-Series of multichannel amplifiers. The D-Series offers a choice of three models: the eight-channel D890, the 12-channel D1290, and the 16-channel D1675.

“When engineering the D-Series, we wanted to deliver an amp that not only met our high standards in performance and quality but also rethought the installation experience,” says Charlie Porritt, CEO, Russound.

“Each of the amp zones can be configured without any equipment — just set the switches on the back, and it’s ready. This feature helps save installers an incredible amount of time in any multichannel amplification project. The D-Series demonstrates what amplification innovation looks like — it’s sleek, feature-rich, and powerful, giving installers the flexibility and reliability they need to satisfy the needs of their clientele, all while keeping an acceptable project budget.”

According to the company, the D-Series of products were developed with two key design goals: A footprint that takes up minimal space, and a choice of amplifiers that are fully featured. Some of the features the amps offer include a choice of output options: Full range for use with speakers capable of handling 20Hz to 20kHz signals; low-pass filter, which is a setting that sends audio signals from 20Hz to 160Hz, which dealers can use with subwoofers, and high-pass filter, which sends signals from 80Hz and higher to provide compatibility with smaller speakers.

Other features the amps offer include the ability to support up to three different inputs choices for every channel, and three turn-on modes. The D1290 and D1675 are currently available, and Russound notes the D890 will be available in September 2024.

Small Amps Address Home Friendly Surround Sound

Recognizing the diversity of home theater systems, Russound recently introduced the latest version of its AVA-Series Mini Audio Receivers (Mini-AVRs). Available in a choice of either a 2.1 or 3.1 configuration, the Mini-AVR line of products were developed to allow integrators to power passive speakers, including soundbars with a discreet amplification solution that includes HDMI with ARC (audio return channel), CEC control capabilities, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. The amps also provide subwoofer output options, and an IR remote control.

“The AVA-Series Mini-AVRs are the result of the close relationship we have with our customers and their feedback,” comments Porritt. “Both models offer a really simple yet game-changing solution for adding great sound to a TV.

“They’re the first amplifiers of their kind to feature ARC input, so when an HDMI cable is connected, there’s audio and CEC control. Customers can use the existing TV remote for control. They’re simple to install and simple to use. And thanks to their size, they can be tucked away for a clean installation. Earning a Residential Systems Best of Show award is a great acknowledgment of everything we put into bringing this product to market for our customers.”

A major design point of the 2.1 and 3.1-channel amplifiers is their small footprints. Russound points out the amps offer integrators a footprint of just 1.6-inches x 5.7-inches x 7.9-inches to support their placement out of view behind a TV or a wall-mounted location that is out of sight. Russound includes wall-mounting brackets with the amp, and the company specifies the Class D-based amps to produce 50-watts-per-channel.

Speakers Complement Amplifiers

Supporting its array of amplifiers with companion speakers, Russound provides integrators with a choice of its 20-Series and 30-Series products. The company says the speakers are timbre-matched to ensure the speakers produce large, seamless soundstages for use in whole-house audio or surround sound installations.

Russound also emphasizes that it engineered its current-generation architectural loudspeakers with a host of dealer-friendly features such as its SwiftLock tooless installation hardware, and paintable edgeless magnetic grilles.

In addition to its architectural speakers, the company also a selection of outdoor speakers that include rock, indoor/outdoor speakers; landscape speakers, and its Cinema Bar 3.0 Premium Performance Soundbar to complement the 3.1 AVA Mini-AVR.

The soundbar incorporates a trio of polypropylene woofers, augmented by three 4-inch polypropylene passive radiators, and three 1-inch soft-dome tweeters. The 87.5dB efficient Cinema Bar 3.0 is rated by the company to produce a frequency response of 70Hz to 20kHz, and its nominal impedance is 6 ohms.

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