CE Pro Podcast #155: How New Russound Mini-AVRs Are Problem Solvers

Summary

One of the most enduring companies serving the custom integration industry is Russound. The New Hampshire-based company has some exciting products for 2024, highlighted by its AVA-Series of mini-AV receivers (AVRs) to expand its audio riches for the CEDIA channel.

In the latest edition of the CE Pro Podcast, Russound CEO Charlie Porritt joins to chat about the latest happenings and R&D developments from the audio company.

The compact AVA2.1 and AVA3.1 Mini-AVRs — released in mid-February — incorporate Class-D amplifiers, universal power supply, built-in Bluetooth 5.0, dedicated subwoofer output with gain control, and IR remote.

Porritt notes that like most companies in the custom integration space, Russound has faced challenges involving “chips and ships,” as he refers to it – chip shortages and shipping container obstacles. He’s happy that the predicament is mostly in the past and the company is moving forward with new products for installers (editor’s note: this conversation was recorded toward the end of 2023).

“Overall, we’ve been keeping our head down, keep product flowing, redesigning different products to make sure we have the raw materials to build those, but also listening to the marketplace to know what’s new, what’s coming,” he shares.

“As I talked to some of the other people, one of the new hot categories at CEDIA [Expo] was kind of the mini-AV receivers.”

Russound AVA mini-AVRs Offer More Power, Features at Lower Cost

So toward that end, the new AVA2.1 and AVA3.1 solutions fit right in with that trend, and replace a prior 2.1, 30 watts per channel.

“These two new SKUs and why we’re really excited about them is they’re the first Russound product with HDMI eArc in, so it does CEC, Bluetooth and 50 watts per channel in a nice, small housing,” Porritt explains.

“It’s a unique product with a great remote control, as well as the nice thing with CEC use your TV remote for the volume to go up and down, and you really don’t have to teach it anything and that’s a common platform.”

The products also accommodate a wireless subwoofer kit, he adds. Moreover, they include two mounting options for ease of installation.

Also, for greater appeal to customers, the AVA2.1 and AVA3.1 carry MSRPs of $299 and $399, respectively. The previous product was $409, so as Porritt describes, they’ve gone down in price but up in features and power.

“For installers’ toolbox, they can be able to solve a lot of different things as well as fit behind TVs,” he says. “When we first showed this product last year at ISE we got feedback to make the products wider and thinner, and we ended up doing that.”

Hear much more about why Porritt is enthusiastic about what else is on tap for Russound in 2024, his take on helping dealers to overcome challenges, where to find the company at trainings and tradeshows this year, and much more by downloading or listening to the podcast above.

Find past episodes of the CE Pro Podcast by subscribing to the CE Pro YouTube channel or our Apple and Spotify podcast feeds.

Summary

One of the most enduring companies serving the custom integration industry is Russound. The New Hampshire-based company has some exciting products for 2024, highlighted by its AVA-Series of mini-AV receivers (AVRs) to expand its audio riches for the CEDIA channel.

In the latest edition of the CE Pro Podcast, Russound CEO Charlie Porritt joins to chat about the latest happenings and R&D developments from the audio company.

The compact AVA2.1 and AVA3.1 Mini-AVRs — released in mid-February — incorporate Class-D amplifiers, universal power supply, built-in Bluetooth 5.0, dedicated subwoofer output with gain control, and IR remote.

Porritt notes that like most companies in the custom integration space, Russound has faced challenges involving “chips and ships,” as he refers to it – chip shortages and shipping container obstacles. He’s happy that the predicament is mostly in the past and the company is moving forward with new products for installers (editor’s note: this conversation was recorded toward the end of 2023).

“Overall, we’ve been keeping our head down, keep product flowing, redesigning different products to make sure we have the raw materials to build those, but also listening to the marketplace to know what’s new, what’s coming,” he shares.

“As I talked to some of the other people, one of the new hot categories at CEDIA [Expo] was kind of the mini-AV receivers.”

Russound AVA mini-AVRs Offer More Power, Features at Lower Cost

So toward that end, the new AVA2.1 and AVA3.1 solutions fit right in with that trend, and replace a prior 2.1, 30 watts per channel.

“These two new SKUs and why we’re really excited about them is they’re the first Russound product with HDMI eArc in, so it does CEC, Bluetooth and 50 watts per channel in a nice, small housing,” Porritt explains.

“It’s a unique product with a great remote control, as well as the nice thing with CEC use your TV remote for the volume to go up and down, and you really don’t have to teach it anything and that’s a common platform.”

The products also accommodate a wireless subwoofer kit, he adds. Moreover, they include two mounting options for ease of installation.

Also, for greater appeal to customers, the AVA2.1 and AVA3.1 carry MSRPs of $299 and $399, respectively. The previous product was $409, so as Porritt describes, they’ve gone down in price but up in features and power.

“For installers’ toolbox, they can be able to solve a lot of different things as well as fit behind TVs,” he says. “When we first showed this product last year at ISE we got feedback to make the products wider and thinner, and we ended up doing that.”

Hear much more about why Porritt is enthusiastic about what else is on tap for Russound in 2024, his take on helping dealers to overcome challenges, where to find the company at trainings and tradeshows this year, and much more by downloading or listening to the podcast above.

Find past episodes of the CE Pro Podcast by subscribing to the CE Pro YouTube channel or our Apple and Spotify podcast feeds.