The architectural category is a new arena for Sonos, but it makes sense that when they decided to enter it, they would do it right. They are looking to build on their historically strong Connect and Connect:Amp products – which powered other manufacturers speakers up ’till now, to now offer a truly complete acoustic solution for your home. Architectural speakers are a growing segment of the market, and to stand out Sonos had to do their homework.
With a shared commitment to superior sound and great design, Sonos and Sonance partnered on a collection of architectural passive speakers optimized for the new Sonos Amp. Sonos Architectural by Sonance includes in-ceiling, in-wall, and outdoor speakers designed to disappear into any space while providing crystal clear sound, even coverage, high-quality performance, and ease of use. The creation and engineering of speakers for a specific amplifier is a great first step to creating transformative sound experiences for the home and beyond. Add to that the unique Sonos Trueplay™ feature, which allows you to calibrate the listening environment with the speakers and an app on your phone and you have a truly new offering. This Customized Sound calibration accounts for the size, construction, and furnishings of the room where the speakers are placed and automatically adjusts the EQ for the best possible sound.
Showing off the quality of the amp, just one Sonos Amp can power up to three pairs of Sonos Architectural speakers, for greater sound coverage and more immersive listening. The Sonos Amp allows you to stream all your favorite services and music stored on local devices. Control is simple with the Sonos app, AirPlay 2, and voice control with smart devices. If you already have a Sonos product, simply put it’s like building Sonos all-in-one speakers right into the wall or ceiling.
Spring is fast approaching. If you have a multi-room project in the planning stages, drop by today to get your free pre-wire plan and pre-order your new Sonos Architectural speaker system!
How many times have we heard the expression, “Everything old is new again,” or “There’s nothing new under the sun”? How about this one, “I’m so far behind, I think I’m in the lead.” Maybe that one’s just me.
Now, as I approach the half century mark on this planet, it’s become easier for me to see things that have come and gone do often come around again. We call that “retro”. Unfortunately, not everything comes back though. In fact, just the other day at the shop, the boys and I were waxing poetic about our misspent youth in the video arcades, and the vitally important role the local video rental shop played in our social development. Of course, there are many things that SHOULDN’T ever come back – like mullets, huge shoulder pads, and an embarrassingly large number of the bands that I’m slightly ashamed to say I did listen to in the 80’s.
But whether it be pure nostalgia, or a realization that maybe we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater a few times (and we should make an effort to get that baby back again), there are some things that give “Retro” a really good name. The Camaro, Mustang, and the Challenger – for a good first example. They are all doing a great job of teaching young North American men all about proper muscle car envy. Post Modern architecture, furniture design, and even some clothes can all remind us of the cyclical nature of great style too. TV shows like The Goldbergs, or Stranger Things capitalize on our tendency to look back with fondness and that’s good. And obviously music. I recently took in a Sheepdogs concert, and that totally pushed all my happy sense-memory buttons. If you’ve never heard the Sheepdogs, give them a listen. I bet you’ll get it.
What about Vinyl! Nobody is happier than myself about the rebirth and rejuvenation of vinyl and the record store. When I was in my late teens, the record store was one of those special places where I didn’t feel like a stranger from another planet. Now 30 years – and a number of formats later, the venerable turntable has once again achieved its deserved place of honor in the style-conscious living rooms of music lovers. In fact, some of the turntables available these days not only deliver an exquisite musical experience, but are easily as beautiful as any sculpture or art object that you could otherwise clutter up a flat surface with.
So now, I would like to propose another retro revolution. Perhaps more accurately, recognize it. This time it’s with speakers. Are you ready for it? Here goes. . . They need to get big again, and we need to embrace it.
Now, not DOMINATE THE ROOM big, just “This is a space for music and I belong here” big. I will admit that many of the big speakers of old were, well UG-LY. Forty years ago, the equation was simple: bigger box equals bigger bass, and pretty much every speaker manufacturer had us dancing to that tune. As a result, there were a lot of big ugly speakers out there. Then came the advent of mini-subwoofer-micro-satellite speaker systems back in the late 80’s, and we threw the baby out with the bathwater again.
Remember the demonstration where the smooth talking, mullet sporting, shoulder padded salesman played music through what looked like a pair of tower speakers, then he’d remove the tower speaker façade to reveal tiny little cube shaped boxes perched on poles to the surprised oohs and aaahs of his captive audience? What was unfortunately missing from that demo was a decent pair of tower speakers that one could compare to, but let’s not dwell on that now. It was a revolution. Almost every interior designer on the planet, and much of the female population immediately got on board with the idea of eliminating big speakers from the home. Almost to a point of religious fervor. Interior designers and significant others developed a vehement bias against the concept that a device that brings music into our home, (and thus enriches our life), should be in any way visible.
Now, before I alienate every interior designer and spouse (including my own), let me just clarify my thoughts by saying that some of you do understand that speakers don’t get big just for the sake of taking up more space in the living room. My point is, I think we need to officially take the next step and acknowledge that the space taken up by a full-sized quality speaker in the home, rightfully belongs to the speaker, and that is good. Why? Because the speaker serves a great and noble purpose, and that purpose is important in our lives. Spiritually, artistically, and aesthetically – they have great value.
Go with me here. Aesthetically speaking, interior design doesn’t begrudge the existence of a sink in a kitchen. You can’t have a kitchen without a sink, but let’s be honest, as a rule, sinks are not “pretty”. Yes, you might be able to find some inordinately high priced artistic blend of sculpture and plumbing by Blanco that your interior designer will effusively gush over, but at the end of the day, whether it’s made of stone, steel, or porcelain, it’s still a spokes model for the sewer that has been built into a counter top. It has a pipe sticking up out of it and a hole at the bottom.
By comparison, let’s look at a speaker: not a gateway to the sewer, but a window to a beautiful view of the world. It can soothe us when we’re anxious, it can inform us of current issues and events, it can motivate us to dance or call us to action, or simply put a smile on our face and a bounce in our step. Every day. In the same way that a kitchen cannot be a kitchen without a sink, I would argue that a living room has no life worth living without great music, and that comes from great sounding, proudly full-size speakers.
Today, we embrace the easy availability of music that modern life affords us. If we go back 150 years, the only way to get any music in your house was to bring musicians into your house; as a result, it was something that was only enjoyed by the super-rich and only on special occasions. They took up some space too. Then came the gramophone (talk about ugly! They have a kind of antique charm now, to be sure, but . . . no, scratch that. They were just ugly). Then in the early half of the 20th century we started to see big console radios arrive in the home. Roughly the size of a refrigerator on it’s side, but styled to fit in with the living room decor of that era. A meaningful piece of attractive furniture for the day (perhaps some still a bit ugly by today’s standards) – nobody was judged harshly or looked down upon for having one. It was a sign of success in fact, ushering in another new benefit of a modern society. People were now able to enjoy the luxury of music and information on demand in their home for the first time, and they understood that modern equipment that occupied space was required to make it happen.
These days it can seem that the very idea that you would allow a music reproduction device to occupy space in your room is something to be ridiculed. But often it’s because people have an image in their head of what that old console, or speakers looked like half a century ago. Nowadays, there are so many beautiful and different styles of speakers out there, that anybody who takes the time to look should be able to find something to suit their taste and appeal to their sense of visual design.
But again, to get there we first need to acknowledge that the full-size speaker DESERVES to have a dedicated place in our homes. The amount of space they occupy—and the amount of investment that they represent—are a direct reflection of how important music is in your life.
I used the term Renaissance in the title of this article as a direct reference to my current favorite speaker – made by the Electrostatic Speaker company Martin Logan. Big, and worth giving a listen to for no other reason than to remind us how lucky we are to live in this day and age where an incredible level of music reproduction in the home is so easily attainable. They are simply amazing. I opted for these full-size speakers in my home because they are brilliant sounding, and that is a function of their design/size. I couldn’t be happier with the sound or looks. I have no qualms about dedicating the requisite floor space they assume, to be rewarded with the enthralling musical experience they always deliver, on a daily basis.
There will always be those that will argue that a speaker need not be large, or even visible. While it is true that speakers can be built into walls or ceilings or minimized into something the size and shape of a water glass sitting on a counter, it’s nowhere near the same experience. If you could, honestly get the same performance out of a $199 Bluetooth enabled stocking stuffer that’s wedged between the vase and a lamp, I’d shut my mouth, pack up my shingle, go buy a squeegee and make my living on the corner of 17th Avenue, but the cold hard truth is that the level of the experience is fundamentally different.
To illustrate, let me go back to the plumbing analogy: As Charlize Theron showed us in the film “Monster,” all you need to get clean is a small sink in a gas station rest room, but that’s not what we WANT! We want a luxurious soaker tub or a glass walled shower with an 8-way adjustable massaging nozzle, and no self-respecting interior designer would ever try to talk us out of it. By way of comparison, a little Bluetooth widget simply can’t do what a free-standing pair of full size speakers can do – both visually and sonically. In the same way that trying to fill a giant soaker tub with an eyedropper would ultimately prove futile, trying to fill an 1800 cubic foot or larger living room with rich warm sound from something the size of a can of coke will leave you just as cold.
Let me wrap my call to arms up by addressing if there are any decent custom install solutions for those that still feel speakers should be heard and not seen. To that, I do have to answer a qualified yes. Qualified by three very important caveats:
1) Preparation. We need to think about it when the room is being built. Wires need to be run to the exact right locations before the drywall goes up,
2) Placement. Careful thought needs to go into where the speakers will be and how they will project sound toward the finished listening area – without restriction. Arranging the furniture in the space later is not a good plan, it’s a lack of one. And finally,
3) Price. High quality speakers cost what they cost. So, good in-wall or in-ceiling speakers are also not cheap. If the floor standing speakers that you like the sound of are $3,500 for the pair, you simply can’t expect to find an in-wall solution you will like for $800. And even then, the very best built-in speakers still won’t match the imaging and performance capabilities of a free-standing tower speakers, because a speaker’s sound is so massively affected by its cabinet, and no high-quality speakers are made out of drywall for very good reasons. Besides, you won’t be able to take those great sounding speakers with you if you move.
So, for all of these reasons I say, let us embrace the Renaissance of bringing breathtaking music via properly large speaker into our home again. A beautiful, stylish pair of speakers needs to be warmly embraced in our living rooms again, the same way we happily welcome a beautiful piece of art, Persian rug or a remarkably comfortable, yet inexplicably expensive chair.
Anthem, the Canadian hi-fi sister company to both MartinLogan and Paradigm, have just released an impressive new integrated amplifier, called the STR. It’s an entirely new architecture that elevates this new offering well above the amp that it replaces, the Integrated 225.
Integrating an advanced preamp with a high output stereo power amplifier, and adding advanced DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) functions, a Moving Magnet and Moving Coil phono stage and the mighty ARC (Anthem Room Correction) room calibration system into one chassis, the new Anthem STR certainly covers a lot of bases for its $5500.00. The fact that it offers all of this capability and also manages to sound terrific, it’s a relative bargain at that price!
The STR is designed, engineered and built by Anthem at Paradigm’s impressive facilities in Toronto, Canada, and as such Anthem has a tremendous amount of control over the design and manufacturing process to deliver the best finished product. In the early stages of the STR’s design, Anthem decided it was time for their sole integrated amplifier to move upmarket and it’s fair to say that they’ve accomplished their goal admirably
Description:
Upon unpacking it, the first thing noticed is its heft. At 40lbs, it’s no lightweight. Peering into the internals through the top venting also illustrates the care that went into the internal packaging. With a large toroidal power transformer taking the center position, each amplifier channel and their accompanying heatsink flanks it on either side. Behind the aluminium front panel sits four large capacitors (two for each channel) on their own isolated board. The preamp, DAC and phono preamp are on another isolated circuit board near the back of the chassis. The front panel is quite clean with a very prominent display on the left side of the faceplate. It’s bright and sharp with decent contrast when viewed straight on and offers plenty of information over the amp’s functions, with nice graphical icons to liven it up a bit.
The I/O offering is impressive for a stereo integrated amp. With one AES/EBU, one USB, two digital coax and two optical inputs for its built-in DAC; the analog section has a set of balanced XLR inputs and four sets of stereo single-ended RCA inputs. There are MM and MC stereo single-ended RCA inputs for the phono stage. The amount of analog outputs are truly luxurious, with single-ended RCA Left and Right, subwoofer Left and Right and line Left and Right outputs!
For firmware updates and control there is a USB-A, Mini USB, Ethernet, RS232 serial, and a 3.5mm 12V trigger Output and 3.5mm IR Input. There are also oversized insulated and non-conductive five-way binding posts for speaker connections free of any interference or ghosting.
The amplifier section of the new STR is a beast. With 200 watts per channel continuously into an 8ohm load, it can also “double down” when the speaker’s impedance halves, delivering 400 watts per channel continuously into 4ohms. It’s also 2ohm stable, continuously delivering a mighty 550 watts per channel! Now, that is serious power from an integrated amplifier.
The built-in digital-to-analog converter is no slouch either. Capable of accepting a hi-resolution digital bitstream up to 24bit/192kHz via its digital coax and optical inputs. It can also upsample non hi-res digital signals up to 24bit/192kHz! Set for the future, the STR can also accept a PCM signal up to 32-bit/384 kHz and a DSD 2.8 or 5.6 MHz digital bitstream through its sole asynchronous USB-B rear input.
Another feature that the vast majority of stereo amplifiers don’t offer is a way to equalize your system to the room it’s in. Anthem has extended their superb room correction system (ARC – Anthem Room Correction) that is built into every one of their surround receivers and surround processors, to the new STR. Instead of relying on an IC in the STR to do the calculations, ARC leverages the power of your PC running the ARC software. With an included tripod mounted microphone connected, ARC digitally compares a room’s acoustic signature to that of a reference.
It measures the response of each speaker relative to the space and eliminates the negative effects of obstacles in the room, adjusting response, correcting phase issues and the negative effects of problematic room reflections, resonances and standing waves caused by the shape of the room and the surfaces and obstacles in the room. It can even do separate EQ’s for two subwoofers in your system, which is perfect for audio systems with a stereo subwoofer configuration!
In practice ARC works extremely well and is very approachable and user friendly. It’s streamlined and easy for those that want that and extremely deep when you want it to be, allowing for a huge degree of customization. It’s a brilliant platform that allows for easy and intuitive experimentation with different speaker and listening positions, crossover, phase and level configurations in real-time while you’re in the ARC software. It’s a calibration system that caters to every level of user.
Installation & Listening:
After unpacking the amplifier (the STR in black looks superb!) and connecting it to one of our reference systems comprised of Paradigm’s Persona 5F loudspeakers, a Bluesound Node 2 network music streamer (for accessing lossless CD quality tracks, as well as MQA, from our Tidal Hi-Fi subscription) and Torus RM20 line conditioner, it was set up and gently broken-in for several days. Afterwards we had very lengthy listening sessions and were quite impressed.
The STR’s damping factor is immediately apparent with fantastic control of driver motion that shows off the 5F’s great transient response. The amp’s authoritative bass is very good as well. It really grabbed the 5F’s from the collar and showed them who’s boss! Midrange warmth and smoothness, with a slightly etched character to high frequency detail characterizes the STR well and the soundstage was wonderfully deep and delineated, accentuating the 5F’s already great transparency and imaging capability.
The new STR amp is a power house that can drive a very broad range of speakers. It also has the control and finesse to create a truly enjoyable listening experience that keeps inviting you back for more.
Get your Control4 EA1 Entertainment Controller Delivered today !
It’s a well known issue. The TV Entertainment system is central to any home, but controlling even the simplest system is needlessly complex. Add in the growing number of interconnected devices in the home and it’s clear that you need an EA1 Smart Controller with the automation horsepower Control4 and K&W can provide.
We want to make it easy for you. So, for the great sale price of only $999.00 (tax, delivery and installation included!) let’s get the most important room in your home running simply now. We will end that pain of multiple remotes – or even worse, poor universal remotes that don’t actually do it all. With the powerful new Control4 EA1 controller and sleek SR260 remote delivered and installed by us, it’s easier and more affordable than ever to get a simple to use actual smart system.
The powerful new EA 1 smart home controller easily operates the typical TV area. Included in the sale price package is the ability to simply control 4 devices, your TV, Cable box, Surround Amplifier, and Blu-ray/ streaming box from the Control4 SR 260 remote control. Other items can be added any time too, at a very low additional cost.
Along with simple total control of your home’s media system comes the bonus of a world of great new streaming music choices for you, built right into your new Control4 EA-1. They include Deezer, Napster, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and Tidal – supporting full rich 24-bit high resolution audio. Your easy to use and great sounding new system has an on screen display that is beautiful and intuitive. It can also be controlled via an app on your iPad, smart Phone (IOS or Android), or PC too, and all that music and functionality is included, at no extra cost.
Banish your coffee table covered in remotes forever, we know you will love your simple system makeover! Another great benefit of adding this Control4 platform is, now you can expand the system to automate and control as much of your home as you want, any time you want. Control all your entertainment equipment in every room of the house, add in lighting control, climate control, door locks, cameras, fans, blinds and so much more. Control4 inter-operates with over 9500 digital products, so the sky is the limit.
This offer is only for a limited time, and ends May 15th, so call to arrange for delivery and installation of your Smart Home controller today!
Anthem’s first 11.2 channel pre-pro is the AVM 60, and it’s a real gem. This audiophile Canadian manufacturer has stepped up the entire game, with a high-performance Pre-Processor at a price that is as well unexpectedly affordable in Canada at only $3,299.99. If you need to add a bunch of quality watts to go with your new AVM 60 Pre, Anthem has another great deal to complement your new processor acquisition too – a full 10% off of any amp (or set of amps) you decide on. Very nice.
Looking deeper, the multi award winning AVM 60 is packed with premium components aimed at the discerning person who really values faithful audio reproduction in their Home Theater system. The feature set is comparable to their top of the line MX 1120 AV receiver, albeit without the 11 channels of built in amplification. It supports up to 7 floor/ side level speakers, 4 subwoofers, and 4 (ceiling) height channels (7.4.4). As one would expect from a leading edge, high end surround Pre-Amp, you get a full suite of latest expected connections including the option of using balanced outputs (XLR) for all channels, to connect to your chosen power amp, and the expected reduction in ground floor noise that gives a separates combination it’s higher performance level. Of course, it also supports all the latest HDMI 2.0a standards as well as 4k/UHD, HDCP 2.2, and offers every one of the latest sound codecs including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. She’s definitely all singing and all dancing.
But the very best feature of all may very well be Anthem’s Room Correction, known now as ARC-2. ARC-2 supports four speaker profiles (you could use these speaker set up presets in this way for example; Full ATMOS, 2 Channel Stereo, 2 Channel with the sub too and, good old 7.1), and you can even have them automatically selected for each input selection you make. Each AVM 60 comes with a calibrated microphone in the box, along with a surprisingly high-quality microphone stand. The mic has a unique calibration curve set up specifically for that single microphone alone, which compensates for any potential small manufacturing variances. No one else offers a literally bespoke mic for each pre-amp they produce, showing how important your sound is to these loony Canuk audiophiles. The new ARC-2 process allows you to print out a detailed report on your final configuration measurements, and you can even conduct ARC measurements from your iOS device. Cutting edge stuff from this moose loving, syrup sucking company… that we love!
Among the myriad of leading edge audiophile-friendly features on this puppy, we also find a honking toroidal power supply (getting harder to find these days), and premium differential-output D/A converters with 32-bit conversion and sampling rate optimized filters – for the very best hi-res sound. A whole suite of premium A/D converters with 106 dB signal to noise ratio for the outputs are also provided, ensuring the highest quality sound when using your analog sources. So they didn’t forget your old trusty turntable or cassette deck.
Features aside, the proof is truly always in the listening… or in this case the home theater “experiencing”. We’ve set this unit up in our best theater at the shop (in a Martin Logan Renaissance based 7.1.4 system) and everyone here listened to it and agrees, the “experience” offered in 4k Atmos in our Grand Theater demo room is nothing short of… well fantastic… no, stunning… What can we say? It offers a sense of space, air, depth, precision, accuracy and power not known before, all in great big unapologetic dripping gobs.
Just wow.
If you are a high-end Home Theater aficionado, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, and hear what this processor delivers!
Home Cinema is improving by leaps and bounds. New projection technologies such as HDR, 4K and the move to the 2:35 aspect screen as the Home Theater standard are now taking hold. Epson’s latest top of the line offering is ready for it all, and more. Quite frankly this is almost certainly the best image you have ever seen. The best part? It can be that good at a 155″ size in 2:35 aspect. The new Epson LS10500 Laser 4K HDR Projector destroys any big screen flat TV. That’s just a media room, this delivers a truly immersive Home Theater event.
This is a full fledged pixel shifting projector. It’s 1080p panels fire twice, shifting the two (yes two) blue laser’s pixels 1/2 diameter, up to the right, to double the number of pixels to 4 megapixels. It’s laser unique laser light engine delivers a nearly completely silent and instant on experience. You won’t found that in rival offerings.
If a zero edge type screen is your preference, you know you need really precise control over throw to carry it off. No problem here. The masking ability permitted in the deep menu allows for a perfectly framed image. No light spillage. The LS10500 projector fully supports all multiple aspect ratios too. It’s nice to know there is always a way to get more, and if you want to raise the bar on the very best state of the art, you can. The addition of a Panamorph lens for letterbox movies can hot rod your image even further, delivering another 1/3 more resolution than any projector is capable natively. There are only a few projectors in the world that support that addition, which can be added any time.
Warranty is an industry leading 3 years, and the unit even comes with a ceiling mount, so the package comes complete. It’s older sibling (the LS10000) won the Best In Class Award in 2015 for the best projector period in it’s category from many critical reviewers. With the addition of HDR, and it’s other refinements, the LS10500 builds on that heritage and forges it’s place even higher at the top of the mountain.
We are having a Summer Sound giveaway and want you to win a Sonos Connect Amp and a great sounding pair of Paradigm Stylus 370 outdoor loudspeakers. Summer is here and all that’s missing from your warm summer evening get-togethers are great tunes. So here is your solution, worth over $1,400.00… for free!
All you have to do is Like us on Facebook or Follow or Re-Tweet us on Twitter and you will be entered into the contest to win this fantastic sounding system. That’s it, you don’t even have to get up, just click and enter it’s just that simple!
The random draw for the lucky winner is going to be on Friday July 15th, giving you plenty of summer to enjoy your cool new Paradigm/ Sonos outdoor audio system.
So enter right away and good luck!
***UPDATE!*** WE’VE HAD A WINNER!
Congratulations to our Summer Sonos and Paradigm Giveaway… Logan Johnson. His cool new outdoor audio system will complete his back yard with great tunes for a long time to come! Thanks as well to everyone who liked and shared our contest. We really enjoyed the comments and were pleasantly surprised by all of the participation!
Sonos Architectural Audio
/in Interesting News & TechnologyThe architectural category is a new arena for Sonos, but it makes sense that when they decided to enter it, they would do it right. They are looking to build on their historically strong Connect and Connect:Amp products – which powered other manufacturers speakers up ’till now, to now offer a truly complete acoustic solution for your home. Architectural speakers are a growing segment of the market, and to stand out Sonos had to do their homework.
With a shared commitment to superior sound and great design, Sonos and Sonance partnered on a collection of architectural passive speakers optimized for the new Sonos Amp. Sonos Architectural by Sonance includes in-ceiling, in-wall, and outdoor speakers designed to disappear into any space while providing crystal clear sound, even coverage, high-quality performance, and ease of use. The creation and engineering of speakers for a specific amplifier is a great first step to creating transformative sound experiences for the home and beyond. Add to that the unique Sonos Trueplay™ feature, which allows you to calibrate the listening environment with the speakers and an app on your phone and you have a truly new offering. This Customized Sound calibration accounts for the size, construction, and furnishings of the room where the speakers are placed and automatically adjusts the EQ for the best possible sound.
Showing off the quality of the amp, just one Sonos Amp can power up to three pairs of Sonos Architectural speakers, for greater sound coverage and more immersive listening. The Sonos Amp allows you to stream all your favorite services and music stored on local devices. Control is simple with the Sonos app, AirPlay 2, and voice control with smart devices. If you already have a Sonos product, simply put it’s like building Sonos all-in-one speakers right into the wall or ceiling.
Spring is fast approaching. If you have a multi-room project in the planning stages, drop by today to get your free pre-wire plan and pre-order your new Sonos Architectural speaker system!
70th Anniversary McIntosh Vacuum Tube Combo Is Stunning!
/in Interesting News & Technology2018 K&W Christmas Newsletter
/in Interesting News & Technology, PDF - NewslettersAnother Renaissance?
/in Audio Tips, Interesting News & TechnologyHow About Another Renaissance?
By Geoff Woods
How many times have we heard the expression, “Everything old is new again,” or “There’s nothing new under the sun”? How about this one, “I’m so far behind, I think I’m in the lead.” Maybe that one’s just me.
Now, as I approach the half century mark on this planet, it’s become easier for me to see things that have come and gone do often come around again. We call that “retro”. Unfortunately, not everything comes back though. In fact, just the other day at the shop, the boys and I were waxing poetic about our misspent youth in the video arcades, and the vitally important role the local video rental shop played in our social development. Of course, there are many things that SHOULDN’T ever come back – like mullets, huge shoulder pads, and an embarrassingly large number of the bands that I’m slightly ashamed to say I did listen to in the 80’s.
But whether it be pure nostalgia, or a realization that maybe we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater a few times (and we should make an effort to get that baby back again), there are some things that give “Retro” a really good name. The Camaro, Mustang, and the Challenger – for a good first example. They are all doing a great job of teaching young North American men all about proper muscle car envy. Post Modern architecture, furniture design, and even some clothes can all remind us of the cyclical nature of great style too. TV shows like The Goldbergs, or Stranger Things capitalize on our tendency to look back with fondness and that’s good. And obviously music. I recently took in a Sheepdogs concert, and that totally pushed all my happy sense-memory buttons. If you’ve never heard the Sheepdogs, give them a listen. I bet you’ll get it.
What about Vinyl! Nobody is happier than myself about the rebirth and rejuvenation of vinyl and the record store. When I was in my late teens, the record store was one of those special places where I didn’t feel like a stranger from another planet. Now 30 years – and a number of formats later, the venerable turntable has once again achieved its deserved place of honor in the style-conscious living rooms of music lovers. In fact, some of the turntables available these days not only deliver an exquisite musical experience, but are easily as beautiful as any sculpture or art object that you could otherwise clutter up a flat surface with.
So now, I would like to propose another retro revolution. Perhaps more accurately, recognize it. This time it’s with speakers. Are you ready for it? Here goes. . . They need to get big again, and we need to embrace it.
Now, not DOMINATE THE ROOM big, just “This is a space for music and I belong here” big. I will admit that many of the big speakers of old were, well UG-LY. Forty years ago, the equation was simple: bigger box equals bigger bass, and pretty much every speaker manufacturer had us dancing to that tune. As a result, there were a lot of big ugly speakers out there. Then came the advent of mini-subwoofer-micro-satellite speaker systems back in the late 80’s, and we threw the baby out with the bathwater again.
Remember the demonstration where the smooth talking, mullet sporting, shoulder padded salesman played music through what looked like a pair of tower speakers, then he’d remove the tower speaker façade to reveal tiny little cube shaped boxes perched on poles to the surprised oohs and aaahs of his captive audience? What was unfortunately missing from that demo was a decent pair of tower speakers that one could compare to, but let’s not dwell on that now. It was a revolution. Almost every interior designer on the planet, and much of the female population immediately got on board with the idea of eliminating big speakers from the home. Almost to a point of religious fervor. Interior designers and significant others developed a vehement bias against the concept that a device that brings music into our home, (and thus enriches our life), should be in any way visible.
Now, before I alienate every interior designer and spouse (including my own), let me just clarify my thoughts by saying that some of you do understand that speakers don’t get big just for the sake of taking up more space in the living room. My point is, I think we need to officially take the next step and acknowledge that the space taken up by a full-sized quality speaker in the home, rightfully belongs to the speaker, and that is good. Why? Because the speaker serves a great and noble purpose, and that purpose is important in our lives. Spiritually, artistically, and aesthetically – they have great value.
Go with me here. Aesthetically speaking, interior design doesn’t begrudge the existence of a sink in a kitchen. You can’t have a kitchen without a sink, but let’s be honest, as a rule, sinks are not “pretty”. Yes, you might be able to find some inordinately high priced artistic blend of sculpture and plumbing by Blanco that your interior designer will effusively gush over, but at the end of the day, whether it’s made of stone, steel, or porcelain, it’s still a spokes model for the sewer that has been built into a counter top. It has a pipe sticking up out of it and a hole at the bottom.
By comparison, let’s look at a speaker: not a gateway to the sewer, but a window to a beautiful view of the world. It can soothe us when we’re anxious, it can inform us of current issues and events, it can motivate us to dance or call us to action, or simply put a smile on our face and a bounce in our step. Every day. In the same way that a kitchen cannot be a kitchen without a sink, I would argue that a living room has no life worth living without great music, and that comes from great sounding, proudly full-size speakers.
Today, we embrace the easy availability of music that modern life affords us. If we go back 150 years, the only way to get any music in your house was to bring musicians into your house; as a result, it was something that was only enjoyed by the super-rich and only on special occasions. They took up some space too. Then came the gramophone (talk about ugly! They have a kind of antique charm now, to be sure, but . . . no, scratch that. They were just ugly). Then in the early half of the 20th century we started to see big console radios arrive in the home. Roughly the size of a refrigerator on it’s side, but styled to fit in with the living room decor of that era. A meaningful piece of attractive furniture for the day (perhaps some still a bit ugly by today’s standards) – nobody was judged harshly or looked down upon for having one. It was a sign of success in fact, ushering in another new benefit of a modern society. People were now able to enjoy the luxury of music and information on demand in their home for the first time, and they understood that modern equipment that occupied space was required to make it happen.
These days it can seem that the very idea that you would allow a music reproduction device to occupy space in your room is something to be ridiculed. But often it’s because people have an image in their head of what that old console, or speakers looked like half a century ago. Nowadays, there are so many beautiful and different styles of speakers out there, that anybody who takes the time to look should be able to find something to suit their taste and appeal to their sense of visual design.
But again, to get there we first need to acknowledge that the full-size speaker DESERVES to have a dedicated place in our homes. The amount of space they occupy—and the amount of investment that they represent—are a direct reflection of how important music is in your life.
I used the term Renaissance in the title of this article as a direct reference to my current favorite speaker – made by the Electrostatic Speaker company Martin Logan. Big, and worth giving a listen to for no other reason than to remind us how lucky we are to live in this day and age where an incredible level of music reproduction in the home is so easily attainable. They are simply amazing. I opted for these full-size speakers in my home because they are brilliant sounding, and that is a function of their design/size. I couldn’t be happier with the sound or looks. I have no qualms about dedicating the requisite floor space they assume, to be rewarded with the enthralling musical experience they always deliver, on a daily basis.
There will always be those that will argue that a speaker need not be large, or even visible. While it is true that speakers can be built into walls or ceilings or minimized into something the size and shape of a water glass sitting on a counter, it’s nowhere near the same experience. If you could, honestly get the same performance out of a $199 Bluetooth enabled stocking stuffer that’s wedged between the vase and a lamp, I’d shut my mouth, pack up my shingle, go buy a squeegee and make my living on the corner of 17th Avenue, but the cold hard truth is that the level of the experience is fundamentally different.
To illustrate, let me go back to the plumbing analogy: As Charlize Theron showed us in the film “Monster,” all you need to get clean is a small sink in a gas station rest room, but that’s not what we WANT! We want a luxurious soaker tub or a glass walled shower with an 8-way adjustable massaging nozzle, and no self-respecting interior designer would ever try to talk us out of it. By way of comparison, a little Bluetooth widget simply can’t do what a free-standing pair of full size speakers can do – both visually and sonically. In the same way that trying to fill a giant soaker tub with an eyedropper would ultimately prove futile, trying to fill an 1800 cubic foot or larger living room with rich warm sound from something the size of a can of coke will leave you just as cold.
Let me wrap my call to arms up by addressing if there are any decent custom install solutions for those that still feel speakers should be heard and not seen. To that, I do have to answer a qualified yes. Qualified by three very important caveats:
1) Preparation. We need to think about it when the room is being built. Wires need to be run to the exact right locations before the drywall goes up,
2) Placement. Careful thought needs to go into where the speakers will be and how they will project sound toward the finished listening area – without restriction. Arranging the furniture in the space later is not a good plan, it’s a lack of one. And finally,
3) Price. High quality speakers cost what they cost. So, good in-wall or in-ceiling speakers are also not cheap. If the floor standing speakers that you like the sound of are $3,500 for the pair, you simply can’t expect to find an in-wall solution you will like for $800. And even then, the very best built-in speakers still won’t match the imaging and performance capabilities of a free-standing tower speakers, because a speaker’s sound is so massively affected by its cabinet, and no high-quality speakers are made out of drywall for very good reasons. Besides, you won’t be able to take those great sounding speakers with you if you move.
So, for all of these reasons I say, let us embrace the Renaissance of bringing breathtaking music via properly large speaker into our home again. A beautiful, stylish pair of speakers needs to be warmly embraced in our living rooms again, the same way we happily welcome a beautiful piece of art, Persian rug or a remarkably comfortable, yet inexplicably expensive chair.
Anthem STR Amp Review
/in Interesting News & TechnologyNEW Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier Review
By Andrew Donald
Anthem, the Canadian hi-fi sister company to both MartinLogan and Paradigm, have just released an impressive new integrated amplifier, called the STR. It’s an entirely new architecture that elevates this new offering well above the amp that it replaces, the Integrated 225.
Integrating an advanced preamp with a high output stereo power amplifier, and adding advanced DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) functions, a Moving Magnet and Moving Coil phono stage and the mighty ARC (Anthem Room Correction) room calibration system into one chassis, the new Anthem STR certainly covers a lot of bases for its $5500.00. The fact that it offers all of this capability and also manages to sound terrific, it’s a relative bargain at that price!
The STR is designed, engineered and built by Anthem at Paradigm’s impressive facilities in Toronto, Canada, and as such Anthem has a tremendous amount of control over the design and manufacturing process to deliver the best finished product. In the early stages of the STR’s design, Anthem decided it was time for their sole integrated amplifier to move upmarket and it’s fair to say that they’ve accomplished their goal admirably
Description:
Upon unpacking it, the first thing noticed is its heft. At 40lbs, it’s no lightweight. Peering into the internals through the top venting also illustrates the care that went into the internal packaging. With a large toroidal power transformer taking the center position, each amplifier channel and their accompanying heatsink flanks it on either side. Behind the aluminium front panel sits four large capacitors (two for each channel) on their own isolated board. The preamp, DAC and phono preamp are on another isolated circuit board near the back of the chassis. The front panel is quite clean with a very prominent display on the left side of the faceplate. It’s bright and sharp with decent contrast when viewed straight on and offers plenty of information over the amp’s functions, with nice graphical icons to liven it up a bit.
The I/O offering is impressive for a stereo integrated amp. With one AES/EBU, one USB, two digital coax and two optical inputs for its built-in DAC; the analog section has a set of balanced XLR inputs and four sets of stereo single-ended RCA inputs. There are MM and MC stereo single-ended RCA inputs for the phono stage. The amount of analog outputs are truly luxurious, with single-ended RCA Left and Right, subwoofer Left and Right and line Left and Right outputs!
For firmware updates and control there is a USB-A, Mini USB, Ethernet, RS232 serial, and a 3.5mm 12V trigger Output and 3.5mm IR Input. There are also oversized insulated and non-conductive five-way binding posts for speaker connections free of any interference or ghosting.
The amplifier section of the new STR is a beast. With 200 watts per channel continuously into an 8ohm load, it can also “double down” when the speaker’s impedance halves, delivering 400 watts per channel continuously into 4ohms. It’s also 2ohm stable, continuously delivering a mighty 550 watts per channel! Now, that is serious power from an integrated amplifier.
The built-in digital-to-analog converter is no slouch either. Capable of accepting a hi-resolution digital bitstream up to 24bit/192kHz via its digital coax and optical inputs. It can also upsample non hi-res digital signals up to 24bit/192kHz! Set for the future, the STR can also accept a PCM signal up to 32-bit/384 kHz and a DSD 2.8 or 5.6 MHz digital bitstream through its sole asynchronous USB-B rear input.
Another feature that the vast majority of stereo amplifiers don’t offer is a way to equalize your system to the room it’s in. Anthem has extended their superb room correction system (ARC – Anthem Room Correction) that is built into every one of their surround receivers and surround processors, to the new STR. Instead of relying on an IC in the STR to do the calculations, ARC leverages the power of your PC running the ARC software. With an included tripod mounted microphone connected, ARC digitally compares a room’s acoustic signature to that of a reference.
It measures the response of each speaker relative to the space and eliminates the negative effects of obstacles in the room, adjusting response, correcting phase issues and the negative effects of problematic room reflections, resonances and standing waves caused by the shape of the room and the surfaces and obstacles in the room. It can even do separate EQ’s for two subwoofers in your system, which is perfect for audio systems with a stereo subwoofer configuration!
In practice ARC works extremely well and is very approachable and user friendly. It’s streamlined and easy for those that want that and extremely deep when you want it to be, allowing for a huge degree of customization. It’s a brilliant platform that allows for easy and intuitive experimentation with different speaker and listening positions, crossover, phase and level configurations in real-time while you’re in the ARC software. It’s a calibration system that caters to every level of user.
Installation & Listening:
After unpacking the amplifier (the STR in black looks superb!) and connecting it to one of our reference systems comprised of Paradigm’s Persona 5F loudspeakers, a Bluesound Node 2 network music streamer (for accessing lossless CD quality tracks, as well as MQA, from our Tidal Hi-Fi subscription) and Torus RM20 line conditioner, it was set up and gently broken-in for several days. Afterwards we had very lengthy listening sessions and were quite impressed.
The STR’s damping factor is immediately apparent with fantastic control of driver motion that shows off the 5F’s great transient response. The amp’s authoritative bass is very good as well. It really grabbed the 5F’s from the collar and showed them who’s boss! Midrange warmth and smoothness, with a slightly etched character to high frequency detail characterizes the STR well and the soundstage was wonderfully deep and delineated, accentuating the 5F’s already great transparency and imaging capability.
The new STR amp is a power house that can drive a very broad range of speakers. It also has the control and finesse to create a truly enjoyable listening experience that keeps inviting you back for more.
The Control4 EA1 Sale
/in Automation & Integration, Events, Interesting News & TechnologyGet your Control4 EA1 Entertainment Controller Delivered today !
It’s a well known issue. The TV Entertainment system is central to any home, but controlling even the simplest system is needlessly complex. Add in the growing number of interconnected devices in the home and it’s clear that you need an EA1 Smart Controller with the automation horsepower Control4 and K&W can provide.
We want to make it easy for you. So, for the great sale price of only $999.00 (tax, delivery and installation included!) let’s get the most important room in your home running simply now. We will end that pain of multiple remotes – or even worse, poor universal remotes that don’t actually do it all. With the powerful new Control4 EA1 controller and sleek SR260 remote delivered and installed by us, it’s easier and more affordable than ever to get a simple to use actual smart system.
The powerful new EA 1 smart home controller easily operates the typical TV area. Included in the sale price package is the ability to simply control 4 devices, your TV, Cable box, Surround Amplifier, and Blu-ray/ streaming box from the Control4 SR 260 remote control. Other items can be added any time too, at a very low additional cost.
Along with simple total control of your home’s media system comes the bonus of a world of great new streaming music choices for you, built right into your new Control4 EA-1. They include Deezer, Napster, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and Tidal – supporting full rich 24-bit high resolution audio. Your easy to use and great sounding new system has an on screen display that is beautiful and intuitive. It can also be controlled via an app on your iPad, smart Phone (IOS or Android), or PC too, and all that music and functionality is included, at no extra cost.
Banish your coffee table covered in remotes forever, we know you will love your simple system makeover! Another great benefit of adding this Control4 platform is, now you can expand the system to automate and control as much of your home as you want, any time you want. Control all your entertainment equipment in every room of the house, add in lighting control, climate control, door locks, cameras, fans, blinds and so much more. Control4 inter-operates with over 9500 digital products, so the sky is the limit.
This offer is only for a limited time, and ends May 15th, so call to arrange for delivery and installation of your Smart Home controller today!
Anthem AVM 60
/in Interesting News & TechnologyAnthem AVM 60
Anthem’s first 11.2 channel pre-pro is the AVM 60, and it’s a real gem. This audiophile Canadian manufacturer has stepped up the entire game, with a high-performance Pre-Processor at a price that is as well unexpectedly affordable in Canada at only $3,299.99. If you need to add a bunch of quality watts to go with your new AVM 60 Pre, Anthem has another great deal to complement your new processor acquisition too – a full 10% off of any amp (or set of amps) you decide on. Very nice.
Looking deeper, the multi award winning AVM 60 is packed with premium components aimed at the discerning person who really values faithful audio reproduction in their Home Theater system. The feature set is comparable to their top of the line MX 1120 AV receiver, albeit without the 11 channels of built in amplification. It supports up to 7 floor/ side level speakers, 4 subwoofers, and 4 (ceiling) height channels (7.4.4). As one would expect from a leading edge, high end surround Pre-Amp, you get a full suite of latest expected connections including the option of using balanced outputs (XLR) for all channels, to connect to your chosen power amp, and the expected reduction in ground floor noise that gives a separates combination it’s higher performance level. Of course, it also supports all the latest HDMI 2.0a standards as well as 4k/UHD, HDCP 2.2, and offers every one of the latest sound codecs including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. She’s definitely all singing and all dancing.
But the very best feature of all may very well be Anthem’s Room Correction, known now as ARC-2. ARC-2 supports four speaker profiles (you could use these speaker set up presets in this way for example; Full ATMOS, 2 Channel Stereo, 2 Channel with the sub too and, good old 7.1), and you can even have them automatically selected for each input selection you make. Each AVM 60 comes with a calibrated microphone in the box, along with a surprisingly high-quality microphone stand. The mic has a unique calibration curve set up specifically for that single microphone alone, which compensates for any potential small manufacturing variances. No one else offers a literally bespoke mic for each pre-amp they produce, showing how important your sound is to these loony Canuk audiophiles. The new ARC-2 process allows you to print out a detailed report on your final configuration measurements, and you can even conduct ARC measurements from your iOS device. Cutting edge stuff from this moose loving, syrup sucking company… that we love!
Among the myriad of leading edge audiophile-friendly features on this puppy, we also find a honking toroidal power supply (getting harder to find these days), and premium differential-output D/A converters with 32-bit conversion and sampling rate optimized filters – for the very best hi-res sound. A whole suite of premium A/D converters with 106 dB signal to noise ratio for the outputs are also provided, ensuring the highest quality sound when using your analog sources. So they didn’t forget your old trusty turntable or cassette deck.
Features aside, the proof is truly always in the listening… or in this case the home theater “experiencing”. We’ve set this unit up in our best theater at the shop (in a Martin Logan Renaissance based 7.1.4 system) and everyone here listened to it and agrees, the “experience” offered in 4k Atmos in our Grand Theater demo room is nothing short of… well fantastic… no, stunning… What can we say? It offers a sense of space, air, depth, precision, accuracy and power not known before, all in great big unapologetic dripping gobs.
Just wow.
If you are a high-end Home Theater aficionado, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, and hear what this processor delivers!
Epson LS10500 Laser Projector
/in Interesting News & TechnologySTATE OF THE ART PROJECTION – BRIGHTER & 4K HDR
Home Cinema is improving by leaps and bounds. New projection technologies such as HDR, 4K and the move to the 2:35 aspect screen as the Home Theater standard are now taking hold. Epson’s latest top of the line offering is ready for it all, and more. Quite frankly this is almost certainly the best image you have ever seen. The best part? It can be that good at a 155″ size in 2:35 aspect. The new Epson LS10500 Laser 4K HDR Projector destroys any big screen flat TV. That’s just a media room, this delivers a truly immersive Home Theater event.
If a zero edge type screen is your preference, you know you need really precise control over throw to carry it off. No problem here. The masking ability permitted in the deep menu allows for a perfectly framed image. No light spillage. The LS10500 projector fully supports all multiple aspect ratios too. It’s nice to know there is always a way to get more, and if you want to raise the bar on the very best state of the art, you can. The addition of a Panamorph lens for letterbox movies can hot rod your image even further, delivering another 1/3 more resolution than any projector is capable natively. There are only a few projectors in the world that support that addition, which can be added any time.
Epson LS10500 Laser Projector
2016 K&W Christmas Newsletter
/in PDF - NewslettersThe K&W Summer Sound Giveaway Contest
/in PDF - NewslettersWe are having a Summer Sound giveaway and want you to win a Sonos Connect Amp and a great sounding pair of Paradigm Stylus 370 outdoor loudspeakers. Summer is here and all that’s missing from your warm summer evening get-togethers are great tunes. So here is your solution, worth over $1,400.00… for free!
All you have to do is Like us on Facebook or Follow or Re-Tweet us on Twitter and you will be entered into the contest to win this fantastic sounding system. That’s it, you don’t even have to get up, just click and enter it’s just that simple!
The random draw for the lucky winner is going to be on Friday July 15th, giving you plenty of summer to enjoy your cool new Paradigm/ Sonos outdoor audio system.
So enter right away and good luck!
***UPDATE!*** WE’VE HAD A WINNER!
Congratulations to our Summer Sonos and Paradigm Giveaway… Logan Johnson. His cool new outdoor audio system will complete his back yard with great tunes for a long time to come! Thanks as well to everyone who liked and shared our contest. We really enjoyed the comments and were pleasantly surprised by all of the participation!