Essential Install | Speakers
DID YOU KNOW: 400,000 people attended Woodstock in 1969, data of what the sound was like ‘at the back’ is unavailable
SpeakerCraft’s
innovative Dolby
Atmos enabled
up-firing ATX100 is
now shipping
Aldous Systems is the official distributor for
SpeakerCraft in the UK and highlights in particular
the company’s innovative Dolby Atmos enabled
in-wall height speakers. The AIM Series 2 ATX100
is an in-wall height speaker designed specifically
for Dolby Atmos and other 3D audio codecs, which
is designed to provide an option where in-celing
speakers are not possible by reflecting sound off
the ceiling to place and move audio anywhere in the
room, including overhead.
“The ability of the ATX100 speaker brings out the
best in object-based audio. The immersive experience
will blow you away,” says Matt Dever, Core Brands
SpeakerCraft product manager. “It will be the first
available Dolby Atmos-enabled in-wall speaker. This
introduction is a leap forward that will change how
technology integrators design home theatre audio
systems for their clients; it delivers an immersive home
theatre experience in any room.”
The design adheres to Dolby’s recommended
specifications and requirements for optimal
performance and the company worked hard to
develop a height speaker that would perform in
the constraints of a shallow 2x4 wall. This included
developing drivers, crossovers and enclosures very
specific to this purpose, resulting in a design that
brings the Dolby Atmos experience into any installed
environment completely hidden away in the wall.
The ATX100’s dual drivers and tweeter fire upward
into the acoustically controlled wave guide that projects
the Dolby Atmos height cue information off the ceiling,
creating the immersive effect. The ¾ custom titanium
dome tweeter with high-energy Neodymium magnet
structure boasts a frequency response up to 22kHz. With
its dual 2½ Kevlar-reinforced pulp mid-bass drivers,
the ATX100 can handle up to 125W of amplifier power
at 8 Ohms and to maximise the sound reproduction
and minimise sound transmission to adjacent rooms,
the ATX100 features a fully integrated acoustic back
box. And like other speakers in the AIM Series 2 line, it
leverages SpeakerCraft’s Acoustic Isolation Technology
to minimise acoustic energy transfer to the mounting
and surrounding surfaces. This acoustic decoupling
allows listeners to hear more of the actual speaker
and less of the sound that normally radiates from the
mounting surface.
Crestron offers its own ranges of speakers including
the Excite line which are designed to offer high-quality
sound, value and easy installation for multi-room audio
and home cinemas. The Excite IW5 model provides a
pair of two-way in-wall speakers featuring 5¼in woofers
and ¾in dome tweeters. Power handling is at 60W with
a frequency response from 60 Hz to 20 kHz (-3 dB).
Excite speakers are designed to enable a nearly flush
installation when mounted in a typical drywall surface
and fixing is via six toggle clamps integrated into the
baffle. The white textured finish blends cleanly into
any neutral-coloured wall, but can be painted too. The
Aspire line goes up a notch with a complete line of inwall and in-ceiling speakers designed to deliver strong
performance to price ratio. Paintable zero-bezel grilles
lower impact in round and square variants. Streamlined
installation of each speaker is facilitated through a threepoint, spring-loaded toggle clamp mounting system
optimised to minimise interference with obstructions
within the ceiling space.
The Essence line is Crestron’s top-end range of
integrated speakers, again available in discrete zero bezel
designs in round or square. The speakers carry the same
toggle clamp mounting system as the Aspire.
The Essence IC5 model provides a pair of two-way
in-ceiling speakers featuring 5¼in long-throw woven
Kevlar woofers for deep, defined low end and large 1.1in
advanced synthetic polymer dome tweeters for crisp,
fluent highs, articulate midrange and consistent coverage
across a wider listening area, says the maker.
WE ARE THE PIONEERS
OF HIGH RESOLUTION AUDIO.
Call 01480 445678
meridian-audio.com
September 2016 | 31
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