Residential Systems has announced the winners of their Best of Show awards at ISE 2020. The products were nominated by the manufacturers and a team of judges was employed to walk the floor and rate the products on a number of criteria, including its value, impact, and how unique it was to the market.
The Residential Systems winners are below. For a list of all Future Best of Show Winners at ISE (including picks from AV Technology Europe, Installation, and PSN Europe), visit https://www.futureevents.uk/bestofshow/winner20.
Meridian DSP750
Meridian Audio DSP750 In-Wall Digital Active Loudspeaker
Meridian’s DSP750 in-wall digital active loudspeaker features three new high-performance drive-units, Enhanced Bass Alignment, and a CLASS-M DSP engine that provides thermal and dynamic bass protection for detailed and accurate sound. The DSP750 has an aluminum enclosure to minimize unwanted resonances and coloration, separate mid-range driver enclosures to eliminate interaction with the bass drivers, Centre Elevation technology for immersive sound that appears to come from the center of the screen, and five drive-units powered by a bridged pair of Dynamic Hi-Res amplifiers; each pair capable of delivering over 100 watts into 8 ohms. The DSP750 delivers a maximum output of 120 dB and bass extension down to 30 Hz. Its built-in custom tweeter with a beryllium dome and diffraction expansion technology ensures wide sound dispersion for incredibly lifelike sound, capable of playing over 40 kHz. The loudspeaker has two 100mm midrange drivers, producing uniform and lifelike stereo image over a wide listening area.
Cinema Build
Cinema Build Systems Cinema Space Frame
Cinema Space Frame by Cinema Build Systems is a modular and scalable component system to create the framework for fabric walling systems for home theaters. This framework takes away a large amount of the custom joinery work and challenges required to form a high-end home theater. This allows custom installation companies to take in-house ownership of the cinema build process and removes the reliance on third-party companies to carry out these critical stages of the project.
The system has been likened to “Lego for Cinema Rooms” by installers that have used or experienced the system. The components are designed as an ecosystem, which allows for the integration of LED lighting profiles, acoustic treatment systems, cabling and speakers. The company currently has profiles available to create floating walls, front baffle walls, overlapping louvre-style walls, and drop-down coffered ceilings.
The Professional Monitor Company Ltd. (PMC) ci series
The six models in PMC’s ci series bring the company’s studio technology, responsible for hundreds of movie soundtracks, to the CI sector and provide installers with features that maximize performance and simplify installation. The shallow, two-way, ci30, ci45, ci65, and ci90slim are designed for in-wall and on-wall mounting, thanks to a mounting sleeve that conceals the in-wall mounting system. This reduces the number of models required and provides greater mounting flexibility.
PMC’s Qikfire spring-loaded mounting system makes them very “installer-friendly.” A twist of a screwdriver mounts the loudspeaker securely and permits post installation adjustment. The ci140, three-way design has four bass drivers and the latest iteration of the PMC dome midrange, developed originally for its studio monitors. Its n-compass technology creates a flat frequency response and phenomenal off-axis performance — perfect for a cinema LCR system. The ci140sub reproduces additional low frequency energy for home theater installations and full frequency music reproduction in high-end situations.
Savant Smart Audio WiSA Soundbar 55
According to Savant, the Smart Audio Soundbar is the world’s first smart home-controlling LCR soundbar, with integrated WiSA technology to deliver high-resolution 24-bit digital audio wirelessly. This 55-inch smart soundbar features a built-in Savant processor that delivers smart home functionality, including all popular streaming music services (Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, TuneIn, TIDAL, and more), up to six zones of audio and two zones of video, along with whole-house control of lighting, energy management, climate control, and countless other smart devices. Savant Smart Audio systems can be expanded using built-in IP Audio over AVB, and integrators will appreciate the flexibility of Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity as well as control ports for local devices. Savant Smart Audio speakers are also fully compatible with the Savant Home App for Apple TV and Apple HomeKit featuring Siri control.
Island Prestige by L-Acoustics Creations
L-Acoustics new division, L-Acoustics Creations, is devoted to extraordinary sound spaces, offering its pro audio, concert-grade technology for specification in private residential, architectural, and cultural settings for the unrivaled expression of sound. Island Prestige by L-Acoustics Creations is a self-contained, oval-shaped personal auditorium capable of delivering audio in the proprietary BluSpace standard to match human hearing performance on multiple levels: spatial perception, dynamics, and audible frequencies.
With 20,000 watts of power, Island is can deliver the SPL and visceral bass and dynamics of a live performance with ample headroom resulting in no perceptible distortion. Removable lounge elements and back rests provide ergonomic comfort and flexibility of configuration for a wide range of entertainment use scenarios from listening to music, to movie viewing, even as a small “dance floor” area with highly directed audio that allows conversations and other activities to take place with minimal noise leakage in another part of the room.
Island footprint is 402 cm in diameter and 87 cm high. Island rotates 360 degrees in either direction. Available in 18.1 or 23.1 resolution, the solution integrates with an external AV processor to play all common media formats either natively or upmixed via a third-party processor such as Trinnov. Island requires no additional acoustic treatment to the room. Estimated box to operation time is 10 hours.
Congratulations to all the winners!
See also: TWICE Picks Awards Winners For CES 2020
