Premiere Design

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New ProductsPremiere Design
Full Immersion: Auro-3D Auriga Home Theater Receiver
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 05, 2014  |  2 comments
Note to readers: See Clarification at the end of this article for an update.

Weeks before Onkyo and Pioneer announced the first Dolby Atmos-equipped AV receivers, we received a press release touting the “first ever immersive sound receiver”—the Auro-3D Auriga from Belgium-based Auro Technlogies. Intrigued by its high-end looks—and $16,700 price—we reached out to CEO and Auro-3D inventor Wilfried Van Baelen to learn more about the product and the Auro 3D surround-sound format at its core. Auro 11.1, which adds height and overhead channels to an existing 5.1 surround-sound setup, debuted in theaters in 2011 and today supports almost 500 screens worldwide, according to the company. Recent movies mixed in Auro 11.1 include Oculus, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and a number of foreign films.

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New ProductsPremiere Design
Fashionably Functional: Estelon Extreme Speaker
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 20, 2014  |  1 comments
Alfred Vassilkov’s latest sonic creation looks more like a sculpture than a speaker, which is why you can’t help but do a double take. But beyond its stunning looks are several unexpected—and highly practical—surprises. We asked Estelon partner Alissa Vassilkov, who also happens to be Alfred’s daughter, to tell us the story behind this unique, $239,000/pair speaker.
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Audio Video NewsNew ProductsPremiere Design
Immaculate Reception
Bob Ankosko  |  May 19, 2014  |  0 comments

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 18 Wireless Speaker System

About that headline...It’s inspired by the sheepish “Immaculate Wireless Sound” moniker Bang & Olufsen uses for the wireless system integrated into the stunning BeoLab 18 tower speaker. Actually, the phrase is code for WiSA, the standard that makes it possible to for speakers to receive uncompressed 24-bit/96 kHz audio over the air from B&O’s stand-alone transmitter or one built into the BeoVision 11 TV. We asked Senior Vice President of Product Creation Lou Schreurs to tell us about this impressive speaker.

S&V: How did the BeoLab 18 come into being? What led to the desire to “go wireless?”
Lou Schreurs: We felt the need to rejuvenate our iconic BeoLab 8000 from a design perspective and, at the same time, wanted to bring the speaker into the 21st Century by making it wireless and digital, using our proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) capabilities. The integration of a high-quality wireless system was driven by the desire for convenience without sacrificing audio quality. In some of our customers’ homes, it was not easy to run cables in a neat way, particularly rear speakers, limiting their ability to experience true surround sound...

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New ProductsPremiere Design
Thorens TD 209 Turntable
Bob Ankosko  |  May 14, 2014  |  3 comments
Spinning With Style
You don’t come across many companies that have been in business for 100 years. Founded in 1883 as a manufacturer of musical boxes and clocks, Thorens started building Edison-type cylinder phonographs in 1903 and has been making turntables ever since. Although the company branched out into audio electronics in the ’90s, it remains a steadfast bearer of fine turntables. Its latest specimen is the ultra-modern TD 209, which borrows design cues from its higher-end sibling, the TD 309.
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New ProductsPremiere Design
MartinLogan Crescendo Music System
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 05, 2014  |  0 comments
Smile If You Like Music
Yep, you read that right. MartinLogan, the 30-year-old Kansas-based company known for elegant, high-performance electrostatic speakers, is branching out. And, no, the Crescendo is not a center-channel speaker.
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New ProductsPremiere Design
McIntosh MA8000 Integrated Amplifier
Bob Ankosko  |  Jan 23, 2014  |  1 comments
The audio world has undergone dramatic change since stacks of McIntosh amplifiers powered the iconic Woodstock Festival in 1969. One thing that hasn’t changed much is the signature VU meter that’s become synonymous with McIntosh Labs, which has been making high-performance audio gear since 1949 when Frank McIntosh set out to build a better amplifier. His legacy lives on behind the glowing meters that adorn the elegant glass faceplate of Mac’s latest masterpiece, the MA8000 integrated amplifier.
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Premiere Design
Magico QSub-18 Subwoofer
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 24, 2013  |  1 comments
It’s not every day you come across a $36,000 subwoofer. That’s right, thirty-six big ones. That’s about as rare as finding a submonster with dual 18-inch drivers and a 6,000-watt digital amplifier housed in an enclosure made of aircraft-grade aluminum so robust that it can withstand internal sound-pressure levels of up to 175 decibels (akin to standing on the tarmac while a commercial jet takes off) with less than 1 percent the displacement of an ordinary enclosure.
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Premiere Design
Meridian DSP7200 Digital Active Speaker
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 31, 2013  |  0 comments
Sonic Splendor

Timing is everything when it comes to great comedy—and great sound. And time alignment is one of several refinements Meridian has made to the popular DSP7200 tower speaker it introduced in 2007—one of the most technologically advanced speakers on the planet. But before we get into what the company has done to improve this already remarkable speaker, let’s take a quick look at what makes it special in the first place.

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Premiere Design
One Chance To Make A First Impression
Michelle McCarthy  |  Aug 22, 2013  |  1 comments
Some people revel in the process of executing every single step in the home theater build process, painstakingly picking out color swatches and test-driving cup holders. And then there are those who have their eye on the prize: kicking back and enjoying their favorite flicks. First Impressions Theme Theatres is in the business of helping the latter group with its complete architectural and interior design-engineering services for dedicated personal cinemas. Its services include end-to-end building, shipping, and installation projects. The company handles all woodwork, upholstery, seating, and special effects packaged into a comprehensive, performance-based contract.
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Premiere Design
Symbol Audio Modern Record Console
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 31, 2013  |  1 comments
Visions of the Zenith (yes, Zenith) hi-fi console in the living room of my childhood home filled my head when I saw the Modern Record Console (MRC). The Zenith was simple in design with an AM/FM tuner and turntable under the lift-up top of a luxurious walnut cabinet with louvered speaker grilles. My parents listened to Herb Alpert and Dionne Warwick while I obsessed over Abbey Road, the album that launched my LP collection. My parents tolerated it—maybe even secretly liked it. Ah, but I digress…
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Premiere Design
Aragon Iridium Monoblock: The Signature V Rides Again
Bob Ankosko  |  Feb 22, 2013  |  0 comments
Gibson has its famous Flying V guitar, the high-end audio community has Aragon’s signature V-notch power amp, introduced 25 years ago in Mondial’s Aragon 4004 amplifier and resurrected in the Iridium Monoblock, flagship of the recently revived Aragon brand.
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Premiere Design
Steinway Lyngdorf LS Concert Speaker: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 24, 2012  |  0 comments
The Steinway Lyngdorf LS Concert speaker is distinguished not only for its towering stature and exquisite looks but for its technical design, which combines the virtues of line-source and dipole speaker design.
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Premiere Design
Hart Audio D&W Aural Pleasure Speakers
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 27, 2012  |  4 comments
Barrister-turned-speaker-maker David Hart had the human ear in mind when he designed this unique speaker—but I see a giant molar turned on its side. I’ll let you decide what to make of it and whether it’s worth the asking price of $64,000 per pair in bronze, $300,000 in silver, or upwards of $5 million in gold (shown). Why so expensive? Remarkably, the 28-inch-tall cabinet is cast in solid bronze, silver, or gold, which explains the 110-pound weight (in bronze). Add to that the 200 hours it takes to cast and hand-finish each pair at Hart’s factory on Isle of Wight.
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Premiere Design
Sony XBR-84X900 4K LCD HDTV: 1080p? Pfff…4K Is Like Being There
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 19, 2012  |  5 comments
OK, you can stop drooling now. We know you can’t wait to get your hands on the world’s first TV capable of displaying 8 million pixels of luscious detail—four times the resolution of 1080p. (We can’t, either.) Sony’s 84-inch XBR-84X900 4K LCD HDTV is one of the first 4K TVs to reach a handful of stores across the country. The heart of the set is a new chip that analyzes images with resolutions of 1080p or lower and upscales them to 4K. How well the chip performs that task is vitally important since 4K content for home viewing is not likely to be available for some time, even though Sony says 10,000 U.S. movie theaters are already using 4K projectors, and a growing number of theatrical movies are being shot in 4K.
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Premiere Design
Woo Audio WA-234 Monoblock Headphone Amplifier
Bob Ankosko  |  Oct 24, 2012  |  0 comments
This may well be the most regal headphone amp you’ll ever lay eyes on. Make that amps, as in a pair of Class A monoblocks—one per channel—which is how the WA-234 is sold. But its majestic looks and meticulous industrial design (60 sheets of aluminum are used to create those wavy side panels) tell only part of the story.
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