WOODBURY, NY — Audioaccess, a leading provider of advanced whole-house audio/video solutions, is showcasing a broad variety of custom-installation products and systems at CEDIA Expo 2006. The company is demonstrating its groundbreaking W.H.E.N. (Whole-House Entertainment Network) system, which now features iPod audio and video connectivity when used with the Audioaccess aDock iPod docking station and multiroom-audio interface. The company is also featuring its CS-IP Control Server, which allows a computer, PDA or other Web-enabled device to operate an Audioaccess whole-house installation, and exhibiting a host of additional innovative products.
Chris Robinson, Audioaccess director of sales and marketing, pointed out: “Audioaccess is one of the founding companies of the custom-installation industry, with nearly 20 years of experience in the design and installation of whole-house audio/video solutions. As such, we are uniquely qualified to meet the application-specific needs of customers and systems integrators.”
Robinson continued, “Audioaccess was created to offer multiroom solutions that provide unmatched performance, versatility and value — and above all, total ease of use. From our beginnings as a supplier of high-quality whole-house music systems, our lineup has evolved to accommodate an ever-greater range of multiroom audio/video, monitoring and communications requirements, and to seamlessly interface with the widest variety of home entertainment components. Our W.H.E.N. system and the products showcased in our CEDIA 2006 exhibit exemplify our commitment to innovation as never before.”
Following are highlights of the Audioaccess exhibit at the Colorado Convention Center, Booth 644 (September 14 — 17, 2006).
W.H.E.N.: Designed for Ultimate Performance and Multiroom Flexibility With iPod Connectivity
W.H.E.N. is an integrated home theater, multiroom audio/video, and in-home communications system for custom residential installations that is easy and fun to use, and offers exceptional performance and versatility.
W.H.E.N. offers an entirely new approach to home theater and multiroom audio/video entertainment. It incorporates innovative technologies to deliver superlative sound and picture quality to both the home theater and remote room locations in the home. The system also offers whole-house paging and intercom functions, with audio and video monitoring capabilities that are all easy to implement using the W.H.E.N. on-screen programming system, and don’t require the use of a PC.
W.H.E.N. system components include the AVR21EN Audio/Video Receiver/System Controller, the AVH21 Multiroom Hub with WPS21 Power Supply Hub, the KP21 Amplified Display Keypad, and a full range of high-performance in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeakers. W.H.E.N. is modular and expandable. A base system accommodates the main home theater system and up to eight remote zones; additional hubs and power supplies can be added to expand signal distribution to up to 20 rooms.
The AVR21EN is the first audio/video receiver to combine a high-performance 7.1-channel A/V receiver with a multiroom system controller in a single chassis. It offers high-end audio and video performance, in addition to sophisticated two-way and IR source-control functions. The AVR21EN offers extensive features in the home theater zone, including built-in DCDi by Faroudja video scaling and processing to 1080i; two AM/FM tuners; an Auto EQ function that automatically calibrates the loudspeakers in the main home theater room; and much more.
Audio, video and control signals are fed from the AVR21EN to the AVH21 Multiroom Hub, and distributed from the AVH21 to KP21 Amplified Display Keypads located in the remote zones using a proprietary digital-signal transfer bus that simplifies system wiring and installation and enables sophisticated signal-distribution and control capabilities.
W.H.E.N. offers three operating modes: Entertainment, Paging and Monitoring. In Entertainment mode, it can distribute uncompressed audio and composite video from up to eight audio/video source components simultaneously, from the main home entertainment room to remote locations. The KP21 keypad provides control and selection of remote-zone sources, and monitoring, paging and other functions. The KP21 features a built-in 50-watt-per-channel stereo amplifier to power remote-zone loudspeakers, and each keypad can also be connected to an amplifier or powered subwoofer and an additional local source in its local zone.
In Monitor mode, W.H.E.N. routes signals from video cameras throughout the home to connected video-display devices, and audio from the KP21 keypads’ built-in microphones. The system can also operate electronically triggered door locks. Paging mode enables W.H.E.N. to function as a multiroom paging and whole-house intercom system.
Suggested retail pricing ranges from approximately $4,000 for a base home theater and two remote audio zones system to more than $20,000 for a large-scale system comprising a main home theater and 20 remote room locations. W.H.E.N. will be available in October 2006, and the AVR21EN Audio/Video Receiver/System Controller will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $2,199.
Audioaccess aDock iPod Docking Station: Whole-House iPod Connectivity
The Audioaccess aDock iPod docking station allows a compatible iPod to interface with the W.H.E.N. system. It enables the iPod to play music and video in any room in the system, and provides two-way operation of iPod audio-only functions from a KP21 keypad located in a remote zone, with data from the iPod translated and displayed on the keypad. The iPod is also powered from the aDock.
The aDock can also be used with the Audioaccess PX-700 Multiroom Audio Controller, a multiroom audio component that offers flexible whole-house music-distribution capabilities and exceptional sonic performance. The aDock connects to the PX-700 via either the Audioaccess CATC/2WSI Two-Way Serial Interface or the new CS-IP Audioaccess Control Server, and enables two-way operation of iPod audio functions from a Color Audioaccess Touchscreen Controller (CATC), located in a remote zone, or from a Web-enabled device. The aDock can be used with all compatible iPod models featuring a docking connector.
The Audioaccess aDock is currently available at a suggested retail price of $499.
CS-IP Control Server: Total System Control From Computers and Web-Based Devices
The CS-IP Audioaccess Control Server is a two-way interface module that connects to an Audioaccess PX-700-based whole-house audio system and provides an IP (Internet protocol) address and a user-control display to a PC or other wired or wireless Web-enabled device. This connectivity allows a PX-700-based system to be controlled by a desktop or notebook computer, or other compatible products such as a PDA, Internet tablet or even a cell phone. As noted, the CS-IP also enables integrated iPod multiroom operation when the iPod is connected using the aDock.
The CS-IP connects to an Audioaccess PX-700 and another home device (such as a hard-disk server) using Ethernet-based wired/wireless routers and hardware, and serial-to-Ethernet adapters where required to connect home devices using a serial interface. The software residing in the CS-IP interprets the operational commands and menus from the Audioaccess PX-700, the home devices in the whole-house system and an iPod, and displays a user control interface on the computer, PDA or other Web-enabled product that is used to operate the system.
The open-ended architecture of the CS-IP allows it to accommodate future products and systems as they are introduced. The CS-IP also interfaces with a Color Audioaccess Touchscreen Controller for system control via the CATC, and multiple connected home devices can be operated simultaneously from multiple Web-enabled products and CATC’s located throughout the home.
The CS-IP Audioaccess Control Server will be available in fall 2006 at a suggested retail price to be announced.
The Harman Consumer Group (HCG) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a wide range of high-fidelity loudspeakers, audio and video components, and multimedia systems for use in homes and automobiles, and with computers. The group’s brands include JBL, Infinity, Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, Revel, Audioaccess and Lexicon.
HCG is a division of Harman International Industries, Incorporated. Harman International (www.harman.com) is a leading manufacturer of high-quality, high-fidelity audio products and electronic systems for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. The company’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HAR.”
