Le Pavé Parisien: A Unique Speaker Made of Concrete Presented at CES 2019

Standing for a circular economy and against planned obsolescence Le Pavé Parisien presents the only high-end wireless speaker entirely cast in concrete. This is how French company Le Pavé Parisien, a startup founded in 2016, introduces its first product, which can already be ordered online and will be shown at CES 2019 for the first time. Cast in concrete and 100% "Made in France," Le Pavé Parisien hopes to appeal to a market wishing to combine superior audio quality in a portable design that is entirely repairable and recyclable.

Among the many new speaker designs that deserve a close look at CES 2019 (January 8-11) there is one that is the first product ever from a startup company, 0W1 Audio, and was already awarded a CES 2019 Innovation Awards nomination on the Wireless Devices, Accessories and Services category. The 0W1 Smart HiFi Audio Speaker is described as "the first truly High-End Connected Portable Audio system," and is said to offer "much more than just another wireless speaker," focusing on the emotional side of the hi-fidelity experience.

Amadeus has begun shipping its latest offering for the Hi-Fi community, passive versions of their award-winning Philharmonia speakers co-designed by world-renowned architect Jean Nouvel. Following the success of the original self-powered and digitally processed speakers created specifically for the Philharmonie de Paris recording and mastering studios, Amadeus received enquires for a passive and more affordable version, directly targeting listening rooms for audio enthusiasts, which was no small challenge.

Once again, audioXpress focuses on loudspeaker building, design, and testing in its September edition. We have three great speaker DIY projects that are certain to inspire our readers, Geoff Hill explains how speaker measurements are evolving under the latest Audio Engineering Society (AES) efforts, and Richard Honeycutt writes about modulation distortion in loudspeakers. We interviewed Crispin Herrod-Taylor, the designer of the amazing SoundBuckets portable speakers, we explain all you need to know about the latest HDMI Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) specification, and Ward Maas tells the story of Infineon's new energy-efficient multi-level amplifiers.

A connected smoke alarm that's also a speaker, strategically placed in the ceiling to cover any room with quality sound. The idea might sound bizarre at first, but indeed it reflects the way manufacturers are reimagining different categories in the era of "smart devices." Following a successful presentation at CES 2018, First Alert launched its Onelink Safe & Sound Connected Smoke Alarm with Amazon Alexa, allowing users to ask questions or and even listen to music.

Rembrandt Laboratories is promoting its patent-pending speaker design Model V with the line "New Audio Technology With Sound So Beautiful, It Moves Listeners to Tears of Joy," claiming a level of realism that feels like the artist is in the room. Effectively, the outside of the Model V, in stained poplar tone wood, looks like one those early tube radios, but there's nothing vintage inside this active speaker, using a distributed mode planar driver with proprietary multiple internal tuned resonate chambers and bass reflex port.

Celestion announced the availability of Celestion driver-specific cabinet designs for DIY builders, including crossover schematic and complete woodworking plans. With these designs, now DIYers can build their own full-range, high-quality, Celestion-driven P.A. cabinets by following the company’s CKT-TF1525e and CKT-TF1225 speaker designs, as well as the double-duty CKT-TF1020, which can serve as both a satellite speaker and a floor-wedge monitor.

In order to generate a sound, a driver must vibrate. But what happens when one or more drivers are placed on the same baffle? In the exact moment that the cone begins to move, it starts to transmit — through the frame and the screws — vibrations to the cabinet and to the other drivers that are fixed on it. This article discusses multiples approaches to handle the problem, working on material, dimension, thickness, density, rigidity, and damping of the panels to be used. This article was published in audioXpress, February 2008.

At the High End 2018 show in Munich, I learned that there was this "very exciting and promising" new driver being introduced at the show. When we decided to visit the "Newcomers" exhibits, where new companies pitch their new ideas, inventions and, sometimes, actual products, we met British manufacturer Arya Audio Labs and we were pleased to find a longtime friend of audioXpress and Voice Coil, Arthur Marker, now in charge of this new company introducing AirBlade, a revolutionary loudspeaker driver!

Milan will host the 144th International AES Convention from May 23-26, and Italian manufacturer of automotive and professional loudspeakers, Faital, will present a new technical report entitled: “FEM thermal model of a compression driver: comparison with experimental results.” The presentation details Faital's successful experiments in developing a predictive model using Finite Element Analysis to improve the design of magnet assemblies in a loudspeaker.