Parasound Debuts the First Four-Zone DAC and Crossover at CEDIA 2016

Parasound has introduced the ZoneMaster 4 DAX, the first four-zone DAC with crossovers for the custom installation industry. The 4 DAX was designed in response to custom installers who create multi-zone systems based around the Sonos Connect, Heos Link, BlueSound Node or Google Chromecast Audio, and are looking to upgrade their clients’ digital sound quality, with unique connectivity for subwoofers, stereo or mono speakers, and system control options.

Speed up your crossover prototyping and preserve your crossover components with this true plug-and-play approach. As the author, Ramkumar Ramaswamy explains, today’s computer simulation software allows you to design passive crossovers extremely accurately. “Is there a way to effortlessly and reliably plug and play with a set of (fixed) capacitors across crossover prototypes without the fear of ending up with broken leads? This question drove me to design this passive crossover prototyping system”, he explains. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2007.

One of the most important speaker building projects published by audioXpress, THOR was designed by Joseph (Joe) D'Appolito, who is world-renowned for his pioneering work on MTM-based (mid-tweeter-mid) loudspeaker configurations. The original THOR transmission-line design was published in May 2002. For this online publication, audioXpress kept the original article unchanged, which has since been updated with availability of the original Madisound/SEAS kit and the publication of a complete kit project on the SEAS website. Read the complete article here.

Highly regarded maker of innovative audio products and solutions for the professional audio and DJ markets, Rane Corporation is to join inMusic’s lineup of companies. According to the announcement released by Jack O’Donnell’s group of companies, Rane co-founders Linda Arink and Dennis Bohn have agreed to sell Rane Corporation to inMusic LLC. inMusic Brands announced that the transaction is set to be completed this summer. After the sale, Ms. Arink and Mr. Bohn plan to step down and retire.

In 2013, Eminence Speaker introduced the D-fend SA300, a fully programmable stand-alone unit designed to protect passive loudspeakers from excessive power conditions. With patent-pending technology, D-fend enables maximum driver performance while ensuring damage-free operation. D-fend eliminates worries about blown speakers, HF drivers, or crossovers; or even worse, fire caused by excessive heat. This article was published in Voice Coil, October 2013.

Sonica, from OPPO Digital is an elegant and powerful Wi-Fi speaker designed with state of the art technology. It streams music from any smartphone, tablet and online music services via Wi-Fi, Airplay or Bluetooth; plays files of many formats from USB drives or network computers up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, it features DIRAC room optimization, supports multi-room modes and can even be paired as stereo pair. And it's now shipping.

First unveiled in 2015 when Bowers & Wilkins introduced its new 800 Series Diamond, the flagship 800 D3 model was promised for Q2 2016. The “best loudspeaker Bowers & Wilkins has ever produced”, the 800 D3 combines all the ground-breaking technologies developed for the new series and is the ultimate conclusion of the concept originally introduced in 1979.

This Test Bench characterizes the Wavecor TW030WA13/14 neodymium tweeters. The A13 is the 4-Ω version, while the A14 is the 8-Ω version and both offer a 30-mm wide surround precision-coated cloth diaphragm optimized for high-frequency cutoff above 20 kHz. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2015

Adam Hall Group promises to surprise visitors to the 2016 edition of the Prolight+Sound and Musikmesse shows in Frankfurt, introducing logical expansions of well-known series and completely new products in all its brands. The German group has recently announced its first Dante networked solution, and introduced a well-designed series of portable sound reinforcement speakers which have already received numerous awards.

On its first Test Bench of a product designed and manufactured by PRV Audio Brazil, Vance Dickason characterized the 6MR500-NDY-4, a new 6.5” from the brand’s Midrange Series for professional audio applications. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2015.