Updated Event Presentation Information Below!
Fri., Feb. 26, 6 pm to 9 pm and Sat., Feb. 27, 12 Noon to 6 pm
Music and Home Entertainment Presentation Information
Location: The new Audio Advice showplace
Address: 11409 Carolina Place Parkway, Pineville, NC (former Tweeter building near Carolina Place Mall)
Please RSVP if you plan to attend Friday evening by e-mail to: event@audioadvice.com (or by phone to (704) 821-4510
Friday presentations begin at 6 PM with the last at 8:30 PM. Saturday presentations are in a less structured open house format. Wine and food from Born to Cook will be available Friday evening for you to enjoy between sessions.
Presentations will be every half-hour (unless noted) as shown below. (All presenters may not be present both days, presenters are subject to change.)
Outside Room James Loudspeaker Keith Parke
Station A Peachtree Audio and Era Speakers Jim Spainhour and David Solomon
Station B How Audiophile Recordings Are Made Rick Dior/Acoustic Barn (Friday evening only. Hourly at 6, 7, and 8 PM)
Station C Digital Projection Keith Parke Stewart Filmscreen Steve Merritt Bowers and Wilkins B&W Jim Scatena and Doug Henderson
Station D Magnepan Wendall Diller Sumiko Bill Peugh
Station E Sim2 Chris Hobbs Integra Daryl Jenkins Universal Remote Bobbie Bradley
Station F Control4 Scott Salzman Salamander Steve Merritt
Station G Bowers and Wilkins B&W Jim Scatena and Doug Henderson JL Audio Randy Wagner
Station H Audio Research Dave Gordon Wilson Audio Jerron Marchant Martin Logan Russell Woolfolk Transparent Cable Brad O’Toole
Station I Niles Dave Robinette
Station J Crestron Joe Laurin Lutron Jeff Zemanek, Maria DeVirgilis, Rodgers Hill, Kevin Grissler, Jason Feus
Room K Kaleidescape Rick Lozano Screen Innovations TBD
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Two days of presentations of the best hi-fi audio, home theater, and home control components and technology. Fri. Feb. 26, 6 pm to 9 pm and Sat. Feb. 27, 12 noon to 6 pm. (See details for each day below.)
The new Charlotte Audio Advice showplace
Location: The new Audio Advice showplace
Address: 11409 Carolina Place Parkway, Pineville, NC (the former Tweeter building, near Carolina Place Mall)
Friday, Feb. 26th from 6 pm to 9 pm
A special evening celebrating the pleasures of great music reproduction
The enjoyment of music will be Friday evening’s focus, with representatives from some of the finest high performance audio components and loudspeakers in the world on hand. We will offer presentations of their latest and best offerings every half hour. Born to Cook will provide wine and food for you to enjoy during this special evening.
Please RSVP for Friday evening by e-mail to event@audioadvice.com (or by phone to (704) 821-4510)
Saturday, Feb. 27th, 12 noon to 6 pm
An open house featuring the latest home entertainment technology
The world of home technology is on view Saturday in an open house setting with even more representatives on hand, showing you today’s newest and very best entertainment and automation possibilities for the whole family to enjoy!
Meet audio/video and home technology professionals from :
Audio Research
Bowers and Wilkins B&W
Classé
Control4
Crestron
Digital Projection
Era/Decco
Integra
James Loudspeaker
JL Audio
Kaleidescape
Lutron
Magnepan
Martin Logan
Niles
Panamax
Salamander
Sim2
SpeakerCraft
Stewart Filmscreen
Transparent Cable
Universal Remote
Wilson Audio
(Attendees subject to change)
Register to Win Grand Opening Prize Drawing! (do not need to be present to win)
We look forward to seeing you on Feb. 26th and 27th!
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I’ll never forget an experience at CEDIA many years ago. I was in the B&W booth and they showed me a prototype of this new home theater speaker they were developing called the CT8 series. It was physically huge, required 3 amplifiers per speaker, had tremendous dynamic ability, and had the great sound we have learned to love from B&W. The system received wonderful press, but the only drawback was its price, about 200K for the complete package.
Well in typical B&W fashion, a few years passed and a new series was introduced, called the CT7 series. For over 40 years B&W has taken the approach of doing a “no holds barred” project, then taking what they learn and making a line that many more people can afford. The first models in the CT 7 series were speakers designed to mount on the screen wall, being only 10.5” deep for all speakers. We got in the first model they shipped, the 7.5 and set it up in one of our theater rooms. The 7.5’s are only $600 each. I remember to this day the first time I played it. I put in a very old Sheffield Labs instrumental CD and my jaw hit the floor. This system made music so dynamic, yet so natural sounding, I could not believe it!
A few weeks later the CT7.3 started to ship (the largest model in this series). We installed a system in a customer’s home and I went out to calibrate the theater. The new 7.3 was even more of a shocker than the smaller models. This system sounded far better than many more expensive systems we had done. It became really clear that B&W had a huge success on their hands.
Part of what makes the CT system so appealing is that all of the speakers are 10.5” deep, including the subs. And speaking of the subs: to save space, the sub amp is a separate component. This gives you the advantage of having all of the adjustments at your fingertips rather than at the back of the sub. To say these subs are great is a big understatement. They are so fast, yet go so deep, it’s purely incredible. I liked them so much I put two of them in my own theater. (And I think I am going to add two more for even more bass impact!). They come in 10”, 12” and 15” models.
The only thing lacking in this great CT line up was something to address the in wall and in ceiling needs of many people. Well, lo and behold, at the last CEDIA show, B&W presented the new in ceiling and in wall versions of every single model! They have developed a unique, patented way to get these into a wall and have great performance. They have a folding back box to fit into the wall! (A back box is a real must have if you want to have consistent performance from your speakers.) The new CT in wall and in ceiling speakers are shipping now. We will feature a system with these in our new Charlotte location.
I cannot express in words how much fun it is to own a great home theater system. It’s just a totally different experience than most people get when watching a movie. You can understand the ultra important dialog track with ease. As a matter of fact, on a great system you can even hear subtle nuances of emotion in the performers voices that transport you further into the movie. A properly calibrated system with good subwoofers gives you bass impact that sweeps you away. And of course, the front, surround and rear speakers envelop you with great sound. One final great fact is the efficiency of these new speakers. This has two advantages: the first being they are dynamic as all get out. The second is, you do not need a monster stack of amps to really get them going (of course that can make them even better, but is not necessary). The new CT series from B&W brings a truly immersive home theater experience to a much wider audience with enormous value for its price.
We invite you to our Raleigh or Charlotte showrooms to experience the difference. In each store we have a basic system set up using the entry level 7.5 speakers and a bigger one with the 7.3 series. I am 100% positive you will be 110% impressed with how much great sound you can get for the money!
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Our Charlotte store is open! I thought it would be fun to give you all a brief history of how it all came about and let you know about all of the cool things we plan to have set up.
Charlotte's new Audio Advice
Those of you familiar with the greater Charlotte area probably know this location well, it’s the old Tweeter building in front of Carolina Place Mall.
Planning started in the fall of last year, when Innovative Systems of Charlotte let us know they were closing up shop and wanted to know if we were interested in hiring some of their people. We had just purchased the Raleigh branch of Innovative in the summer so it was a natural fit. We hired 5 people and began to look for a location to set up shop in Charlotte.
Scott and I burned up highway I-85 over the next several months checking out space all over greater Charlotte. We were looking for a spot where we could replicate our Raleigh store. After much searching and thousands of miles back and forth, we found a spot in Sept of this year.
Entering our Charlotte showroom
To say a lot of midnight oil has been burned coming up with design ideas would be the understatement of the century! We went through several renditions and finally settled on what we thought would be the best one for showing off the future of home entertainment. I must say, I’ve had a blast designing the interior space! I also should thank all the smart people who have worked to get things up and running, and our friend, Michelle Palmer Murphy, who helped me pick out the colors and finishes. I thought it would be impossible to top the 32 paint colors we have in our Raleigh store, and it was, but we came very close with 28!
So, what will we feature? We will have two great home theaters, one showcasing the latest in 2:35 Cinema with components from Classe, B&W, Rotel, Digital Projection, and Stewart filmscreen. It will certainly be the best theater on display within hundreds of miles (including our best one here!). Right down from this is a theater featuring Sim2, B&W, Integra, and Stewart. We don’t think you’ll find a better value theater anywhere! Both theater rooms have full acoustic treatment (which by the way is really important).
One of the listening rooms
In good ole home audio, we’ve got two rooms to show off the best audio gear anywhere around. We’ll have Classe, Rotel, McIntosh, Audio Research, VPI, Sumiko, B&W, Magenpan, Vandersteen, Wilson, Martin Logan, and Transparent. We’ll also be featuring the latest and hottest category in music, the USB DAC.
Outside the Signature Home (inside the store!)
And, my favorite part, is our Signature Home. This is an actual house inside our new store where we will be showcasing what we call our Signature home automation system. We’ve got a family room, kitchen/breakfast area, and a game room. The family room and kitchen will allow you to easily see the difference in having good lighting design and lighting control, which is quite astounding when you experience it. In our game room, we’ll feature a big projection screen with two smaller screens for the ultimate in picture in picture. All of the Panther and Nascar fans of the surrounding area should really appreciate this as it’s super cool!
Signature Home breakfast nook looking into living area
Our outdoor speaker area will amaze you with its variety of choices in landscape speakers actually displayed in a landscaped environment.
Jim Williamson will be general manager of our new Charlotte store. He has many years of experience in this business. We’ve put together a team of really great people from the Charlotte area. A lot of you from Charlotte may recognize some of them. In installation, programming and service we have Ryan Meacham, Dusty Kovar, Craig Needleman, Greg Soli, and Jason Germain. In sales we will have Todd Smith, John Price, Dustin Clemens, Jim Robinson, and Robert Schindler. Our sales team alone has over 100 years of combined experience in the a/v industry.
We invite everyone out to see our new location. It will be a work in progress for the next few months as many of the big displays that will showcase technology are still being made. But we guarantee you will have a fun time and get a really good idea of all the great new services we are bringing to the Charlotte market.
We hope to see you there soon. Our hours will be 10am -8pm Tuesday – Saturday, closed on Sunday and Monday.
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Outstanding New Products from Great Companies
1) B&W
The Custom Theater CT series is the hot thing at Audio Advice, but we can’t overlook the new CM9 floor standing speaker. This very slim tower delivers amazing performance at $3000 a pair. We’ve received more positive customer comments on this speaker than almost anything in the last ten years. It’s an outstanding design, and is set up with Rotel components in our Raleigh B&W Group room and our Charlotte store for you to listen to.
Visit us to hear the new floorstanding CM-9 from B&W
2) Ayre
The QB-9 USB DAC is the darling of the review press right now. If you use your computer to store your audio files, the QB-9 is a great way to extract them for maximum performance. It seems like every person who borrows this digital to analog converter overnight winds up keeping it. At $2500 it’s a fantastic value in USB DACs!
Digital music comes alive with the Ayre QB-9 DAC
3) Wilson Audio
What happens when you take an already great product and make it better and less expensive? The new Wilson Audio Sasha W/P speaker shows you. Right after Brandon set these up, I gave them a listen and my jaw hit the floor. Wilson has done it again with the Sasha. The Sasha incorporates many concepts from the MAXX 3, yet is slightly less expensive than the Watt/Puppy 8 it replaces. Come in with your favorite CDs or digital music and we’ll give your ears a listening thrill!
Wilson's amazing new Sasha W/P loudspeakers
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Reworking Raleigh Theater Two (Earsay Fall 2009) by Leon Shaw
The new Rotel RSP-1570 Processor and RMB-1575 Power Amplifier
Over the summer, we set up Raleigh showroom Theater Two to demonstrate a killer level of performance. The room highlights the latest products from some of our favorite vendors. The speaker system features the new B&W Custom Theater CT 7 series. The front three channels are top of the line model CT 7.3 LCRS, at $1500 each. Two CT12 subwoofers complete the front speaker array. For side speakers, we have the B&W DS6 dipole surround speakers. From Rotel’s new 15 Series, the system processor is the RSP-1570, priced at $2199, with power from their RMB-1575 five-channel power amplifier. (I played with the RSP-1570 at home, and it’s awesome for the money!) The source component is Pioneer Elite’s latest reference Blu-ray player, the incredible BDP-09, with the best Blu-ray picture we have seen. A new SIM2 Domino D80i projector, coupled with a Schneider anamorphic lens provides the picture on a Stewart Firehawk filmscreen with 2:35 aspect ratio. Everything is controlled with the MX-980, our favorite remote control from Universal. The saying “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” is true for this theater. It completely rocks! The B&W CT speakers are ultra-efficient, so you hear all the dynamic contrasts of the latest movie soundtracks. If you’re considering an upgrade to any part of your own theater, there is probably something here for you. If you are considering a high performance theater investment, we can think of no better combination that what we have in Theater Two. You have to visit us and experience it!
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IN ORDER TO HOST AN OFFSITE EVENT PRESENTATION, THE AUDIO ADVICE RALEIGH SHOWROOM WILL CLOSE AT 4 PM ON THURSDAY, NOV. 12th.
We will reopen for our normal showroom hours on Friday, Nov. 13th at 10:00 am.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
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Scott Newnam, Audio Advice President and CEO, will host a special evening at his beautiful Prestonwood home in Morrisville on Thursday, Nov. 12th from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. We call this evening Home for the Holidays, and we invite you and a guest to join us. Scott uses his home to showcase our latest home entertainment and control innovations, usuallyby appointment only. We’re very excited about some of the new products and system improvementsthat are now available, and we want you to have the chance to experience them in a home setting where all the benefits can be fully appreciated.
Wine, light food and refreshments will be served, and everything will be shown in a relaxed, low-key atmosphere. We’ll show you the latest upgrades we’ve made to our Signature Series Control System, the most advanced, reliable, and easy to use Crestron home control system now available.
Experts from Ayre Acoustics, B&W, Classé, James Loudspeakers, McIntosh Labs, Peachtree Audio, Transparent Cable, and Wilson Audio will also be at Scott’s. They’ll talk with you about the new things you’re seeing and hearing throughout the home, and answer your questions.
Because of the evening’s unique home setting, the number of people we can host for the evening is limited, so we ask that you RSVP if you plan to attend as soon as you can, so we can reserve your place. Please RSVP by e-mail to event@audioadvice.com or by phone to (919) 881-2005. After we receive your RSVP, we will send you directions to Scott’s home. (As this is an evening at a private residence, we will not be posting directions here on our website. RSVPs by phone should leave either an e-mail address or a mailing address in order to receive directions.)
This evening will be unlike anything Audio Advice has done before, and should be a lot of fun.
We hope you can make plans to be with us at Scott’s home for what promises to be a memorable evening. We look forward to seeing you there.
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Click the link below to access the latest edition of HD Living Magazine.
http://hdliving.htsa.com/go/AudioAdvice/Fall2009
The sitting room from the Fall issue's featured installation
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Visit The Rosemont, the Bost Custom Homes home at 40 Perfect Moment Drive in Durham, in this year’s Raleigh/Wake County Parade of Homes to see the Audio Advice custom theater installation.
FEATURES
- Green Built Energy STAR
- His & hers garage with separate office entry
- Unique pool with entry overlooking gardens
- 3-stop view thru elevator
- 3rd floor club level/Audio Advice custom theatre
- 1st floor guest suite/cabana bath
- Sustainable and permanent concrete tile roof
- Expansive open kitchen, living area
- Private master covered veranda
- Natural water treatment gardens & FreeRain
Directions from Raleigh: Take I-540 West until you reach exit 66B for N Carolina 55 W toward Durham. Take exit 66B, turn right at N Carolina 55W. Take the first left onto Green Level to Durham Rd/State Road 1625. Slight left to stay on Green level to Durham Rd/State Road 1625. Slight right at Okelly Chapel Rd/State Road 1628. Continue to follow Okelly Chapel Rd. Turn right at Royal Sunset Drive. Take the 1st left onto Perfect Moment Drive. Home is at 40 Perfect Moment Drive.
Reflections 2009 is this year’s Parade of Homes entry from Thomas Gipson Homes, and features an Audio Advice home theater installation. It is located at 6072 Delshire Court in Raleigh.
FEATURES
- 2 Master Suites
- 2-story Family Room
- Home theater
- Screened porch with Fireplace
- Stone and Cedar Shake Exterior
- Triangle Builders Guild Member
Directions: From the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Creedmoor Road (at Crabtree Valley Mall), go north on Creedmoor approximately 7 miles. Turn right on Norwood Road. Take a left on Charleycote from Norwood, turn right on Stone Kirk from Charleycote, and right on Delshire Court from Stone Kirk. Home address is 6072 Delshire Court.
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