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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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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- September 14
Well, I’ve just returned from 4 days in Atlanta at the CEDIA trade show. We arrived there Wednesday just in time for our member meeting of the Home Theater Specialists of America. After an afternoon of meetings we adjourned to our annual HTSA cocktail party where it was great to see all of my old and new friends in the a/v industry. Thursday morning we hit the floor early to see and hear all of the new toys that will be coming out over the next year or so.
The coolest thing there, and our entire team agreed on this, was the Panasonic 3D demo. We’ve been looking at various 3D innovations over the past several years, but none have ever really cut it. There were even a few other vendors at this year’s CEDIA showing off their 3D concepts, that we all felt were once again lacking, and gave all of us a headache after about 5 minutes. Early next year, a standard will be adopted for 3D video, and obviously all of the various electronics companies are vying for their own technology.
Panasonic had driven a big 18 wheeler onto the trade floor with expanding sides. After waiting in line for about 30 minutes, we were lead into a room with a Panasonic 100” plasma mounted on the wall with these funky looking large IR emitters hanging on both sides of it. We were given some special glasses the IR emitters talk to which synchs them to the 3D effects.
All of the 3D demos I have seen in the past had things that appeared to jump out in your face, but the rest of the image has been very blurry. Panasonic is taking a different tact. While there is some effect of things coming out into the room, it’s much more like you are inside the picture. Instead of the shark jumping out in your face, it feels like you are in the water. It’s really hard to explain until you see it, but it was the most amazing thing I have seen in a long while. They used a demo clip of the opening Olympic ceremony in Beijing, which was just spectacular. There was a line of drummers and the sense of depth was like nothing I have ever seen on a video display, much closer to real life depth perception.
If all of the other 3D technologies we saw make up the competition, I sure hope the Panasonic system becomes the standard, as it’s amazing!
Another very impressive new piece of technology was the new Runco LED front projector. Yes, LED! Imagine 70% less power consumption, far better than Energy Star standards. Imagine never having the change the projector lamp! Imagine not having to be concerned with the fact that all projector lamps loose some light output as they age. But that’s not the best part. The picture was stunning! There is one caveat, and it’s a pretty big one, but not much of a challenge for a dedicated home theater, but the room must be completely dark. However, once you do this, this projector has the ability to put colors out like you have never seen. Joel Silver with Image Science Foundation was in the audience for our demo. He stood up and told us Runco had sent him one for testing and he was not able to find an instrument that could begin to measure the black level this projector is capable of! Runco has developed a color technology that lets them adjust the color to really saturate the richness of the color without sacrificing flesh tones, which has always been an issue in the past. Is this perfect video, probably not, it’s a little richer and deeper than real life, but is it sexy and alluring, dad gum Skippy! Randy and I both walked out wanting to put one in our houses! This will be the first LED projector to hit the market, hopefully in November; pricing will be an incredible deal at $15k. I can’t wait to get this in my house!
A short trip down the floor brought us to the B&W booth where a ton of new products were on display. The most exciting thing to us was the new series of B&W in wall and in ceiling speakers. They have a very cool new system for making the edge of an in ceiling speakers almost disappear, and have also incorporated their latest CT series technology into both in ceiling and in wall models. The CT theater speakers, launched a few months ago have just been amazing in performance. Now we will have both in wall and in ceiling versions! B&W also showed a new no holds barred subwoofer. It uses 2 12” drivers in an extremely heavy box that has the electronics mounted in a very slick enclosure on the bottom of the sub. All kinds of eq adjustments are available. This one could be really good. Just across the way, Rotel was showing off several new products. The coolest one was a new tuner that brings together all of the benefits of internet radio, Pandora, along with AM/FM and XM. This one looks really interesting and will be fun to play with when it arrives.
Cinema Widescreen has definitely taken hold. I don’t think we saw a single theater display that was not using the new widescreen technology. We’ve got examples of this in Audio Advice for you to come in and check out. Two very impressive new projectors, at opposite ends of the price spectrum were from Sony and Digital Projection. Sony unveiled a new 3 chip model SXRD called the VPLW85. It will ship to us in November, and at its price of $7995 will be an unbelievable value. DPI showed off a prototype of a new 3 Chip DLP. This one has the ability for very high light output and had just a killer picture. It will hit a new lower price level for DPI at $30k.
Speakercraft was pitching a new home entertainment product called NIRV. If it can deliver on what it promises, it will be revolutionary. NIRV promises to deliver audio, video (1080p HD) and control all over a single CAT5e or CAT6 cable! The idea is you connect up all of your components that can reside anywhere in the house. They all work on the dedicated and separate NIRV network. NIRV asks who you are when you start to use the system and has the ability to follow you around the house and remember how you use the system. The concept is very cool, but product is probably at least a year away, so we will remain skeptical until we actually see it, but I gotta tell ya, the idea is awesome!
Crestron also showed off a new entry level system called Prodigy. It too looks very interesting for the money and brings Crestron quality to new, lower price level.
On the lighting control front, Lutron showed off a new version of their very popular Radio Ra, called, Radio Ra2. Lutron has really thought this out and it will bring the price of lighting control down to allow more people to experience its fun, safety and energy saving features. This one will probably make it into my own house!
All of the big video vendors showed off their new TV’s, but our take is they are all getting so good, it just makes sense to buy a decent one and take the money you save and spend it on better audio!
And wrapping things up was a beautiful new speaker from JBL called the K2 9900. These will be out later this year, and up the ante on the popular K2 9800. The sound was just great, but at $44,000 for the pair, they probably will not wind up in too many living rooms. However, they are just beautiful with incredibly dynamic sound.
We’ll be getting in some of these new products over the next few months and invite you to come in and check them out!
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