Portland, Oregon-based Aperion Audio has launched the Verus Forte line of loudspeakers that is comprised of three models: Verus Forte Tower ($990 per pair); Verus Forte Center ($350); and Verus Forte Bookshelf ($350 per pair).
The flagship of the line, the Verus Forte Tower, is a three-way, ported, curved-cabinet design with a 1” Aperion Axially Stabilized Radiator silk-dome tweeter, a 4.25” woven-Kevlar midrange driver with aluminum phase plug, and two 4.25” woven-Kevlar woofers with butyl rubber surrounds, all housed in an anti-resonant MDF cabinet with internal bracing.
“We worked to produce uncolored, authentic sound in a small form-factor speaker by achieving a flat frequency response, a power response that slowly and evenly rolls off toward the highs and the lowest possible distortion,” says Ken Humphreys, Aperion’s lead speaker engineer. “The Axially Stabilized Radiator tweeter we developed specifically for the Verus family handles a range beneath most tweeters, supporting the midrange driver so the mid-high frequencies are as crystal clear as those at the top of the range.” All Verus Forte models will be available to ship on February 22, 2011. Aperion Audio sells all their loudspeakers factory-direct through their website.
Genesis Advanced Technologies of Seattle, WA, USA, has announced the 2.2 Junior, a line-source loudspeaker that retails for $49,000 per pair. This new speaker system incorporates a single 48” ribbon midrange driver, 12 1” ring-ribbon tweeters mounted on a 1.5”-thick cast-acrylic baffle, and three 1” ring-ribbon tweeters on the backside. It's said to operate as a dipole. The Junior also features two 12” servo-controlled woofers per channel. The woofers each have their own accelerometer and 600W amplifier.
According to Mr. Gary Leonard Koh, the president and CEO of Genesis Advanced Technologies: “Many of our customers and dealers do not have a large enough room for the Genesis 2.2 four-tower line-source system, but want the advantages of a line source. Hence, we integrated a pair of side-firing 12” woofers with the midrange-tweeter wings of the G2.2 and created Junior.” Genesis’s new 2.2 Junior is finished in high-gloss acrylic black and is available now through dealers worldwide.
On February 15, Paramount Home Entertainment will release Waiting for Superman on DVD and Blu-ray. The film was made by Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and examines American public education, concluding that it is a dysfunctional system.
As part of an effort to raise awareness, DonorsChoose.com will give consumers a $25 credit for each Waiting for Superman disc purchase that can be donated to any classroom project listed on DonorsChoose.org. This donation exceeds the expected retail price of the discs. The process appears to be simple: Customers simply visit the website, select a project, and then enter the unique, individual code from their disc to make the donation. DonorsChoose.org was created in 2000, allowing people to help fund a specific project --all of which are submitted by real teachers and carefully vetted by the DonorsChoose.org team -- based on the class location, the subject of the request, the level of poverty in the region, or any other criteria they choose. Once a project is fully funded by donations, DonorsChoose.org purchases the requested classroom materials and ships them directly to the school. The recipients then provide photos of the project and thank you letters to the donors.
In addition to the DonorsChoose.org contribution, Paramount Home Entertainment will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Waiting for Superman DVD and Blu-ray to Get Schooled, an independent non-profit organization founded by Viacom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Indie rock band Exit 451 is releasing their second single, “You Exist,” from their debut album, The Sea Above the Sky, and is hosting an open call to all filmmakers for the creation of the track’s official music video. The Montreal trio, consisting of brothers Alain (guitars, piano, keyboards, arrangements) and Martin Avon (bass, arrangements), and lyricist/vocalist JP Alepins, is asking for initial entrants to write a short synopsis for a music video treatment and email that idea to info@exit451.ca by the contest’s deadline on February 14, 2011.
The video concept can be entered to be completed in various formats, such as: short film, animation, montage, etc. The band will pick three finalists, who will be sent a WAV file of the track and a future deadline for the video to be created, edited and compressed for the web. Each of the finalists’ videos will be posted on the band’s website and social-networking sites exposing the video and its creator to fans and newcomers.
The final winner will receive an Exit 451 mega prize package plus a chance for the film and music world to know “You Exist” as the band’s professional marketing and publicity team will help spotlight the official winner in the band’s early 2011 press campaign.
Exit 451 recorded their album at The Bank Studio 451, the band’s own state-of-the-art recording studio in downtown
The SoundStage! Network, the world's leading group of publications for audio-video coverage worldwide, has completed its CES 2011 coverage on the new SoundStageGlobal.com website. This year marks the Network's largest-ever show report of any event in its history, with 26 individual articles online and over 100 new-product photos with captions.
Highlights of the CES coverage include "Jeff Fritz's Super-Speaker" feature, "The Worst of Las Vegas," "The Best of Las Vegas," "Pre-Show, Blogs & Other Ramblings," and the SoundStage! Network's Product of the Year awards for 2010. Publisher Doug Schneider, editor-in-chief Jeff Fritz, and contributors Roger Kanno and Jason Thorpe provided their insight on all that is high-performance audio as it happened in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, January 6-9.
Please use this direct link to the SoundStage! Network's CES 2011 coverage and enjoy!
The SoundStage! Network has announced its year-end product award winners chosen from among all the products reviewed in 2010 in all publications (SoundStage! Hi-Fi, SoundStage! Xperience, GoodSound!, and Ultra Audio). The awards will be formally presented to company representatives at the 2011 CES show in
The award winners by category are:
Product of the Year
Stereo Loudspeakers: Vandersteen Audio Model Seven
Home-Theater Speaker System: Paradigm Reference Signature S6 v.3 / C3 v.3 / ADP3 v.3 / Sub 1 / PBK
Electronics: Ayre Acoustics MX-R Mono Power Amplifiers and KX-R Preamplifier
Subwoofers: JL Audio Fathom f110
Cables and Accessories: Nordost Norse Frey Interconnects and Speaker Cables
Exceptional Value
Stereo Loudspeakers: PSB Image T6
Home-Theater Speaker System: Polk Audio RTi A1 / CSi A4 / DSW Pro 400
Electronics: Audio Research VSi60 Integrated Amplifier
Subwoofers: Velodyne Optimum-10
Cables and Accessories: Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 Speaker Cables and Micro Copper Oval-In Interconnects
Additional
Pioneering Design Achievement: Vivid Audio B1 Loudspeakers
Aesthetics and Sound: Paradigm Reference MilleniaOne Loudspeakers
Minnesota, USA-based Bel Canto Design has released the new FM1 FM tuner that includes RDS/RDBS functionality for station and program identification. It is priced at $1499 USD and is designed to match other Bel Canto Design components. According to the company’s December 21 press release: "The FM1 includes advanced seek algorithms, adjustable soft mute, stereo blend, auto-calibrated digital tuning, and FM stereo processing. Digital signal processing (DSP) allows precise pilot rejection, selectivity, and unmatched audio quality as the digital IF section operates at 24-bits. Run the digital output into your favorite Bel Canto DAC or choose the FM1’s analog outputs derived from our High Dynamic Range Bel Canto DAC architecture." The FM1 has single-ended and balanced analog outputs and is available now.
Ariama.com has announced that it is joining forces with a number of leading names in classical-music performance and radio to improve the ways classical listeners in the US can discover and purchase music on the Web. Carnegie Hall, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, WQXR, and WFMT will join current site partners Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine.
The partners will curate and promote special programming and features on Ariama.com. Through a series of strategic partnerships with Ariama, they will each have their own dedicated areas within Ariama.com to spotlight artists, recommend performances, and highlight music from on-air programming. In addition, Ariama will serve as a sponsor of programs and features with each partner.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with Carnegie Hall, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, WQXR and WFMT to develop unique editorial features and recommendations for Ariama users built around the very best in classical music performance and programming," said Leslie Cohen, Senior Vice President, New Products and Services, Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment. "Ariama’s relationships with these venerable institutions further demonstrate its leadership in offering powerful discovery tools designed to meet the specific needs of classical music consumers."