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Music System Sales Sagging, Sonos Un-Leashes Lawyers to Raise Revenues

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BREAKING NEWS

Sonos system photo

Strata-gee reported just yesterday that Sonos, Inc. has sued Lenbrook Industries Ltd. & Lenbrook America – the maker & marketer of Bluesound – for patent infringement. Undoubtedly emboldened by their near-complete victory over Denon’s HEOS brand a little over a year ago, Sonos appears to have targeted Lenbrook to be next in line.

However, Strata-gee has learned that Lenbrook is not the only company targeted for such potential actions by Sonos. There are more – perhaps many more – in our industry lined up for this “hit” parade.

See what Strata-gee learned about Sono’s legal strategy…

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Lenbrook Previews NAD M10 Hi-Res Streamer to NY Press

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Lenbrook's Greg Stidsen presenting the NAD M10 BluOS Streaming Amplifier

On Tuesday, Lenbrook invited members of the media to an “intimate album listening party” in Manhattan’s trendy Soho district. Despite the fact that the weather was less than cooperative – with warm, extremely humid temps, and at times torrential rainfall – there was an bar and hors d’oeuvres, which is always a strong draw. Maybe a strong enough draw to entice an editor from New Jersey into Manhattan in the traffic and the rain!

But this listening party turned out to be a bit of a preview opportunity for an interesting and relatively new product – a streaming amplifier. And not just any streaming amplifier, mind you – but a streaming amplifier being launched in the NAD Master series. That got my attention…

See NAD’s interesting new M10 Masters Streaming Amplifier…

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CE Week: Kangaroo, Simple & Affordable Home Security

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Bryn Terrell with Kangaroo at CE Week
Bryn Terrell of Kangaroo

At CE Week in Manhattan last week, I ran across Kangaroo, a simple home security system that just might disrupt the professional security world. Systems are simple, hubless, expandable, and incredibly affordable…what’s not to like?

See the Kangaroo home security solution…

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Angling at Auction for a Deal on Thiel? Heed This Warning

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Thiel speaker at a show

Last week’s Strata-gee story on the final liquidation of what remains of Thiel not only drew a huge number of readers, it also sent a big chunk of them on to the auctioneer’s website (McLemore Auctions). Many of those readers who journeyed to the auction were in search of a great deal on a good line of Thiel speakers. But then, in an unexpected twist, a source reached out to Strata-gee to offer a warning to those in search of a great deal on Thiel.

Know this before bidding in the Thiel auction…

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Savant Says Audio Can Be Smarter Too With SmartAmp

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Savant logo

Popular home automation systems provider Savant Systems has been extending and expanding their product line-up with ever newer, ever smarter solutions for years. And now Savant says audio too can be smarter thanks to its new SmartAmp smart audio amplifier, being launched now in conjunction with their participation in the Pacific Coast Builder Conference.

See Savant’s new SmartAmp audio amplifier

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Swan Song for Thiel: Total Liquidation Has Begun

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Thiel TM3 in the auction

The long sad saga of Thiel is just about over for good. Having entered bankruptcy in October 2018, an auction house has finally been selected and started the process of liquidating all that remains of the former Nashville, Tenn-based Thiel…including Thiel Loudspeakers, Aurora by Thiel wireless music systems, and detritus from the Aurora Studio live streaming music studio.

Hot deal – cold brand: The Thiel liquidation…

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Control4 Smart Home OS 3 – Making Complicated Installations as Simple as a Smartphone

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Control4 Smart Home OS 3

Control4 announced today an all-new and improved operating system for Control4 installations that they call Smart Home OS 3. OS 3 is designed to be an easy unifier of the many devices in consumers’ installations, offer a robust infrastructure, give consumers choice & simplicity, maintain privacy, and – critical for integrators – enables professional support. It is their most tested and intuitive user experience that is as simple to use as a smartphone.

See more on the experience upgrade that Control4’s OS 3 offers users…

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The Techy Side of AudioControl You Probably Don’t Even Know

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AudioControl Logo

Many years ago, I worked at a audio specialty retailer in East Lansing, Michigan. As audio specialists, we not only sold and serviced some of the finest audio brands around, but we also sold test gear for users and pros to use to test and fine tune their systems. And one of the brands we sold that offered high quality testing products was AudioControl, who along with their line of graphic equalizers also offered things like spectrum analyzers with calibrated microphones.

They still sell testing gear and now will be showing their latest iOS-based digital test measurement solutions at InfoComm 2019.

Learn more about AudioControl’s test gear…

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Control4 Issues Advisory on ‘Works With Nest’ Shutdown

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Control4 logo, new

Control4 has issued an advisory this week to reassure integrators and their clients that the company will support the ‘Works With Google Assistant’ program and is working on new Nest drivers consistent with Google’s Certification standards to avoid issues related to the recently announced shutting down of the ‘Works With Nest’ program.

See how Control4 is springing into action…

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James Loudspeaker Launches New Mavericks Division

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James Loudspeaker logo

Innovative architectural loudspeaker designer/manufacturer James Loudspeaker announced this week that it will split off its Mavericks theater products into their own division, the Mavericks Architectural Cinema (MAC) division. This new division will offer the company’s dramatic Mavericks theater speakers for both the high-end residential and commercial cinema installation markets.

See more on James’ new Mavericks division…

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