Crestron Electronics announced today that it is launching two new audio products, both part of its successful Crestron HOME residential line-up. The addition of these new models – an in-wall subwoofer developed in conjunction with partner Origin Acoustics, and a new DM NAX 4-zone streaming pre-amp – demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to further expanding their residential business.
Learn more about these all-new Crestron audio products
Long the king of the commercial integration space, I’ve been impressed with the vigor the company continues to demonstrate in attacking the residential space. Especially in the case of the launch of their Crestron Home line – a smart, simple but capable residential solution that meets the needs of a vast number of household use cases.
I’ll admit I was a bit of a skeptic initially. After Crestron pulled out of the 2016 CEDIA Expo, it seemed as though they had turned their back on the residential space. But then the company re-committed to residential, hired a former integrator to run the residential division, and began engineering (and regularly updating) hardware and software solutions specifically for the space.
Now, I’m a believer.
The company has continued to expand, extend, and update its Crestron Home line. And this new announcement brings some helpful new solutions to the HOME party.
Ultimate Subwoofer
One year ago, the company announced a new partnership with Origin Acoustics for a new audio speaker line-up. This is also part of a new strategy by Crestron – partnerships. In the old days, the company was pretty much a walled garden, only their products worked with their systems. Now, just like their partnership with Lutron, the company is adopting a much more open system posture, working with segment specialists like Origin rather than just slapping their logo on off-the-shelf products from China like many other suppliers do.
The latest product of this partnership is the Crestron Ultimate Subwoofer made by Origin Acoustics. An in-wall subwoofer that is designed to complement Crestron’s Ultimate and Reference lines, this subwoofer adds a much deeper, richer low-frequency experience than can be had by in-ceiling or in-wall full-range speakers alone.
Key Specs:
- Drivers: Dual 8″ aluminum woofers – one powered, one a passive radiator
- Impedance: 8Ω nominal
- Frequency Response: 35Hz – 175Hz
- Power Handling: 200w (program), 400w (peak)
- Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1watt/1meter
- Dimensions (without grill): 28.93″ (h) x 13.22″ (w) x 3.74″ (d)
- Cutout Dimension: 12.51″ x 28.22″
- Weight: 22.4 lbs
The company says their Ultimate Subwoofer is made with the highest quality materials available. They also feature paintable grills allowing them to perfectly meld into any room aesthetic.
Thanks to an easy-to-use, and familiar dogleg mounting system, the Ultimate Subwoofer is an easy-to-install and powerful addition to any home system. The company notes that their mounting system is “optimized to reduce interference with other elements present in the wall space.”
DM NAX 4-Zone Streaming Pre-Amplifier
I’m told that Crestron has had a huge hit with both their DM NVX distributed video line-up and now their DM NAX audio solution. New to this line, I first saw this preamplifier at their Crestron Next Road Trip in Boston back in November and was impressed with the added flexibility it brings to the integrators toolkit.
The DM NAX line is for those clients that could benefit from a flexible audio-over-IP (AoIP) topology that natively integrates within the easy-to-operate Crestron HOME system. In this case, the new DM NAX 4-Zone Streaming Pre-Amplifier gives integrators even more flexibility in optimizing the system configuration for the uniqueness of each client’s situation.
This new pre-amplifier is interoperable with AES67 and Dante audio networking. It uses hardwired connections and requires no custom network architecture or hardware – which means it can be deployed in conjunction with amplifiers in new construction installations or in retrofit jobs.
Key Features
- Audio-over-IP (AoIP) preamplifier, puts Crestron multiroom distributed audio on the network
- A dedicated media service player is available for each of the zones supporting AirPlay® 2, Spotify Connect™, Pandora®, SiriusXM® streaming and casting services, and more. The DM‑NAX‑4ZSP delivers streaming, routing, distribution, and preamplification in a single device. Streams can be routed to other non-streaming AoIP devices.
- 1 RU form factor, low power consumption, cool-running operation
- Built-in chime support
- Provides four stereo zone (8-channel) line-level outputs
- Voice control support for Crestron Home™ OS
- Output Bussing — enables linked operation of multiple adjacent zones
- Connects directly to a managed network to route to or from other DM NAX™ and DM NVX® devices
- Interoperable with Dante® audio networking devices via AES67 compatibility
- Full DSP capabilities
- Streamlined setup and adjustment via the device’s web interface
- Seamless Crestron system integration with Crestron Home and SIMPL Windows programming
- Support for Synchronized Control
With the flexibility, scalability, and interoperability of DM NAX AoIP, integrators can deliver complete control of the audio environment to users, allowing them to toggle between TV audio, streaming music, podcasts, alarms, doorbells, and even paging and intercom usage to any speaker in the house.
Both the Ultimate In-Wall Subwoofer and the expansion of our DM NAX solutions help us further our goal of providing integrators the most comprehensive suite of home audio solutions possible. These products natively integrate with each other and with the broader Crestron Home platform giving integrators the ability to hit the ground running, whether they are starting a new project or scaling the smart ecosystem for an existing client.
Michael Short, Crestron Director of Residential Marketing
The Ultimate Subwoofer will begin shipping on March 23. The DM NAX 4-Zone Streaming Pre-Amplifier is available now for pre-order.
Reach out to your nearest Crestron representative to learn more, or visit Crestron Home at this link…
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