With the holidays in the rearview mirror, sports fans’ attention turns to football, along with the other winter sports, including hockey, basketball, and, this year, the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Regardless of their sport of choice, it may be time to think about an AV upgrade to improve those viewing experiences. Whether it’s a step up from a set of TV speakers to a soundbar, or something more dramatic like a video wall and Dolby Atmos spatial audio, there are lots of AV products available to facilitate those upgrades.
Today’s home AV products can provide attributes like increased resolution, more saturated colors, and higher image brightness levels when upgrading video. Audio upgrades offer improvements such as increased spatial experiences, improved intelligibility, and increased dynamics, such as increased lower frequencies.
Here’s a look at some of the latest home audio and home video products to help improve not only sports watching, but streaming media and broadcast viewing experiences.
Home Audio AV Products for Sports Watching
Starting with audio, here are some options to upgrade the audio portion of a home AV system:
Sonos Beam (Gen 2): One of the most famous names in today’s smart home realm, the company’s competitively priced Beam (Gen 2) soundbar offers a host of features. Physically, the soundbar easily resides next modern TVs with a choice of white or black finishes. Internally, the Beam (Gen 2) incorporates multiple elliptical midrange drivers, along with a centrally mounted tweeter and five Class-D amplifiers to power the drivers. Sonos states the soundbar can produce Dolby Atmos immersive audio and it includes features such as Apple AirPlay 2 compatibility, HDMI connectivity, and equalization options.
Leon Speakers Mera Sound Sconce: Designed in partnership with Mera Studio Architects, the Mera Sound Sconce combines luxury audio, with LED lighting and home-friendly industrial designs. The Mich.-based manufacturer says the solution is available as a single unit, pairs, or bundled with a Sonos Amp. The speaker features 3-inch woofers, along with a 1-inch tweeter, and dimmable LED lighting by American Lighting. Leon offers the Mera Sound Sconce in a choice of linen, black sand or clay finishes.
Meridian Audio DSP320.2 In-Wall Speakers: Continuing onward with this list of AV products to enhance sports and other types of home entertainment, Meridian is a high-performance, luxury audio company, and its DSP320.2 is designed to reside unobtrusively within a wall. Unlike most speaker products, the DSP320.2 utilizes an active (powered) design that includes amplification and the company’s proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) technologies. The DSP320.2 can be used as a stereo pair or in any position within a home theater or full immersive audio system that features other Meridian components.
HYPERSUB F-15 Subwoofer System: Rounding out the list of AV products for addressing audio, it’s important not to forget the lower frequencies of a home AV system. The Calif.-based company HYPERSUB’s new F-15 system offers homeowners a CEDIA/CTA RP22-compliant way to produce quality bass in home spaces. Developed for small- to medium-size rooms, the four-woofer system utilizes four shallow form factor cabinets made from birch plywood. HYPERSUB incorporates 15-inch carbon fiber cone woofers with neodymium magnets within these enclosures, and the system is powered by the company’s companion outboard HYPERSUB 422D amplifier. The amp produces 4 x 2,200-watts of DSP controlled power.
Video Products Bring Game Day Home
The next phase of AV products to examine for improvement is video gear. Here are three suggestions starting with entry level, to mid-level, and concluding with performance, luxury video solutions for consideration:
Epson Lifestudio Flex Plus: The home-friendly 4K compatible projector can produce images as large as 150 inches, and Epson emphasizes the Lifestudio Flex Plus delivers 1,000 lumens of color brightness and 1,000 lumens of white brightness. Internally, the projector employs the company’s 3LCD Triple Core Engine, and a built-in Bose audio system. In addition, the affordable Lifestudio Flex Plus offers users Google TV to support today’s streaming media activities.
Digital Projection E-Vision 10000 4K+ RGB: Moving up the pricing tiers in this roundup of AV products, the Digital Projection solution can light up a variety of screens in a variety of home environments, delivering 10,000 lumens of brightness. A big part of the E-Vision projector’s performance is its use of the new Texas Instruments (TI) 0.8-inch HEP DMD DLP chip. Other features the Digital Projection 10000 4K+ RGB offers includes an IP6x rated sealed optic laser system, and the company’s next-generation image processing.
Quantum Media Systems XDR MicroLED Display: Migrating from projection to MicroLED is a radical step in a different direction in the world of AV products. Quantum Media Systems offers state-of-the-art, customizable MicroLED systems that meet professional Hollywood post-production standards. Quantum Media Systems can configure its high-performance MicroLED video walls in a choice of sizes and aspect ratios, and the product line is DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) and HDR10+ compliant.
Power, Connectivity and Control add Finishing Touches
Wrapping up the AV upgrades, it’s important not to overlook some of the more nuanced elements of today’s home AV market. Some nuanced points to consider include power items, control, and HDMI connectivity.
Here are a trio of AV products to round out those system upgrades:
Torus Power TOT Max: Torus Power employs scientifically proven isolation transformer designs to provide the foundation of its power conditioning capabilities. The TOT Max is a 15-Amp rated product that can be used to support everything from TVs, streaming boxes, and power amplifiers. TOT Series products also provide surge protection via a replaceable varistor, and optional Series Mode Surge Protection technologies.
Kordz PRO4 HDMI Cables: Kordz is a global manufacturer of connectivity products that include the 48Gbps PRO4 line of passive HDMI cables. The PRO4 product line, which is available in lengths ranging from a half meter to nine meters, support signals up to 10K and eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel). Kordz explains the product line employs an ABS connector that offers 1kg of retention force. The fire-rated cables are also backed by a lifetime warranty.
Nice HR40 Handheld Remote Control: Of all the AV products in this list, the HR40 opens the door for true, whole-house smart home control. Utilizing Nice’s OS9 smart control platform, the HR40 blends into a smart home system to offer control of a home’s AV equipment. The remote features a 3.1-inch touchscreen, along with a full array of hard buttons. The HR40 in addition to its ability to control a home entertainment system, provides the ability to answer video doorbells; view surveillance cameras, and control other subsystems such as lighting and HVAC.
Editor’s note: This article was contributed by KMB Communications, Inc., and features brands represented by that company.
