Niles Audio showed CEPro a clever take on the soundbar at the HTSA Spring Conference-- the Cynema Soundfield, reportedly the first in-wall soundbar with speakers and amp behind the wall and a grille flush with the surface.
According to an exclusive interview in CEpro, The Soundfield consists of a mounting bracket, a thin strip of metal with vertical bars one can slide laterally to match stud spacing, allowing installers to position the unit precisely under the TV after cutting into the drywall.
“To accommodate flat panel TVs getting thinner and thinner, soundbars have tried to go in the same direction, which has had a detrimental effect on performance,” Core Brands engineering VP Jim Hardiman told CEpro's Julie Jacobsen. “I found myself in the enviable position of being able to shed the challenges and compromises of ultra-thin transducer designs and do something that could be both acoustically and aesthetically pleasing, and most importantly simple to install.”
The speakers snap into the bracket where they fit best (both physically and sonically), with the system allowing for more powerful speakers and amps than those packed in regular on-wall soundbars.
For installation, one simply slides the vertical bars onto the horizontal rails and over the studs, runs speaker wire between the studs and rails, snaps speaker/amp modules into place and closes all with the magnetic grille before painting.
Power comes through low-voltage wire behind the wall to a Niles-supplied module before plugging into the closest outlet.
Customers can add a wireless subwoofer to the system (via Niles SW-T transmitter and SW-R receiver), and the package includes everything bar the HDMI cable.
The soundbar will be available from May 2013 in 4 variants-- the CSF65A (65-inch active), CSF55A (55-inch active), CSF48A (48-inch active) and CSF48P (48-inch passive).
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