Automation vendor Legrand snaps up multi-room audio system maker NuVo as part of a series of acquisitions of the makers of products complementing the Legrand portfolio.

Further acquisition details are not available, but NuVo retains its brand name and independence within the Legrand Home Systems division.

Legrand is sells low-voltage entertainment, security, lighting, communication and automation products for the residential market. It is also the owner of the OnQ, Vantage and Biticino brands.

“The acquisition provides us with a leading position in the whole home audio market.  We are now able to rapidly bring affordable, easy-to-integrate audio solutions to market,” Legrand says.

The two companies will leverage their combined technologies to deliver both standalone audio systems and sub-systems within the Legrand home automation portfolio

Go Legrand Acquires NuVo

Terra Loudspeakers supplies Leon Speakers with CS-5.25 woofer/mid-range drivers for the Boundary 404-- the first weather-resistant outdoor speaker from Leon.

The Boundary 404 features two 4" outdoor aluminium cone woofers and a 1" aluminium/magnesium dome. According to Leon each speaker is custom built from hand-selected mahogany and finished with the exact varnish as classic ship hulls.

The weather-proof enclosure is available in either mahogany, black or white wood and has polished chrome top and bottom tails.

Performance specs include 60W at 4 ohms and a frequency response of 65-20kHz at 89dB@1W/1m.

Go Boundary 404

A couple of years back invisible speaker maker Emo Labs planned to change its name Edge Motion Technology. Not any more-- the audio company now calls itself ClearView Audio.

"The Emo Labs name, which originally was an abbreviation for Edge Motion, no longer adequately represented our business," CEO Stefan Bokamper explains.

As well as the name change, the company also has commercial plans for the future-- its Edge Motion invisible speaker technology will make a debut at CES 2013, thanks to a successful round of funding.

Edge Motion speakers produce sound through piezoelectric actuators flexing the sides of a clear acrylic glass membrane. As a result the speaker is "extremely" thin, virtually invisible and able to "rich, full" sound, the company claims.

Back in 2009, Emo Labs had plans of embedding Edge motion technology into LCDs, laptop PCs and mobile devices. Does the newly renamed ClearView have the same ambitions? We will find out soon enough on January 2013.

Go Emo Labs Changes Company Name to ClearView

Amber International is the EMEA partner for Maine-based Terra Speakers, handling distribution of audio products such as the "All Climate" speaker range across the region.

BMB, the Amber International territorial distributor in Benelux, represents the Terra Speakers brand.

EMEA installers have access to 3 product ranges-- AC Series All Climate loudspeakers and subwoofers, CA Custom Application Series and LuminSound outdoor LED and lighting systems.

The purpose built "All Climate" loudspeakers are ideal for outdoor use, being able to withstand all weathering conditions while blending into outdoor surroundings.

Amber International now looks for residential CI distribution partners to take on Terra Speakers as well as its other brands.

Go Terra Signs Distribution Deal with Amber International

Parasound launches the Zdac-- a 192kHz digital-to-analog converter the company says enhances the quality of digital music files from PCs, CD players, Sonos and other digital media players.

Using the so called "Clockflawless" system (a jitter elimination technology invented by Denmark's Holm Acoustics) the Zdac preserves the source signal in bit-perfect form while restoring the timing information from the original recording stream.

According to Parasound the converter eliminates all timing errors introduced and accumulated during the transport phase for SPDIF, optical and USB.

The Zdac accepts 24-bit word lengths and sampling rates up to 192kHz (SPIF and optical) and 96kHz (USB). It reclocks signals before upsampling to 422kHz and output through either gold-plated RCA jacks or balanced XLR outputs.

It is available in the traditional Z-Series black rack-mount configuration and the new Z-Series silver finish without rack tabs. Both versions are one rack-space high and half-rack in width.

Go Parasound Z-Series

The Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) Association creates a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and associated Special Interest Groups (SIGs) advancing wireless audio solutions for the home theatre, CE and professional AV markets.

The TAC will work with other standards bodies (including IEEE, AES, HDMI and MHL) to advance wireless HD audio in their respective specifications.

Meanwhile the SIGs will address challenges the audio industry currently faces, such as DTV, 802.1 AV bridging and interoperability with other radio technologies. The topics for the first 2 SIGs are DTV connectivity and multi-room wireless HD audio technologies.

“We are at a pivotal point in time for providing leadership and new direction for the wireless speaker and audio industry and we welcome the participation of Technical Advisory Committee and Special Interest Groups members in charting the course for wireless HD audio in the home theater,” WiSA president Jim Venable says. “The WiSA Association has gained significant momentum with the recent release of the industry’s first Compliance Test Specification for interoperability and I expect our engagement with the Technical Advisory Committee and Special Interest Groups to be equally ground-breaking in driving additional areas of application for high-performance wireless audio.”

Participation in both TAC and SIGs is open to WiSA members, and activities pursued by each group may influence the WiSA Compliance Test Specification (CTS) and technology roadmap.

Go WiSA Establishes Technical Advisory Committee and Special Interest Groups to Define Advancements in HD Audio Technology