Sonanceís Virtuoso DR Series Surpasses The Competition With Speakers That Sound Great Throughout The Room

New Series Keeps An ""Eye"" On The Sound Listeners Crave While Creating Endless Installation Possibilities

23-Jan-01

Sonance introduced the most advanced 8-inch three-way in-ceiling speaker system ever offered in the form of the Virtuoso DR series. The three round models feature Sonanceís Sonic Eyeô technology. First introduced as part of the in-wall Virtuoso D series at the 2000 CEDIA Expo, the groundbreaking technology of the Sonic Eye takes the form of a concentrically mounted 4-inch midrange and 1-inch tweeter in a sealed, pivoting enclosure. Sonance is the Leader in Architectural Audioô.The Sonic Eye provides exceptional off-axis response while maintaining frequency response no matter where the listener is located in the room. With traditional speakers, if the listener is not positioned directly in front of the speaker, the sound is not evenly dispersed, resulting in ""dead spots"" and various levels of sound quality throughout the room. Sonanceís Sonic Eye technology is the only way to maintain frequency response in a pivoting midrange/tweeter design. The concentric design results in the tweeter and midrangeís sound reaching the listener at the same time, so that the listener hears the same fidelity regardless of its route to his or her ears. Sonanceís technology allows the speaker to be mounted anywhere in the room, while providing maximum fidelity and frequency response. Instead of the speaker dictating the installation location in order to achieve optimum acoustics, the consumer can install the speaker where he or she desires and position the midrange/tweeter array accordingly to get pristine quality sound. The result is a speaker that provides expanded applications for the end user.""These in-ceiling loudspeakers have a level of performance that competes with the best in-wall designs,"" said Chip Brown, Chief Operating Officer, Sonance. ""Because of their versatile mounting options and the role the enclosed pivoting tweeter/midrange of the Sonic Eye plays in dispersing sound, Sonance foresees that these will be popular with consumers both on their own and in conjunction with the in-wall Virtuoso speakers."" At the high end, the Virtuoso 833 DR (MSRP $2,700) consists of an 8-inch aluminum cone woofer with an extended pole piece and rubber surround and the Sonic Eye that features a 4-inch pivoting aluminum cone midrange and a concentrically mounted1-inch aluminum dome tweeter. It handles 5 to 175 watts with an efficiency of 92dB at 1 watt/1m. Two variable resistors control the midrange and tweeter level, and the frequency response is 30Hz-21kHz +/-2dB. The speakerís impedance is 6 ohms nominal and 4 ohms minimum. The Virtuoso 832DR (MSRP $1,400) handles 5 to 150 watts with a frequency response of 32Hz-20kHz +/-2dB. With an efficiency of 91dB at 1 watt/1m, the 832DR has an impedance of 6 ohms nominal and 4 ohms minimum. The speaker has an 8-inch woven glass fiber cone woofer with a rubber surround, and its pivoting Sonic Eye is comprised of a 4-inch woven glass fiber cone midrange with a 1-inch silk dome tweeter. It also offers a variable resistor for tweeter level control.Rounding out the series is the Virtuoso 831DR (MSRP $800). This speaker, whose Sonic Eye consists of a 4-inch polypropylene cone midrange and 3/4-inch soft dome tweeter, has an 8-inch woofer and a polypropylene cone with a rubber surround. With a frequency response of 39Hz-20kHz +/-3dB, the 831DR handles 5 to 100 watts of power. Its nominal impedance is 8 ohms and its maximum impedance is 6 ohms. The 831DR has an efficiency of 90dB at 1 watt/1m.Flexible in its applications and easy to install, the Virtuoso DR series will be available spring of 2001. The Virtuoso DR speakers have the same footprint as the former Sonance DR series. Because they are the same size, the Virtuoso DR are easy for installers to use and wonít require consumers to re-cut their ceilings when upgrading to the new series. Ideal for high-end distributed audio and theatre systems, the speakers use the Roto-lockô mounting system for quick installation. Additionally, the Virtuoso DR series sonically matches the Virtuoso D, maintaining the sonic signature of the entire series. For more information, visit Sonance on the Web at www.sonance.com.

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