“Step
Into High Definition Home Theater”
By Sherlock Ohms
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For years audiophiles
reveled at the new line of speakers, pre-amps, amplifiers and source
components that continued to get better and better. Today, in terms of
capable audiophile-grade technology, we are literally light years beyond
where we were—even a decade ago.
It has always been this love and passion for audio that PSB Speakers and a few
others were built on. And these factors have all played a major role in
the development of our speaker line. Our lineup of speakers in the Alpha
thru the Platinum series all ensure that our customers old and new will
find something that meets their needs while accommodating their budget
and listening preferences.
We simply cannot afford to discard the foundation this company was built
on. We helped to create the world of high-fidelity home theater
through our passion for music and movies — and through our products. It was high performance audio
that transformed 20-inch televisions into big screens. It was audio that
gave birth to home theater and yet, in recent years has been left out
by many with the advent of high definition television and home-theater-in-a-box.
The Road to a New Consumer
During the late ‘90s, the consumer electronics industry was booming, literally
with the sounds of multiple speakers pouring out the doors of retailers.
ProLogic became 5.1, and grew into 6.1, 7.1 and beyond. Consumers had
more disposable income and audio seemed to be an appropriate place to
dispose of it.
Then, an interesting thing happened. As consumers became more-and-more
obsessed with “everything high resolution;” DVD players, displays, cameras,
printers, etc., the world of high fidelity took a backseat as a new format
of audio became the craze—MP3.
MP3 is probably the best and worst thing to ever happen to the consumer
electronics industry. It was the low-resolution MP3 format that stunted
the growth of the audiophile and literally placed speaker companies on
“pause.”
With a low-resolution format sweeping the globe in popularity—aimed at
the more, faster, cheaper (free downloads anyone?) consumer, who would
bother with paying money for high fidelity?
The consumer electronics industry responded by wielding a gun and shooting
itself in the foot. Yes, I’m talking about “home theater in-a-box.” Ah
yes, a new category aimed at the more, cheaper, faster animal. Companies
once known for televisions began to manufacture speakers that looked like
electric shavers, and sounded like electric shavers, but nobody knew the
difference, because everything sounded horrible anyway.
High Fidelity Back on Track…Almost
Then another interesting thing happened, the consumer began to demand
improved compression-format audio. And it wasn’t long after that a couple
of companies, armed with marketing budgets and new compression algorithms
created a new form of “lossless” compressed audio formats.
All at once there were literally millions of music-thirsty consumers born
into a new generation of audiophile. And all at once we were faced with
a new customer—with the same wants and needs of the customers of yesterday—high
performance sound at reasonable prices.
With literally millions of new audiophiles born of MP3, and high-definition
television sales and programming increasing by the day, the industry suddenly
became quite polarized. Effectively we have two consumers, the Audiophile
and the Videophile. How ironic that while many readily credit the home
theater industry (and big screens) as being spawned by the popularity
of audio, now in many cases audio takes a back seat at the retail level.
High Definition Home Theater
Before the days of the “big screen” it was always audio systems that made
those little television screens seem so much larger. Sadly, many who are
buying plasmas and DLP TVs and anything high-definition capable spend
thousands on the size of the screen and, yet, invest little into the audio
support that it warrants. Effectively, the videophile defeats itself by
not matching the sound performance to the picture performance.
Let me put it more plainly. You can have high definition video. And you
can have high definition audio. But you can never have high definition
home theater without a balanced marriage between the two.
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The demands placed on the industry by audiophiles and videophiles have
helped to shape and improve both audio and video. In fact, the new trend
in flat-panel displays as well as significantly lower prices on single-gun
projectors has created a new set of challenges in application specific
installs. For example, PSB Speakers got
into the market to build in-cabinet speakers early on, and yet waited
to see how the emerging markets would expand before introducing our in-wall
and most recently on-wall speakers. So in essence video buying trends
have created new demands by savvy consumers, and today PSB offers speakers
for literally every installation application.
Challenge Yourself
It will take a strong commitment from manufacturers like PSB Speakers to continue
to offer high performance loudspeakers at reasonable price points, and
from dealers who are willing to stand firm in teaching consumers the benefits
of a solid audio system. Remember home-theater products are built to meet
your wants. So with products built for you and dealers who are waiting
to welcome you into the showroom to demonstrate what has been built for
you—what an exciting time this is for consumers!
Invariably your audio or video wants will help to shape your purchase.
One experiment that we recommend you try (and you can try this at many
of PSB Speakers dealer) is to audition a larger display, say 50-inches or bigger
with a home theater in-a-box package. You'll discover the "beeing there" excitment is missing. Now
watch the same demo with the same screen and a high performance speaker package. (Any PSB speaker system will work, for example.) If you’re really brave, try to find a similar demo
on a smaller screen. Again, you will see the effects for yourself—audio
makes or breaks the home theater experience. Our network
of dealers is eager to demonstrate the excitement of true high definition
home theater without expectation because we’re all committed to
sharing our passion for what we do.
PSB Speakers has been around a long time and has seen many changes and changing
customers. And we’re certain there are many more to come. In the
end, we’re just happy to be a part of it and enjoy the challenge
of remaining at the forefront of high fidelity sound.
By Sherlock Ohms
Ask Sherlock Ohms
Speaker size, type
and placement. Power requirements, room size, the list goes on-and-on.
Got a suggestion about anything audio for our next Audio Topic? Ask our
resident expert, Sherlock
Ohms to write about it next. Eash month we will feature a
topic that is on the minds of our readers.
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