Klipsch’s New Magic Trick: Make Your Dolby Atmos Soundbar Invisible
Klipsch makes larger speakers – in the early days of hi-fi, the company was known for its refrigerator-sized models that, like cinema sound systems, produced maximum output from the typical vacuum-tube amplifiers during that era Horn was used. Flash-forward to the present, and the brand still uses horn-loaded speaker drivers – but now in Dolby Atmos soundbars to deliver a different Klipsch sound.
Some people who have heard of the Klipsch-based system will be disappointed with its performance. But there’s no getting around the reality that both the company’s speakers and soundbars take up a fair amount of living room real estate.
A new partnership aims to change that situation, with a press release that Klipsch aired this week as “a strategic partnership to develop a new line of Klipsch home audio solutions that integrate Resonado Labs technologies.”
Who is this Resonado Labs, and what are they bringing to the table? “Recognizing the opportunity to deliver full frequency sound in small form factor speakers has led to the development and patenting of our core technology,” Brian Cho, founder and CEO of Resonado Labs, said in Klipsch’s release. That technology is called the Race-Core Motor, and it is the driving force behind the Klipsch-Resonado Labs alliance’s plan to “develop a line of products engineered to deliver the highest output possible in a sleek and compact form factor.” Define the era.”
In other words, Klipsch speakers and soundbars are about to get really, really small.
A quick check of the Resonado Labs website reveals that the Race-Core is a “precision-powered motor design consisting of a flat voice coil suspended between dual parallel bar magnets.” In addition, the motor is “controlled by a high-performance suspension system that enables the speaker transducer to maximize pistonic movement to push out massive amounts of air for the deepest, cleanest bass.”
Breaking this down, the Race-Core’s voice coil (the speaker component that takes power output from the amplifier and translates it into driver vibration to move air) is designed for maximum space-savings, while the motor’s The suspension system allows for a compact transducer that can produce the kind of bass you’d normally expect from much larger speaker drivers.
There was no discussion of the actual product during the virtual press conference where Klipsch announced the new partnership, although “Cinema One” was mentioned. From this we infer that the initial Klipsch-Resonado Labs offering will be a Dolby Atmos soundbar. Furthermore, a Klipsch executive’s statement during the event that they “want people to experience Klipsch sound, but with a compact, near-invisible form factor,” leads us to believe that the upcoming soundbar will still be powered by horn-loaded drivers. Although it will be dramatically smaller than the company’s current offerings.
Analysis: “Near-invisible” speakers and soundbars are a welcome development
Unlike the best 4K TVs, which have gotten thinner over the years as screen sizes increase, the speakers and best soundbars mostly remain large and box-like. there are exceptions such as Samsung’s HW-S800B and new sonos rayBut these require a separate subwoofer to get satisfying deep bass, something that’s especially important for movie watching.
If the new Klipsch-Resonado Labs partnership delivers soundbars and speakers that defy the laws of physics and deliver full-range sound with high-impact bass in a compact, one-box form factor, it’s Not only would that be a technological achievement, but a huge advancement for audio. Those who would otherwise be hesitant to add a soundbar, and especially a subwoofer, to their TVs will become more accepting of add-on audio components.
We look forward to hearing from “Cinema One” or what comes out of this project. And if Resonado Labs can work that same magic to improve the TV’s built-in audio capabilities, that would be even more extraordinary.