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THIEL Audio Announces New Family of SmartSub Subwoofer Products (16/7/2004)

U.S. loudspeaker manufacturer, THIEL Audio, announces a new line of subwoofer products designed as the ultimate solution for bass management and reproduction in home theater and music sound systems. This family of ultra-high performance SmartSubs(r) -the SS1, SS2, SS3, and SS4 subwoofers, SmartSub Integrator, and PX02 and PX05 Passive Crossovers-redefine the category to offer the most seamless and realistic low frequency reproduction possible.

"The new THIEL SmartSub products are the most technologically advanced bass systems ever developed for seamless sonic integration in home audio and video sound systems," says THIEL president, Kathy Gornik. "THIEL's SmartSub technology eliminates the major problems and limitations that conventional subwoofers have in matching the system's main speakers and the room. These are the world's first intelligent subwoofers."

THIEL's patent-pending SmartSub technology

The four subwoofers are powered, stand alone systems for reproducing the "point one" channel in a home theater system. They can also be used with either the companion SmartSub Integrator- or with the PX02 or PX05 Passive Subwoofer Crossovers- to allow reproduction of the bass range of the other audio channels.

The subwoofers and Integrator both incorporate aspects of THIEL's patent-pending SmartSub technology:

¥ The SmartSub Integrator can be adjusted to automatically match any of the four subwoofers to your main speakers, regardless of brand or type, for the most accurate and seamless sonic integration.
¥ Each of the four subwoofers can be easily adjusted to accurately eliminate room interaction problems for any placement, without microphones or complicated measurements.
¥ Unique electronic circuitry in the SS2, SS3, and SS4 corrects for compression distortion due to heating of the drivers' voice coils for more dynamic and effortless reproduction.

Four subwoofers for any application

The SS1, SS2, SS3, and SS4 share several innovative design features that provide exceptionally deep, uniform, dynamic and low distortion bass down to 10 Hz:

¥ THIEL's innovative short coil/long gap motor systems achieve extremely low distortion, and the drivers' aluminum diaphragms contribute to the subwoofers' outstanding tonal response.
¥ Unusually large magnet structures and special high excursion suspensions allow the subwoofers to move a very large amount of air for effortless, realistic reproduction of the most demanding sources.
¥ The drivers are powered by an internal 1000 watt high efficiency switching mode amplifier (500 watts for the SS1) with thermal overload protection.

The $8900 SS4 employs two long-throw 15" woofers in a 51" H x 19" W x 26.5" D, 290 pound cabinet with up to 113 dB of output at 20 Hz and up to 120 dB at 30 Hz to meet the needs of consumers who desire extraordinary amounts of bass output for their home theater or music systems.

The $6900 SS3 employs two long-throw 12" woofers in a 34" H x 16" W x 20.75" D, 167 pound cabinet with up to 109 dB of output at 20 Hz and up to 116 dB at 30 Hz.

The $4900 SS2 (improved version of the original SW1) employs two long-throw 10" woofers in a 23.5" H x 11" W x 20" D, 108 pound cabinet with up to 105dB of output at 20 Hz and up to 112dB at 30 Hz.

The $2900 SS1 utilizes a 500 watt amplifier and one long throw 10" woofer in a compact 20" H x 11"W x 15.5 "D, 55 pound cabinet with an output of up to 99dB of output at 20 Hz and up to 106 dB at 30 Hz, an exceptional amount of output for a subwoofer its size.

(Output levels are with corner room placement- subtract 12 dB if the subwoofer is well away from all walls; subtract 6 dB if it's close to only one wall.)

All four subwoofers are available in a variety of real wood and painted finishes.

Innovative SmartSub Integrator: Solution for main speaker integration

THIEL's new SmartSub Integrator is an active electronic device designed to achieve near-perfect integration between a THIEL subwoofer and virtually any pair of "main" loudspeakers. "The SmartSub Integrator takes the guesswork out of subwoofer crossover adjustments," says designer Jim Thiel. "Rather than you telling the subwoofer how to perform by setting controls for crossover frequency, level, and phase, the Integrator's SmartSub circuitry automatically calculates the ideal settings once you enter information about your main speakers. The result is sonic performance as balanced and seamless as a full-range speaker with extremely high output capability."

The new Integrator can be used in augment mode to extend the bass range of the system's main speakers or in crossover mode to transfer the bass energy from the main speakers into the subwoofer, allowing the overall system to play at higher output levels. The Integrator's SmartSub microprocessor technology automatically calculates the subwoofer response that provides the most seamless and musical system performance based upon main speaker parameters entered into the Integrator by the end-user. The Integrator utilizes two-channel circuitry so that stereo bass can be preserved when multiple subwoofers are employed, and comes complete with a remote control, balanced and unbalanced low level inputs and outputs, and can be used with up to 16 subwoofer modules in very large systems.

The SmartSub Integrator is 2" high, 17" wide and 9" deep. Its MSRP is $4400.

Two or Five-channel Passive solution for THIEL owners

The PX02 and PX05 Passive Subwoofer Crossovers allow a THIEL subwoofer to perfectly blend its output to augment the output of main THIEL speakers. Individual THIEL model versions of the two-channel PX02 ($350) and the five-channel PX05 ($500) are each specifically designed to create a seamless match with its main THIEL speaker model's normal bass roll-off, extending the entire system's low frequency response to below 20 Hz. The units receive speaker level inputs and derive a line level subwoofer signal that can be used while the subwoofer simultaneously receives an LFE signal. This configuration is often a good approach for music and video systems when the main speakers play sufficiently loud but do not have extended deep bass response.

Passive Subwoofer Crossover cabinets are 2" H, 7" W and 6.5" D.

www.thielaudio.com