The audio manufacturer showcased its new Mobius-i and EDGE-i sound panels
Huntingdon, UK — Celebrating 20-years, Amina Technologies has announced that 2019 CEDIA Expo was the company’s best yet. Displaying on its own for the first time in six years, the Amina booth was highly trafficked by dealers eager to hear the brand’s new Mobius-i and EDGE-i sound panels and connect with CEO Richard Newlove and Americas Sales VP Keith Vanderkley, both known around the world as the experts of advanced spread-source technologies. Many dealers proudly shared photography of their recent installs and described upcoming projects in detail.
“The attendance, enthusiasm and amount of time that dealers spent with us at Expo was simply tremendous and an indicator that we haven’t skipped a beat,” says Vanderkley referring to the fact that earlier this year Amina transitioned out of its distribution arrangement with Triad Speakers /Control4 and setup its own infrastructure and sales rep network in North America.
CEDIA Expo New Dealer Success Story: EKHO Home Theater Group of Castle Rock, CO
CEDIA Expo also represented many dealers experiencing Amina for the first time. One of these dealers, which became a notable success story, is Castle Rock, Colorado integration firm EKHO Home Theater Group. Principal Gabriel Hernandez and his team visited the Amina booth Thursday Day 1 and then again Friday Day 2, each time a lengthy stay where they soaked-up the detail provided by Vanderkley and Newlove who described the inner workings of the new Mobius-i and EDGE-i speakers and how they produce sound including demonstrating them in covered in-ceiling and in-wall settings.
An avid music and movie
enthusiast and technically proficient with certification by both Home Acoustics
Alliance (HAA) and Imaging Science Foundation (ISF), Hernandez was taken aback
by the technology. In a video taken at the booth, Hernandez describes his
excitement in discovering Amina and previews how the speakers radiate full,
even sound, stating how excited he is to bring this technology to his customers.
He shared the video with his clientele via social media.
Active on local community Facebook pages, Hernandez hears from homeowners
seeking solutions to replace poorly performing homebuilder-installed
architectural speakers or set-up new music and entertainment systems and sees tremendous
opportunities for invisible speakers in the décor demanding situations. Upon
returning from Expo and installing the EDGE5i drywall speakers into
his demo room, this month Hernandez began hosting listening sessions for home
re-modelers and consumers.
Amina’s Deeper Commitment to North America
Founded in 1999 by Managing Director Richard Newlove, UK-based Amina Technologies entered the North American market in 2004 with Keith Vanderkley joining in 2006 as Worldwide VP of Engineering Technologies and VP of Sales for the Americas. With an extensive pro audio and engineering resume, he is recognized as one of the foremost experts on invisible loudspeaker technologies in North America.
In 2013, Amina’s products became exclusively distributed through Triad Speakers, which in 2017 was acquired by Control4. In early 2019, following a seamless transition from Control4, Amina began managing its own distribution in North America. The company set up Amina America, putting in place infrastructure, inventory, fulfilment and customer support from within a facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and appointing an independent manufacturer sales representative network.
“We
felt that this new approach, with a deeper direct presence, was the best way for
Amina to effectively serve and grow the North American business,” said
Vanderkley. “Our focus is to develop and maintain partnerships with dealers as
we fully recognize and value the skillsets they bring to the table. As our
installation partners they are an integral part of our final product’s
performance, and by listening to their experiences, they become active
participants in our product development.”
Overview of Amina Products
Amina’s speakers are sound panels that become completely naked to the eye once
installed in the wall or ceiling and finished with a skim coat, wallpaper or
veneer. The culmination of decades of research and development, the panels are
sophisticated and unique, comprised of aluminum honeycomb or composite
soundboards with integrated exciters that come together to radiate detailed and
full-bodied sound.
Available are 12 solutions across the company’s Mobius, EDGE, iQ Developer,
Lifestyle (70 volt) and ALF (low frequency enhancer) series, all engineered and
hand-built by Amina at its Great Britain workshop, plus high pass filters
(limiters) and backboxes. With dynamic, full-range sound and complete
invisibility, the solutions are a top choice by discerning CEDIA channel
specialists globally for use in a wide variety of décor-driven audio and home
theater applications from modest to the most opulent showcase homes and often
part of award-winning installations.
Mobius i-Series: Sound Panels Designed for Plaster or Special
Custom Finishes
The Mobius sound panels are engineered to work behind a range of covering materials
such as wet plaster skim (2mm), stucco, wood, leather,
natural or man-made veneers and laminates, all of which provide the
greatest flexibility of any invisible speaker for interior design integration /
installation. The newest
version, Mobius-i, utilizes a 2nd generation
Excelsior class high frequency driver integrated into a
honeycomb aluminum soundboard. This
brings a significant 6dB boost in mid-range sensitivity, an extended lower
frequency and increased smoothness and extension in the high frequencies
to above 30kHz. Two models are available: Mobius5i at
$1,100 MSRP each and Mobius7i at $1,600 MSRP each.
EDGE i-Series: Sound Panels Designed for Easy Drywall Installs with Paint or Thin Veneer Finishes
The proprietary EDGE-i sound panels represent a completely new approach for drywall application. The panel gets installed by simply replacing a small section of plasterboard / drywall, attached only to the wall and not the studwork therefore no special framing is required. Once filled, taped, feathered and painted, the panel becomes fully invisible. It can also be installed as a post-plaster retrofit product. The newest version, EDGE-i, delivers smooth low frequency extension with increased power handling and an astounding sensitivity of 90dB @ 1 Watt/1 Meter including finish. The result is a dynamic, engaging listening experience unimagined from a simple installation product. The new models are the mid-level EDGE5i ($1,000 MSRP each) and top-of-the-line EDGE7i ($1,500 MSRP each). All the Mobius-i and EDGE-i series sound panels are shipping now. For information on how to purchase in North America call Amina America at 866.462.6462.
