June 2024 ertonline.co.uk REVIEW Attendees ‘blown away’ at AWE Expo! 8


Last month AWE hosted its annual Expo, opening up its impressive Epsom HQ and Show Apartment to over 200 industry professionals across four days of events. ERT Editor, Jack Cheeseman, was there…


W


ith in-depth product overviews, immersive live demonstrations and exclusive previews, this year’s AWE Expo served a tantalising


mix of networking, inspiration and education! More than 200 retailers, dealers and installers headed to AWE’s Show Apartment to see, hear and get hands on with the latest and upcoming products from AWE-distributed brands. What makes the Apartment stand out, and keeps visitors coming back year after year, is AWE’s commitment to ensuring its lifestyle- orientated demonstration spaces are always showing the latest kit. With solutions from a host of premium brands, including Sony, URC, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), Marantz, ADEO, Epson, HEOS, Sanus, Denon, Hisense, LG and HDAnywhere, the apartment includes a main show space, two dedicated home cinemas, a product gallery, and new for 2024, a dedicated music room and boardroom! This room demonstrates technologies that


are a great fit for a media room, home office or corporate boardroom – also known as ‘resimercial’, a clever hybrid between residential and commercial! It features beautiful custom cabinetry housing a simple yet astoundingly effective B&W CI600 Series 3.2 audio system, powered by a Marantz Cinema 60, with an 85- inch Sony Pro Bravia display as the focal point. The revamped Reference and Performance cinema rooms showcase two highly impressive cinema set-ups at differing price points… The Performance Cinema has been recently upgraded with Dirac Live Calibration


and Marantz power amplification. The 7.4.4 configuration features B&W CI700 series and shows what is possible in equipment terms from £30,000 to £50,000, dependent upon configuration. The full setup utilises four B&W ISW-8 12-inch in-wall subwoofers, powered by the active DSP optimised CDA-2HD amplifiers. This, combined with Epson’s EH-LS12000B true 4K laser projector, unleashes an expansive and dazzling wall-to-wall image and immersive audio experience that attendees rave about and “want at home”.


Breath-taking performance In the Reference Cinema visitors experienced breath-taking performance with an equipment value of between £100,000 and £200,000, depending upon configuration. Some attendees said they were “blown away,” – with one stating “it’s the best I’ve heard for even twice the money”. Now powered and processed by a Marantz


AV10 processor, two AMP10s and four B&W CDA-2HD amps all in BTL mode, this 15.4.6 channel audio system immerses you in beautifully rich sound, but now with just half the rack space required. The room features 15 meticulously angled B&W CI800 Diamond Series in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for optimal listening. To match this incredible audio experience,


there are all three of Sony’s latest native 4K laser projectors with the 10,000 lumen GTZ- 380 topping the pile. These projectors can be seamlessly switched and fill the ADEO MovieMask LR screen, which is a four-metre- wide side masking screen, shown switching between aspect ratios including 2.4:1 and 16:9.


In the new dedicated Music Room,


orchestrated demonstrations continued with Hi-Fi excellence from B&W, Marantz, Denon and Classé, all delivering audio experiences suitable for different budgets and applications, and ranging in price from £600 to over £50,000. Visitors also had a preview of the new Marantz M1 and other upcoming audio innovations!


Tuning in


During Expo, AWE announced its new and exciting UK distribution partnership with Stealth Acoustics, one of the leaders in plaster-in speakers. Visitors got to see the brand new generation of LineaRadiance invisible speakers, the brand’s eighth generation of flat radiating diaphragm speakers. Stealth Acoustics’ current best-selling seventh generation models are now available from AWE, with up to five new full-range invisible speaker/subwoofer models planned for release this year, exclusively available at AWE. Stuart Tickle, Managing Director at AWE, said: “It was another great Expo this year; I’m hugely grateful to everyone who attended and to my staff who made it happen. The whole team at AWE are really pleased following our hard work to expand our portfolio and upgrade our first-class space to demonstrate what our industry does best – it’s been an extremely rewarding experience!


“If you missed AWE Expo, we invite you to book a private visit to our Show Apartment, where we look forward to showing you, and your clients, the latest solutions.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40