Alcons Wins Best Of Show Demo Award At CEDIA 2018

Jon-Eivind Lygren (DreamScreen/ScreenAcoustics), Eivind Lygren (DreamScreen/ScreenAcoustics), Sebastien Gailleton (Storm Audio), Chrisanne Rhodes (Storm Audio), Tom Back (Alcons Audio), David Rahn (Alcons Audio), Olivier Thumerel (Storm Audio), Walter Fortmüller (Alcons Audio) (left to right).

As Alcons Audio’s presence in the global home theater market continues to grow, 2018 marked the third year that the Alcons Pro-Ribbon Immersive Experience has been present at the annual CEDIA show, one of the premier showcases for the US home technology industry. This year Alcons walked away with the prestigious Best Of Show demo award from AVS Forum, the world’s leading online information resource for residential AV equipment.

Tom and Mark with the award

The Alcons Pro-Ribbon Immersive Experience has been a highlight of CEDIA every year since 2016. This year, for the first time, it was hosted in a sound room on the tradeshow floor, allowing visitors to make more immediate and accurate comparisons with other systems. This made winning the AVS Forum award all the more rewarding for the Alcons team.

“The response to our CEDIA demos has got better each year and this year it was incredibly positive. There was a real buzz on the show floor and, although the demo was running every 30 minutes, everyone was packed and we had a line of people waiting for the next one throughout the show,” says Alcons US national sales manager David Rahn.

“Sound levels during this demo were much closer to regular reference and the experience really hammered home how dynamic and agile Alcons ribbons are. The total effect is exactly what any discerning AV enthusiast could wish for in terms of performance. It’s a total “wow.””, Mark Henninger, Senior Editor AVS Forum

Featuring all-digital, lossless signal distribution from source to amplification, this year’s Pro-Ribbon Immersive Experience saw the full debut of the new CRMS LFE18 subwoofer, showcased in a 9.x.6 system. Four CRMS LFE18 were used with three CRMS mkII cinema reference monitor systems, eight CRMSC SRHV compact horizontal/vertical reference surrounds, two CRS8 medium format reference surrounds for front width channels and six Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers. Audio processing was by Storm Audio’s ISP 3D.32 Elite Reference Édition immersive sound processor, with visuals courtesy of a Sony VPL-VW5000ES 4K home theater projector and ScreenAcoustics UltraWeave V6, fitted with the MotoMask PRO masking system.

David and Sebastien presenting

Each demonstration included a short introduction from each of the participating companies, followed by clips ranging from a classical, spacious Zubin Mehta concert to the largest explosions in the film Deepwater Horizon.

“Although we’re not the type of ‘award-chasing’ company, this one came at the right moment,” says Alcons co-founder Tom Back. “Ever since we started at CEDIA Expo in 2016, we’ve been working on fine-tuning the performance of our Pro-Ribbon Immersive Experience – on the loudspeakers, the processing, the acoustics, the content and even the picture quality. Every aspect is always being reviewed. In that sense, CEDIA is unique with very high expectations and fierce competition from long-present brands. This year it all came together at CEDIA 2018, being recognized by the huge amount of interest and receiving the Best Of Show Award from the AVS Forum. I’m very proud of the persistence of the team; it’s a great motivation to continue our innovative developments!”

“Winning the AVS Forum award has felt like a coming of age for us; The momentum is really ramping up and we are very pleased that winning this award has highlighted the quality that Alcons systems have to offer.”, David Rahn, US national sales manager Alcons Audio

“Winning the AVS Forum award has felt like a coming of age for us, showing that all the time Alcons has spent developing this market is now paying off,” adds David Rahn. “The US residential market is really starting to appreciate the difference between Alcons and other systems, with our solutions being specified for high end screening rooms in both the home and professional markets. We have a number of new projects coming online, notably in the Hollywood area where people have heard everything and only the best systems are specified. The momentum is really ramping up and we are very pleased that winning this award has highlighted the quality that Alcons systems have to offer.”

waiting lines for the demo

This is what Mark Henninger, Senior Editor of AVS Forum had to say about why Alcons received the award:

“Alcons specializes in professional-level speaker systems that leverage a patented, high-output ribbon tweeters to deliver extreme dynamics. I’ve followed the Dutch company since it started demoing its Pro Ribbon systems at CEDIA. The first year was a shock to the senses as the company made a splashy intro with a room that consistently approached 130 dB peaks.”

“Last year, the system was tuned much better and there was debate if it was the best-sounding rig at CEDIA, where the competition is fierce. Anyhow, this year I stepped inside, watched an extended clip from Ready Player One (the car race with King Kong) and decided that the room deserved a Best of CEDIA 2018 award!”

Sound levels during this demo were much closer to regular reference and the experience really hammered home how dynamic and agile Alcons ribbons are. But even more impressive was the bass, which was palpably thick and heavy when it needed to be, or light and fleeting if that was called for. King Kong’s footsteps shook the room with an authority you’d expect from a wrecking ball, you could feel it in your bones.

The CRMS-LFE18 18″ subwoofer is what’s new at the show and easily explains why the bass was so good this year. It’s a sealed design capable of 1.2″ of excursion, which means it can move lots of air.

“While the CRMS-LFE18 is responsible for the deep bass and infrasonic delights of the Alcons demo room at CEDIA 2018, and the speakers are why there’s such realism to 3D immersive sound, credit also needs to be given to the StormAudio Immersive Sound Processor with 32 all-digital outputs. The total effect is exactly what any discerning AV enthusiast could wish for in terms of performance. It’s a total “wow.””

The interview of Mark Henninger with Tom Back on the Pro-Ribbon Immersive Experience:

For more information, please visit www.avsforum.com, www.stormaudio.com , www.sony.com and www.screenacoustics.com.

• Share
• Tweet
• Share
• WhatsApp
• E-mail