Smart speakers and one controller to rule them all. This is how we could define the new AVA system , a Swiss-American company that seeks to position itself above Sonos both for the quality of its sound equipment and performance. As some of its directors explain, the company’s mission is to return true stereo sound to homes while offering all the advantages of the most advanced smart speakers on the market.
This is how the new AVA devices are
AVA may not ring a bell to you. To know its origins, we have to go back a bit. One of the company’s founders, Raphael Oberholzer, founded the company NEEO , which marketed a smart remote capable of centrally controlling an entire home. Shortly after, Oberholzer would go with his product to the Control4 company, which is dedicated to the commercialization of home automation products.
Finally, AVA was born driven by Oberholzer and Ted Haeger, a former Control4 executive. The plan of this new company is to enter the audio and control business thanks to its first two products: a 2:1 audio system and an intelligent remote control that is an improved version of what we already saw at the time. NEO.
VPA 2.1
The AVA 2.1 system is the first audio equipment of this new company. It is designed to be a stereo solution with a pair of speakers (AVA A1) and a subwoofer (AVA B1). The rig features a full-range driver, various drive technologies, DAC, digital signal processing (DSP), and active amplification. The development of this product has been done in collaboration with the manufacturer Revox.
The B1 bass module connects to the AVA A1 via Kleer, a high-end wireless audio protocol that has zero latency . On the other hand, the A1 speaker guarantees impeccable audio performance thanks to the DSP system. This technology controls which audio frequencies are sent to connected components within the system and adjusts playback based on the original audio. Thus, the bass module becomes a logical and homogeneous extension within the audio system, offering a dynamic and vibrant listening experience.
connectivity
The AVA A1 has many connectivity options, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth . It supports Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and can be configured through a touch user interface or using the AVA Remote.
Price
The AVA sound system is currently only available in the United States for a price of $3,200 .
Ava Remote
AVA’s remote control is also a very promising product, although we could already see its origins at NEEO almost four years ago. It is an Android based device and has been certified by Google . It allows you to control all kinds of intelligent home automation systems, as well as Control4 and Sonos equipment.
And no, we are not talking about the typical universal remote control. The AVA Remote will allow you to manage any smart home automation device or one that is managed with an Android application. It also has Bluetooth, NFC, accelerometer, GPS and a fingerprint lock. It is loaded in its own dock and has autonomy of 6 days. The difficult part will be to justify its price, since it will cost about $1,299 at launch.