In May, AWE hosted its annual Expo, opening the doors of its Epsom-based HQ and show apartment, in London, to over 200 industry professionals across four days of events, starting on 14 May. Attendees were invited to experience the latest and upcoming products from AWE distributed brands. The event offered product overviews, immersive live demonstrations, exclusive previews, plus the chance to enjoy AWE’s hog roast.
This year, AWE opened for the first time a dedicated Music Room, with demonstrations of kit from Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, Denon and Classé. Demonstrations covered five innovative Hi-Fi set-ups, ranging in price from £600 to over £50,000.
Also announced at the show was AWE’s new UK distribution partnership with Stealth Acoustics, a US manufacturer of plaster-in speakers since 2003. Visitors had a preview of Stealth Acoustics’ new generation of LineaRadiance invisible speakers, its 8th generation of flat radiating diaphragm speakers.
The revamped Reference and Performance cinema rooms showcased cinema set-ups at differing price points. The Performance Cinema has recently been upgraded with Dirac Live Calibration and Marantz power amplification.
The 7.4.4 configuration features Bowers & Wilkins CI700 series and shows what is possible in equipment terms from £30k to £50k, dependent upon configuration. The full setup utilises four Bowers & Wilkins ISW-8 12″ in-wall subwoofers, powered by the active DSP optimised CDA-2HD amplifiers. This is combined with Epson’s EH-LS12000B true 4K laser projector.
In the Reference Cinema visitors experienced equipment valued at between £100k and £200k, depending upon configuration. 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 listeners.
The room features 15 Bowers & Wilkins CI800 Diamond Series in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, as well as three of Sony’s latest native 4K laser projectors with the 10,000 lumen GTZ-380 topping the list. These projectors can be switched and fill the ADEO MovieMask LR screen, which is a 4m wide side masking screen, shown switching between aspect ratios including 2.4:1 and 16:9.
The boardroom demonstrates technologies that could fit into a media room, home office or corporate boardroom – also known as resimercial. It features custom cabinetry from Digital Furniture, which houses Bowers & Wilkins CI600 Series 3.2 audio system, powered by a Marantz Cinema 60, with an 85” Sony Pro Bravia display as the focal point.
Stuart Tickle, managing director, AWE said: “It’s been another great year for AWE Expo, I’m hugely grateful to everyone who has 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.”
Stay tuned for our full report on this year’s AWE Expo’s press day, in the June edition of Installation, available online from Monday.
