In May, AWE hosted its annual Expo, opening the doors to its Epsom-based HQ and show apartment to over 200 industry professionals across four days of events. Attendees were invited to see, hear and get hands on with the latest and upcoming products from AWE distributed brands. With in-depth product overviews, immersive live demonstrations, exclusive previews, plus the chance to enjoy AWE’s famous hog roast, AWE Expo served a sizzling mix of networking, inspiration and education.
New for 2024 – Show Apartment Upgrades
What makes the AWE Show Apartment stand out, and keeps visitors coming back year after year, says the distributor, is a commitment to ensuring the lifestyle-orientated demonstration spaces are always showing the latest kit. With solutions from a host of premium brands including Sony, URC, Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, ADEO, Epson, HEOS, Sanus, Denon, Panasonic, Hisense, LG, HDAnywhere, Silent Gliss, Classé and Base Performance Simulators, the apartment includes a main show space, two dedicated home cinemas, product gallery and new for 2024, a dedicated music room and boardroom.
The boardroom demonstrates technologies that are a great fit for a media room, home office or corporate boardroom – sometimes known as ‘resimercial’. It features custom cabinetry from Digital Furniture, which houses a simple yet effective Bowers & Wilkins CI600 Series 3.2 audio system powered by a Marantz Cinema 60, with an 85in 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 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 12in 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 wall-to-wall image and immersive audio experience that attendees rave about and ‘want at home’.
In the Reference Cinema visitors experienced impressive performance with an equipment value of between £100k and £200k, depending upon configuration. Some attendees described the experience as being “blown away,” with one stating it was “the best I’ve had 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 visitors in beautifully rich sound, but now with just half the rack space required. The room features 15 angled Bowers & Wilkins CI800 Diamond Series in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for optimal listening. To match this 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 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.
In the new dedicated Music Room, orchestrated demonstrations continued with Hi-Fi excellence from Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, Denon and Classé. Demonstrations covered five innovative Hi-Fi set-ups, 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 upcoming audio innovations currently under NDA.
Tune in for Stealth Acoustics Invisible Speakers
During Expo, AWE announced its new UK distribution partnership with Stealth Acoustics. Being a leader in plaster-in speakers since 2003, visitors were treated to a preview of Stealth Acoustics’ brand-new generation of LineaRadiance invisible speakers, its 8th generation of flat radiating diaphragm speakers. With Stealth Acoustics’ current best-selling 7th generation models available at AWE from June, up to five new full-range invisible speaker/subwoofer models are planned for release in 2024, exclusively available at AWE. More details released soon!
Missed it? Book a Visit!
Stuart Tickle, Managing Director at AWE says, “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.”