CE Pro July 2023 - 12

Audio+Video
DISPLAYS | COMPONENTS | FURNISHINGS | ENTERTAINMENT | SERVICES
Bluesound
Celebrates
Decade of Hi-Fi
Achievements
Lenbrook Int'l brand Bluesound's 10th
anniversary includes debut of sleek
NODE X solution and digital marketing
campaign thanking audiophile partners.
By Robert Archer
BLUESOUND, a manufacturer
of high-resolution
multiroom streaming audio
components, and an ecosystem,
is celebrating the 10th
anniversary of its founding
with the launch of a limited-run
anniversary product,
the NODE X, plus a celebratory
digital campaign that
thanks the many partners
that have helped it become
a popular audiophile brand.
Prior to 2013, computer
companies and TV manufacturers
were the primary
manufacturers of audio
equipment, says the company.
These products in some
cases were popular with
younger consumers for their
styling, and were generally
designed to play lossy,
compressed audio files. At
the same time, the hi-fi
industry was struggling to
cater to younger consumers
and make them care about
higher-quality audio.
" We knew we had to
12 | CE Pro July 2023
adapt to the new ways
that people were accessing
music if we were going to
give the hi-fi industry new
life, " recalls John Banks, chief
strategy officer for Lenbrook
International, Bluesound's
parent company. " When we
first conceived of Bluesound
there were intense discussions
about whether the
products should carry the
NAD Electronics name since
that brand already had broad
recognition in hi-fi circles. "
Bluesound made its
debut in mid-2013 at an
unveiling event in Munich,
Germany, where Lenbrook's
global distribution network
saw the products that
would bring audiophile
values to wireless multiroom
audio. Bluesound launched
to a private group of embargoed
press in New York
City later that fall, and made
its public debut at CES in
January 2014.
" The hi-fi industry was
Thanks to products like its original NODE and new NODE
X, Bluesound has helped elevate high-quality streaming
audio for stereo and multiroom projects.
used to hardware being the
main draw but Bluesound,
from the beginning, was
more about the software,
which we now know as
BluOS, " says Greg Stidsen,
chief technology officer of
Lenbrook International.
" BluOS was more limited
in functionality at the start
but it has matured and is
now offered in a number
of high-end audio brands
and is often considered the
most comprehensive hi-res
multiroom streaming platform
in the industry. "
Following the launch
of the brand, Matthew
Simmonds was hired as
a product coordinator in
2015 and later Lenbrook
promoted Simmonds to
product manager. Overseeing
the development and
expansion of the brand's
portfolio, Simmonds is now
focused on the NODE X,
Bluesound's limited-run
anniversary product.
The company's latest
streaming solution features a
sleek silver finish and upgraded
components, enhancing
its popular NODE source
device's level of performance.
The $749 NODE X
incorporates an ESS Sabre
DAC to support streaming
audio delivery to amplifiers
or powered speakers in up to
24-bit/192kHz, and ability to
handle files encoded in FLAC,
MQA, ALAC and more.
Bluesound says headphone
listeners will appreciate the
unit's dedicated headphone
amplifier that is powered by
THX AAA technology, and
the NODE X offers a ¼-inch
pro audio input.
" The NODE has been
our top selling product
and it's the most common
entry point for audiophiles
coming into the Bluesound
brand, so it seemed fitting
to create an anniversary
product based on the
NODE, " says Simmonds.
cepro.com
http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro July 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro July 2023
