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System Audio Surround Hub – The basis for the Digital Wireless Home Theatre

Eight channels of uncompressed 24-bit, 96 kHz wireless transmission is made possible by the new System Audio Surround Hub, which in combination with Active Wireless Speakers from the System Audio Silverback Series can provide a complete multi-channel surround configuration for home cinema.


For music streaming, the industry has been relying on various standards for years, first and foremost WiFi and, in the simplest case, Bluetooth. However, there is only one standard that has actually been developed from scratch for music streaming alone, according to Danish speaker specialist System Audio A/S, and that is WiSA technology.

WiSA Technology is the abbreviation for Wireless Speakers and Audio, and the corresponding interest group, the WiSA Association, already has over 60 members. Among them are many well-known consumer electronics companies such as Bang & Olufsen, Philips, Sharp, Pioneer Onkyo, the brands of Sound United LLC. such as Marantz, Denon, Classé, Definitiv Technology and Polk Audio, Luxman, Primare AB, Quad, brands of Harman such as JBL, Electrocompaniet, Klipsch, Heco, Magnat, Wharfedale, LG and of course System Audio S/A.

The Danish company System Audio A/S is of course not one of the “big players” in the industry, but it is one of the most committed companies around WiSA. For some time now, System Audio A/S has relied on WiSA Technology for the development of its now very broad product range of active speaker systems, and even markets it as one of the outstanding features of the System Audio Silverback Series in conjunction with the System Audio Stereo Hub.

WiSA allows the completely lossless signal transmission of audio data with lowest latency at a resolution of 24 bit and 96 kHz, starting with stereo up to 7.1-channel surround and even 5.1.2-channel surround.

So far, System Audio A/S has concentrated solely on stereo solutions, with the aforementioned System Audio Silverback Series as active speaker systems relying on the so-called System Audio Stereo Hub as the central interface.

It was clear from the outset that System Audio A/S would not stop there, and now it is indeed about to do so, as the Danish company recently presented the System Audio Surround Hub for the first time.

With the System Audio Surround Hub, the Danish specialist for elegant and impeccable loudspeaker systems opens up “wireless” control of the System Audio Silverback Series active loudspeaker systems in the home cinema. With the help of the System Audio Surround Hub, multi-channel systems with up to eight channels can be realised in the home cinema, whereby no AV processor or AV receiver is required, as the complete signal processing is already carried out by the hub. As a result, the System Audio Surround Hub not only offers all the interfaces for source devices that are relevant for home cinema, it also processes all common surround formats and even has a corresponding room correction function.

Just like the System Audio Stereo Hub already available, the new System Audio Surround Hub presents itself as an inconspicuous black box that can be discreetly “hidden” somewhere. Three HDMI 2.0 interfaces are available as inputs and a further HDMI interface as output, whereby the hub supports not only ARC, i.e. an audio return channel, but even eARC, i.e. an enhanced audio return channel. A TV set connected here can thus not only transmit Dolby Digital and dts to the hub, but also surround formats such as Dolby Atmos. The System Audio Surround Hub also provides two optical S/PDIF interfaces and an analogue input at other interfaces. Music can be transmitted directly from the smartphone or tablet via a Bluetooth 4.0 module. In addition, the System Audio Surround Hub can be integrated into the network to be used as a dlna-certified UPnP streaming client for audio streaming. In this respect it also supports Google Chromecast, Apple AirPlay and Spotify Connect.

The System Audio Surround Hub can control all solutions of the System Audio Silverback Series to realize solutions ranging from stereo to classic surround. It supports signal processing from Dolby Digital or dts with up to 5.1 or 7.1 up to Dolby Atmos with 5.1.2 channels. In order to guarantee optimal results, this solution has a room correction function, which the Danes have not yet discussed in detail.
However, before the new System Audio Surround Hub is actually available, a little patience is required anyway, because according to the information currently available, the manufacturer is only talking about availability in autumn 2020. They are also still keeping a low profile when it comes to price, stating only as a guide that the new System Audio Surround Hub will probably be about 40 percent more expensive than the current System Audio Stereo Hub. Users who already own a System Audio Stereo Hub will be offered a trade-in offer for an upgrade when it becomes available.

Getting to the point

With the System Audio Surround Hub, the Danish specialist for elegant and impeccable loudspeaker systems opens the “wireless” control of the System Audio Silverback Series active speaker systems in the home cinema. With the help of the System Audio Surround Hub, multi-channel systems with up to eight channels can be realised in the home cinema, whereby no AV processor or AV receiver is required, as the complete signal processing is already carried out by the hub. As a result, the System Audio Surround Hub not only offers all the interfaces for source devices that are relevant for home cinema, it also processes all common surround formats and even has a corresponding room correction function.

Manufacturer:System Audio A/S
Distribution:Libra Audio Stahl/Ross GbR
Price:n/a
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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