Our team has made speakers, electronics devices that covered by Forbes, The Street, The Wall Street Journal, Stereophile, The Absolute Sound and many professional media for its superb performance.
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Real innovation for real problems...
(1) Not Enough Inputs:
While one or two inputs is adequate if you only need to connect a TV, it doesn't even come close to accommodating the number of devices people have in their homes today
Our Solution: Music systems are supposed to be something for the entire family to enjoy- not just the resident audiophile, so we designed the Inspire 5 audio system around a beautiful soundbar-style chassis with enough connections to handle all your home entertainment needs.
Use it as your TV sound bar and as your Home Stereo system. There are a total of 8 inputs- plenty for your TV, Game Console, CD Player, Smartphone, BluRay Player, Bluetooth devices.... you name it! Inspire 5 even has a USB port for playing music from a USB jump drive. Seriously flexible.
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(2) Boxy, no-style design:
Let’s be real for a moment. Engineers don’t always design the best looking stuff; they focus on function and are comfortable living with whatever the finished product looks like. That works with heavy machinery, but not so much with a living room audio system- it’s right there in front of you every. single. day. It can’t be ugly!
Our Solution: Scott worked very hard to make Inspire 5 attractive, easy to manufacture, while preserving the acoustic properties that Dan and Gavin demanded. The result is a graceful, sweeping form that naturally positions all the drivers and vents in the proper place. The design not only complements modern televisions with its use of material and color, but it also blends into almost any decor.
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(3) Weak deep bass output:
Small audio systems like soundbars usually sound, well, small. So when the bass drops, you feel like you’re missing out. Most manufacturers try to remedy this problem by adding an additional box called a subwoofer. This is a great idea, except that what they’re trying to pass off as a subwoofer is usually a underpowered little amplifier driving a tiny woofer in a cheap chipboard box. Not ok.
Our Solution: First, if you’re using Inspire 5 by itself it sounds way bigger than it has any right to. Dan developed dual tuned bass guides inside Inspire 5. These bass guides reinforce the output of Inspire 5’s midbass drivers to deliver low frequencies all the way down to 60 Hz. This isn’t going to shake pictures off the wall, but it’s enough to deliver a satisfying listening experience with most movies and TV shows.
For a true full-range experience, Dan designed an honest to goodness subwoofer that pairs wirelessly with Inspire 5. Sub 5 isn’t just another cheap-o wannabe subwoofer. It’s like the Barry White of subwoofers: smooth, deep, powerful, and dare we say sexy? It delivers 300 watts of power into dual 8 inch subwoofer drivers.
You’ll be stunned when you feel the impact of explosions or an earthquake in you favorite action films. Effects are easy for Sub 5- music is where a subwoofer really shows what it's made of. Sub5’s acoustic suspension (sealed) design excels with music. It’s detailed enough to capture the pitch of a plucked bass guitar string and powerful enough to deliver the visceral impact of a kick drum.
Starke Sound in serious about subwoofers. Sub 5's big brother is the $3500 Sub36 powered subwoofer. It's a monster!
(4) Might be ok for movies, but not music:
Sound-bars aren’t optimized to sound great with TV, movies, music, or games. They’re designed to sound just ok with all of them. When engineers try to make “one size fits all” solution, they have to compromise on sound quality.
Our Solution: We have Mode for Every Mood. Inspire 5 has been engineered to perform optimally for every listening mood by selecting one of five dedicated audio modes. Selecting a sound mode activates the part of the internal circuit that was engineered for that particular application. By doing it this way, we don’t have to compromise at all. Sure, it costs us more to make it this way, but it’s ultimately the proper way to do it.
Inspire 5's smart DSP modes are perfect for the way you want to listen
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When you watch a Movie
The problem with watching a movie on a TV is that you lose the theatrical experience. You’re in a smaller room than a movie theater, so having a smaller screen isn’t the issue. The problem is that TV speakers simply can’t deliver the theater experience!
To solve this problem, we did three things.
1. We developed a DSP algorithm that we call “Sound Space Expansion.” Through this technology, the sound field in your room is expanded to match the size and scope of the movie you’re watching. No matter if it's 5.1 multichannel sound or just normal stereo audio, Inspire 5 will make it sound immersive!
2. Our Team spent a lot of time and energy delivering theater-quality deep bass. When using Inspire 5 by itself, its dual tuned and guided bass ports sound noticeably fuller than any TV speaker.
Inspire 5 is impressive by itself, but if you really want your living room to rumble, choose the 2.1 system with Sub5 wireless subwoofer, which delivers powerful deep bass notes all the way down to 36 Hz. This isn’t a cheap little wannabe subwoofer. It delivers 300 watts of power to dual 8 inch woofers, perfect for explosions, big screen natural disasters, and sci-fi action.
3. While a smaller screen works fine in a smaller room, inadequate picture quality can still take away from the cinematic experience. To wring every bit of video performance from your flat panel, we include a top-of-the-line video processor from Silicon Image inside Inspire 5. It supports all digital video formats up to Ultra HD 4K Resolution, including 3D video formats, and delivers them to your TV is all their pure digital glory. Some people don’t think a soundbar needs a video processor, but if you want the best picture to match the best sound, it’s a must.
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When you watch TV
The most common complaint we hear about watching TV is that the dialog isn’t clear enough. So you turn up the volume to crazy levels just so you can understand what the actors are saying, and when a commercial comes on, you get blasted out of your seat. Inspire 5’s TV mode features a dialog enhancement DSP algorithm that makes dialog pop even at lower volume levels.
Inspire 5 features ARC, or Audio Return Channel via its HDMI connection. This means when you connect your new smart TV to Inspire 5, your TV will automatically bypass its internal speakers and send all audio to the Inspire 5. Now your favorite streaming service played through your TV will sound amazing, without a bunch of complicated cabling and setup.
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When you listen to music
Our team comes from the high performance audio industry. As audiophiles, we love big, powerful stereo systems that pump out our music with perfect tone and timbre. As human beings who share our homes with others though, we recognize that most people don’t want a huge system dominating their living rooms. So we worked hard to make Inspire 5 the perfect compromise: high fidelity for movies AND music, lots of power, and pleasing to the eye. After all, if you’re going to have a soundbar in your home, why would it only play audio when you’re watching TV or a movie?
In Music Mode, Inspire 5 uses a proprietary DSP algorithm we call “Reverse EQ Audiophile Compensation” that makes the frequency response of the sound system perfectly flat. Audiophiles will tell you that a flat frequency response contributes to a lifelike non-fatiguing sound. You can listen to Insprire 5 for as long as you want and never get tired of it.
All of the music inputs (Bluetooth 4.0, AUX Analog) are digitally processed using our powerful DSP. The audio signal is then transported to the speakers and (if you choose the subwoofer package) sub in perfect fidelity- just as the artist intended.
Music Mode takes full advantage of the engineered speaker cabinet and audio drivers that were developed by our team. All this attention to detail results in rich, full, and natural sound. Inspire 5 truly is one speaker to rule them all.
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When you're Gaming
There are two big problems with Video Game sound. First, the frequencies surrounding the dialog range are highly compressed, making voices sound artificial and computer-generated rather than recorded. Second, the sound field is often unrealistic, making the game feel like it’s in front of you rather than surrounding you.
In Game Mode, Inspire 5 uses a proprietary DSP algorithm that expands the sound field and decompresses the dynamic range of the audio in the vocal frequency range. These two simple, yet extremely difficult to engineer changes will change the way you enjoy your games. You’ll be drawn closer further into the action than you thought possible without surround speakers or a dedicated gaming headset.
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When you entertain
Setting up an audio system for a party is a tricky thing. First, you want the music to add ambience to your party rather than me a distraction to your guests. Secondly, you don’t want to have to think about it once the party starts.
In Music Mode, Inspire 5 uses our DSP algorithm to make compressed audio from streaming services sound more like its full-resolution self. Music sounds more natural, with pleasing dynamics, something that is typically missing from modern recorded music.
Inspire 5 also has a party trick most systems lack... simply plug a USB memory stick directly into the back of Inspire 5,and it plays them automatically. You don’t have to think about the music, just attend to your guests and have a great time.
How did we design this product?
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Finding just the right shape is a huge challenge for any designer- when that shape is going to be the focal point of your living room, the challenge is even greater! In the case of the Inspire 5 and Sub 5, the chassis and acoustic design were done by Dan and Scott. Here is Dan describing his design goals for Inspire 5 and Sub 5, and giving some details about what makes these products so special:
When it came to manufacturing and assembling, our top-notch production team in
Shenzhen,
China got involved. They're total pros when it comes to the design and manufacture of the top quality speakers, and have 17 years of speaker manufacturing experience.
Truly a dream team!
How we build Inspire 5?
After the initial pilot run is completed, we will be working closely with Starke Sound and their professional manufacturing partners to produce, QC, and ship all Inspire 5 audio systems simultaneously. In other words, all campaign units will be manufactured at the same time and shipped out via our global logistic parters at the same time.
Why are we doing this campaign?
The TV audio market is a difficult nut to crack. It’s already dominated by companies like Sony, Bose, Vizio, and Sonos (ahem, thanks in part to Dan). Such competition has the traditional retail market locked up, making it nearly impossible to get the word out, even with a breakthrough product like Inspire 5. That’s why we’ve decided to launch on Indiegogo. Please help us out!
...and here are some general specifications:
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Size and Dimensions:
Inspire 5 - 42'' * 8'' * 4''
Our Timeline
We began the planning and design of Inspire 5 and Sub 5 back in March 2015. As detailed in the timeline below, we've successfully completed the "Proof of Concept" and "Prototype Phases" and are ready to go into Pilot production in late March, 2016.
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Our anticipated ship out date to ALL backers is by the end of Aug, 201
What are people saying?
"The sound quality is impressive on every level and the curved bar allows for equal sound throughout the room..."
http://thatgirlattheparty.com
F.A.Q.
Question #1: How does Inspire 5 work with my new 4K Smart TV?
Answer #1: Inspire 5 uses an HDMI function called "Audio Return Channel" (ARC) to take audio from the TV- simply connect an HDMI cable to the "TV Out" on Inspire 5 to HDMI input on your new TV, select the "ARC" Input on Inspire 5, and turn on "ARC" in your television- the sound from all your Smart TvV's built in streaming sources will play perfectly through Inspire 5.
Question #2: Where's the best place to connect my video sources and game system?
Answer #2: If your sources and game system support 1080P video (or lower) over HDMI, connect them to one of the two two HDMI inputs on Inspire 5. Our built-in Silicon Images video processor can make them look even better- especially older DVD players and non-HDTV video programs.If you have a new 4K video source, connect it directly to your TV, and use the Audio Return Channel feature to send the sound to Inspire 5
Question #3: How can I use my mobile phone, tablet, or computer with Inspire 5?
Answer #3: It's easy. Just pair your smart device with Inspire 5's Bluetooth 4.0 input. If your device doesn't have Bluetooth, connect it to one of Inspire 5's other 3 Stereo Inputs- analog (from the headphone out of your device) or digital
Question #4: What are the major sound improvements I can expect by adding the Inspire 5 Audio System to my TV?
Answer #4: There are three big improvements you can expect. (1) Inspire 5 will produce a much fuller sound than normal flat panel TV. (2) Our DSP algorithms make Movie or TV Dialog much clearer (3) Bass! Sub 5 will add impact, weight, and FUN to everything you listen to
Question #5: How do I connect Sub 5 to the Inspire 5?
Answer #5: Sub 5 connects to the Inspire 5 via a 2.4GHz wireless connection, so you can place Sub 5 anywhere in your living room. No wires required!
Question #5: Can I mount Inspire 5 on the wall?
Answer #5: Sure you can! We even include the hardware.
Question #6: What's inside the package?
Answer #6: The Inspire 5 audio system (with Sub5 if you opted for the 2.1 system), Power Cord(s), Remote Control, Analog Audio Cable, Quick Start Guide, and Wall Mounting Hardware.
What are the risks and challenges?
The Engineering portion of this project is complete. The circuit boards are designed, printed, assembled, and tested. The molds have been made. The loudspeaker drivers have been developed and manufactured. The DSP algorithms have been written, tested, and perfected.
The biggest risk for you as a backer is that we receive more pre-orders than we expected, stretching out our production and delivery schedule. To mitigate this problem, we’ve stocked up on long lead-time parts and have been very conservative in our timeline. We will begin mass production as soon as a pilot production run passes our stringent quality control assessments.
Long story short, we are chomping at the bit to get started with production and will be shipping all pre-ordered units
The final challenge for us is logistics and shipping. We recognized early on that we were going to need some logistical assistance in order to deliver this project on budget, and time. We brought in the pros at Shipwire to assist. They have central distribution warehouses all over the world where we’ll ship everything to. Once we have your orders staged in their warehouses, we’ll fulfill your Inspire 5/Sub 5 from the warehouse closest to you. This way, logistics overhead, shipping costs, and shipping time are minimized for everyone.
