Custom installation product
So who might be best placed to deliver the sound component of home cinema to consumers? A company that makes real cinema sound systems would be well placed to adapt these to the smaller home environment, you might imagine. Indeed you don’t have to imagine, because we have just such a company right here in Australia — Krix Loudspeakers.
For some years now, Krix has had a crossover point between professional and domestic cinema in its flagship home speakers, the Series X range — the ‘X’ stands (kinda) for Extreme. But these are not suitable for putting on either side of your telly in the average Australian lounge! Series X was designed for spare-no-expense home cinemas where only the best speaker systems will do. But aware that not everyone can have a room sufficiently large to accommodate the Series X, Krix has this year released the ‘Series SX’ range — literally “scaled-down Extreme”. More suitable for room sizes under eight metres, the SX range includes some of the Series X range (in the Megaphonix and Phonix models and the Cyclonix subwoofer), but provides additional smaller models and layout variations for more versatility of installation.
We travelled to Hackham, south of Adelaide, where Krix’s Michael Cox laid on an SX demonstration for us in the company’s latest Atmos-enabled theatre room (pictured above). After knowing the Series X models, the front Fanatix speakers appeared decidedly compact; at less than a metre high, they were small enough to sit under the screen at the front of the room. Each Fanatix is a two-way design using a 10-inch paper-cone bass driver backed by a large 50mm voice coil, above which the 26mm doped-fabric tweeter couples to Krix’s patented 90 x 40-degree short-throw horn, which assists even dispersion across the horizontal range.
Precisely the same components are available in the Dramatix model, and in the Megaphonix (which is a model that is part of both the SX and the Series X ranges), and again in the ‘Megaphonix Flat’. Why so many similar speakers?
It’s all about providing solutions for different custom theatres — the different versions fit different requirements for custom theatre, including ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos and its rivals.
The Megaphonix wedges are quite large, so Krix also created two smaller sizes in the Ultraphonix and the Phonix. These drop the waveguide but retain the ferrofluid-cooled dome tweeter, the Ultraphonix having an eight-inch bass driver with a 38mm voice coil, the Phonix a 6.5-incher with 33mm voice coil.
How did all this sound? Entirely spectacular; we heard music handled with delicacy and drive simultaneously, while movies were full-on immersive, supported by Krix’s Cyclonix subwoofers to magnificent effect.
The Krix Series SX range is the real thing, scaled down to fit within the constraints of the home. Thrilling stuff. More info:
www.krix.com.au