Phonix 45 released

The original Phonix has been a staple of the Krix dedicated home cinema range for a long time, suitable for small to medium size rooms. Its wedge-shaped design allows the speaker to be placed above ear level, with the baffle angling down at 15 degrees towards the seating area.

When the immersive formats of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X made their way into the home, the recommendation moved towards placing the surround speakers closer to ear level to maintain separation from the overhead speakers. For these applications we then created the Phonix Flat – a non-angled “flat”, low profile version of the Phonix that can be mounted to a wall or ceiling without sticking out too far into the room. Requests for a fully concealed in-wall version then prompted the Phonix In-Wall. And that is where the Phonix speaker range has remained… until now.

As speaker designers and avid movie enthusiasts, we are constantly looking at how and where speakers are used, so that we can engineer their design to gain the most performance from the new sound formats and speaker layouts. With more home theatre enthusiasts opting for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X speaker layouts, we saw the need to develop a version of the Phonix that angled the sound toward the listener when placed in these newer, more off-axis speaker locations. Locations such as the front wides, top fronts, top rears, front heights and rear heights. These positions are often at an angle of around 45 degrees from the primary listening position.

 

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The top front and top rear Dolby Atmos speaker positions are generally situated at 45 degrees front and back.

 

By aiming the speaker baffle towards the main seat, it significantly improves the frequency response – providing better intelligibility and realism, which is what you want when it comes to surround effect speakers! By reducing the amount of power needed to equalise and correct the response, the power and headroom of the system is increased.

And so with these factors in consideration, the Phonix 45 was created. The design philosophy, in addition to preserving the existing Phonix performance, was to achieve a 45 degree angled baffle while maintaining a compact cabinet that wouldn’t protrude too far off the wall or ceiling. Cleverly, the industrial design team came up with an elegant design (an “irregular hexagon” shape) that not only gives the speaker a unique look, it also makes it incredibly versatile. The smooth frequency response, high power handling and large 6.5″ bass driver ensure all movie and sound effects are dynamic, lifelike and immersive, meaning this speaker can go just about anywhere without having to compromise on performance.

 

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The front wide speaker positions bridge the gap between front speakers and the side surrounds, increasing spatial resolution.

 

Supplied with a matte black powder coated bracket, the Phonix 45 can be mounted to the ceiling or wall in either a horizontal or vertical orientation. The Phonix 45 can also be mounted into corners and will handily avoid standard 75mm ceiling cornices. This suits a front/rear height application where the speaker is often placed in a corner and also serves as a great option for users who want to install overhead Atmos speakers attached high on the wall.

 

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For those who doesn’t want to fix to the ceiling, the Phonix 45 can be mounted high on the wall to provide lifelike Atmos effects.

 

If those installation options weren’t enough, the speaker is supplied with a bracket that allows for 45 degree or flush mounting. Flush mounts the speaker flat to the wall with a total depth of 134mm – meaning you could use multiple Phonix 45 speakers to create a full 9.1.6 surround speaker complement. Please see the installation manual for mounting options.

We’re excited to see how the Phonix 45 will be used. With stunning levels of performance in such a compact and versatile design – make sure it’s on your shortlist when looking for an overhead or surround speaker for your home cinema!