WiSA Gains New Members: Onkyo, DALI, Amber Technologies, and Gibson

The Wireless Speaker and Audio (aka WiSA) Association appears to be building up some momentum, having recently announced the addition of several key players in the home entertainment market as WiSA members. If you’ve had your head in the sand and don’t who or what WISA is, it’s an association that aims to deliver “reliable, high-performance, interoperable, wireless surround sound audio products to the home theater market.” In other words, if you prefer a clean look over a mess of wires, this is good news. We’ve already written in detail about how it works and what it does in our WiSA compliance testing article, and had impressive demos at both CEDIA 2012 and CES 2013. So, we’re pretty convinced that it’s a reliable wireless technology (and the two words “reliable” and “wireless” rarely fit in the same sentence together).

So who are these "key players"?

• First on the list is a name most Audioholics should be familiar with, Onkyo. Given their position as a major A/V receiver and “home theater in a box” manufacturer, this is obviously a big step forward for WiSA in their quest for compatibility (or world domination, we're not sure which. Just be careful if they take up the new tagline 'resistance is futile'".
  

• Also joining in on the fun is speaker manufacturer DALI. While not necessarily a household name here in the States, DALI, a Danish manufacturer, is renowned for their quality loudspeakers across the pond. We're excited to see respected loudspeaker companies, like DALI, join in.
  

• Meanwhile, down under in Australia and New Zealand, Amber Technology is also hopping on board (yeah, it's a kangaroo joke, we're lame). We're not entirely familiar with them, but a quick poke around their website shows that they are a very large A/V distributor in their region of the world.
  

• Last, but certainly not least is Gibson Guitar Corporation. While better known for their status as guitar making legends, Gibson is also making inroads into the world of home theater as well. This might prove to be the most interesting relationship in the list.
  

Conclusion

It looks like WiSA is on a roll these days, with the addition of four new members to the ranks. Hot on the heels of the announcement that WiSA has opened their first authorized testing center, the addition of Onkyo Corporation, DALI, Amber Technology, and Gibson to the stable of members is big news. With big players from four different continents, the WiSA Association seems to be well on track to deliver on their promise of high performance, reliable, and compatible wireless home entertainment on a global scale.

If you want to check out the technology in person, they will be at attending CE Week and ShowStoppers (New York, NY, June 26-27, 2013) with a table top booth (143) in the Altman building. If you are attending, stop by to receive a demonstration.