PSI Audio AVAA C214: the next evolutionary step for active bass absorber technology

PSI Audio introduces the AVAA C214. The new active bass trap stands aside its world-famous sibling, the C20. The innovative AVAA active bass trap technology eliminates room modes from 15 Hz to 160 Hz without requiring calibration or tuning. The result is a much cleaner bass response in discerning listening environments like professional studios or audiophile setups. While the C20 employs all-analogue technology, the C214 makes innovative use of digital technology and uses smaller membranes for an even more compact footprint. Due to the integration of digital technology, the AVAA C214 can be controlled via an app on a smartphone or tablet, and adds some control to the established outstanding sonic performance.

The contents of this press release

  • PSI Audio introduces new active bass trap AVAA C214
  • The end of room modes: AVAA technology
  • C214: the new generation of AVAA
  • The mobile hole in the wall
  • Swiss precision technology
  • Price and availability

Yverdon-les-Bains, 13th April 2023 – PSI Audio revolutionised acoustics with the introduction of the Active Velocity Acoustic Absorber AVAA C20 in 2016. Now the Swiss manufacturer presents the next evolutionary step for the innovative technology: the AVAA C214.

The end of room modes: AVAA technology

With AVAA, PSI Audio developed a clever way to manipulate the acoustic impedance in front of the device. The result is the elimination of resonant frequencies from the room – not just for the sweet spot, but the entire room. AVAA covers the entire spectrum from 15 Hz to 160 Hz and does not require calibration or tuning. Any room modes in this range will be eliminated, clearing the listening space from unnecessary rumble in the very spectrum that is so hard to treat with passive acoustics. 45 times as efficient as classic absorbers of the same size, AVAA saves space while yielding impressive results. Since it deals with room modes, it particularly improves the room’s response over time: a short bass pulse does not keep ringing, it stops when it is supposed to. Tight bass in a tight space.

C214: the new generation of AVAA

The new AVAA C214 by PSI Audio takes the AVAA technology and approaches it slightly differently. While the original C20 is completely analogue (and will remain available), the C214 employs digital technology. As a result, the new model can react more flexibly to the room, and can be controlled with a smartphone or tablet. The corresponding app is available for iOS and Android and allows remote controlling the AVAA C214 individually or in a group. It can switch one or multiple devices on or off, and allows for a wider sensitivity adjustment for tweaking the system’s efficiency and achieve optimal absorption. A new control system ensures optimal performance even when sudden changes in the room’s impedance occur. The C214 replaces the large membrane in the C20 with two smaller ones, hence reducing its footprint and allowing for an even more compact and stylish design that can be mounted to any place in the room: on the floor, on the wall, on the ceiling.

The mobile hole in the wall

The AVAA functionality does not change with the new C214 – the new model eliminates room modes just as efficiently, if not even more so, than its all-analogue predecessor. AVAA acts like a hole in the wall, letting sound waves “pass through” and leave the room. With its compact and neat design and its extremely high efficiency, AVAA is a particularly mobile solution: if the listening environment needs to move, AVAA devices will just move with it and take up their function again in the new space. Though AVAA is an active bass trap it still behaves like a typical bass trap: There is neither anti-sound emission nor noise cancelling nor a “reversed” subwoofer – just highly efficient absorption. AVAA is arguably the easiest, most elegant and most flexible acoustics solution for room modes possible.

Swiss precision technology

Accurate sound reproduction – that is the mission of PSI Audio. The Swiss manufacturer is renowned among audio professionals and audiophiles around the world for speakers that recreate the original sound in astonishing fidelity and detail. AVAA is but a different aspect of that same mission, as the listening environment is decisively important for the experience. Manufactured to the same high standards as the active speakers from PSI Audio, the AVAA C214 is a precision instrument that delivers absolute performance and unveils the music as it should be – the real thing.

Price and availability

The PSI Audio AVAA C214 is available from mid of May. The MSRP is yet to be announced.

About PSI Audio

For over 45 years, Swiss company Relec SA manufactures high-quality systems for professional audio reproduction. The company’s brand PSI Audio is firmly established in the field of studio speakers. The brand’s philosophy: clever and refined circuitry, top quality through manufacturing in the company’s own facilities – and absolutely accurate reproduction. PSI Audio speakers play exactly what is present in the music, not adding anything to it or leaving anything out. With its active bass traps AVAA C20 and C214, PSI Audio also revolutionizes room acoustics.