Samsung’s audio lab drops most innovative product yet with the R Series speaker range

ON the northern outskirts of Los Angeles, in the industrial city of Santa Clarita, there is a small building with a big focus on innovation.

Samsung's US Audio Lab may not look like much from the outside, but once you walk inside it's a whole new world.

ON the northern outskirts of Los Angeles, in the industrial city of Santa Clarita, there is a small building tucked away on a concrete lot.

But don’t let its nondescript appearance fool you.

The building is home to Samsung’s state-of-the-art audio laboratory, used for the sole purpose of designing, developing and building the highest quality audio products.

As part of the multi-million dollar investment, Samsung has slowly built up its staff to 16 members, each with an extensive knowledge of the audio industry.

Veteran loudspeaker designer Allan Devantier heads the team of engineers, researchers and technicians, which boasts three PhDs, five Masters Degrees and five active musicians.

“It was more than just getting the best and brightest minds together,” he told news.com.au.

“It was important that everyone had a real dedication to audio and love for what they do.”

Samsung tests a speaker inside the anechoic chamber in its US Audio Lab.

Included in the audio lab are two anechoic chambers, two listening rooms and one demonstration room.

Mr Devantier said on a daily basis his team is usually split in half to complete different tasks.

“We usually have eight people doing advanced research at their computers and eight people being more active in day-to-day testing of prototypes,” he said.

“All 16 staff members also take part in blind listening tests, which is important because it means we get the opinion of a lot of people, not just one person.”

Despite having assisted in enhancing audio of a number of Samsung televisions, the most innovative product to come out of the audio lab is the tech company’s R Series speaker range.

Some of the speakers from the R Series.

Mr Devantier said the company recently extended its catalogue with three new additions to the range in the form of the R5, R3 and R1.

“The R series was one of our very first products, so we are very excited to be able to grow the technology and change the way people think about audio,” he said.

Mr Devantier said the new R Series range delivers high-quality and balanced sound through a circular design that can disperse audio in every direction, no matter where the speaker is placed in the home.

“Samsung has made huge investment in the lab and the innovative idea of delivering 360-degree omnidirectional sound to deliver amazing quality audio from almost any position in the home is the pinnacle of our success to date,” he said.

Samsung’s R1, R3 and R5 speakers are available now for $299, $499 and $649 respectively.