CES 2009

The Harmon Specialty Group was demonstrating Levinson's new $30,000 No.502 surround processor together with Lexicon amps and a complete Revel Ultima2 speaker system, the latter anchored by the big Revel Ultima2 Salon2s on the right and left front channels. It sounded outstanding, but this did not surprise me after my recent review of an Ultima2 Studio2 system.

KEF also demonstrated the smallest entry in its Reference series, the 201.2, in 2-channels. It sounded superb. $5000/pair now, going up to $6000/pair soon. Get 'em while they're hot.

120Hz operation, to remove motion lag in LCD displays, is exploding all over. Olevia's demo was highly effective, showing that its system smoothed motion at various speeds and with a wide variety of program material, including these white bars which scrolled across the screen.

Do it yourself (DIY) speaker builders gravitate to one of several suppliers to buy the parts they need for their projects. One of the biggest is Parts Express, and they had a small booth on the show floor this year. The elegant cabinet shown here, with the arched side walls now popular on many an upscale commercial design (almost invariably made in China), can be had for $129.77 (each) in polished black, cherry, or maple, ready to be filled with the drivers and crossovers of your choice.

Hitachi joined the parade of manufacturers showing ultra slim flat panel models with this 1.5-inch thick concept design.

VIZIO introduced more new flat panel displays at CES than any poor scribe should have to deal with. So I'll mention only the largest sets in both the plasma and LCD premier lines. The 1920x1080p VP504F is a 50" plasma ($1699) with Silicon Optix REON video processing. As of now the VP504F is the only set in the new VIZIO line, either LCD or plasma, that uses the REON, though more are possible before the new lines start showing up in stores in May and June. A contrast ratio of 30,000:1 is claimed.

NAD's C 175 Compact Music System is a unique product that is half the width of traditional components, It can sit on a shelf or table but don't let its small size fool you. it is fully functional with a CD player, AM/FM Tuner and a 2 x 24 watt amplifier.