Tom Norton

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CEDIA 2009
Anthem Projectors
Tom Norton  |  Sep 10, 2009  |  Published: Sep 11, 2009  |  1 comments
The new Anthem Statement LTX 500v and LTX 300v projectors look a lot like the new JVC DLA-HD550 and DLA-HD950, and that's because they are, with small cosmetic differences. The Anthems are also slightly more expensive.
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CES 2009
Anthem Projects
Tom Norton  |  Jan 11, 2009  |  2 comments
Anthem showed two new projectors, the LTX 500 at $7500 and the LTX 300 at $5500. Both will ship in April. My photos did not come out, but visualize if you will JVC's newest LCoS models. For that's what they are—JVCs with Anthem logos. The Anthem folks freely admitted this; why deny a good thing. I didn't get to experience the Anthem demo; they closed it down three hours before the official close of the show.
Aperion Appears
Tom Norton  |  May 11, 2007  |  Published: May 12, 2007  |  0 comments

Aperion Audio, which like Outlaw sells through the Internet, is demonstrating two surround sound systems at very attractive price points. One of them is built around the Intimus 533-T speaker that just recently received a positive review in <I>Stereophile</I>. The Intimus 633-T tower speaker anchors the other system. The larger system will soon be receiving a new review in <I>Ultimate AV</I>. So it was no surprise to me that it offers great value for money. The setup being reviewed, the Intimus 633 Concert HD, normally sells for $2690, and is slightly less on a show special.

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Aperion Gets Centered
Tom Norton  |  Jun 02, 2006  |  Published: Jun 03, 2006  |  1 comments

Aperion Audio showed this new, larger center channel speaker. Added to its current line of value-priced, Internet-marketed speakers, and designed for a better match to the company's other 600-series speakers, the $495 634-VAC uses larger drivers for both bass and midrange than the Aperion's smaller, 500-series center speaker. It's a 3-way design for off-axis performance that should be superior to most comparably-priced, 2-way center channel designs, and its adjustablle crossover can compensates for use on a stand, in a cabinet, or on top of a big-screen TV.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Apocalypto - Blu-ray
Tom Norton  |  May 30, 2007  |  5 comments

Mel Gibson may or may not have terminally damaged his impressive film career with his well-publicized antics last summer, but no one can accuse him of being a hack filmmaker. His box office draw as an actor may not be what it once was, but he does know how to direct a movie.

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CEDIA 2011
Aragon and Acurus
Tom Norton  |  Sep 10, 2011  |  0 comments
I reviewed the Aragon 8008 amplifier for Stereophile back in the mid-'90s and loved it. I often wished I'd bought it, in fact, as it was a near perfect match for my Energy Veritas v2.8 speakers. When Mondial (the original source company) folded, the Aragon line (and the lower end but also well-regarded Acurus products) was acquired by Klipsch. That company never really supported either of these lines. The rights were recently acquired by a company called Indy Audio Labs, which has just re-launched the 2-, 5-, and 7-channel Acurus amplifiers (200w/ch intro 8 ohms, all).

Later this year Indy plans to re-introduce the Aragon 8008 mkIII, 2-channels at 200W/ch (8 ohms) at $4000 and the Iridium, a 400W (8 ohms) differential monoblock, successor to the Aragon Palladium, at $4000 each. Apart from some added control and status features, the amps are said to be nearly identical in design to the earlier versions, though to my recollection the original Palladium was lower powered (but biased heavily toward Class A). And, of course, those 1990s models were considerably cheaper. Time marches on.

Arcam Archives
Tom Norton  |  Sep 10, 2007  |  0 comments

The Arcam MS 250 Music Server ($6500) isn't your father's iPod. In fact, Arcam prefers to call it an archiving CD player. It will play CDs, rip them to its 400GB hard drive, and also compile play lists that may be recorded back onto a CD&mdash;the MS 250 is also a CD recorder. The hard drive is said to be able to hold up to 1200 entire CDs (not "songs") when they are recorded in full, uncompressed PCM.

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CES 2009
Arcam is Bu
Tom Norton  |  Jan 11, 2009  |  0 comments
In addition to its AVR600 A/V receiver (expected to ship in March, which is when we're hoping to get a sample for review), Arcam showed an early prototype Blu-ray player. It wasn't quite bug-free, but then it's probably nine months away from market, leaving plenty of time for Arcam to sort them all out. To our knowledge, this makes Arcam and Cambridge Audio, both of them UK companies, the only two small, specialty manufacturers to come forward with a Blu-ray player. The system was producing great sound through a pair of Totem Wind speakers and an Arcam subwoofer
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CES 2009
Are You Being Served
Tom Norton  |  Jan 09, 2008  |  0 comments

By itself, it's probably not accurate to call the PS Audio Memory Transport ($1695) a music server. Built around a Teac DVD ROM drive (though the unit is limited, at present, to music use with two-channel CDs) the Audio Transport can rip CDs at a variety of resolutions (including lossless compression). It has limited internal storage, however. Instead, it is designed to be connected via its Ethernet output and a home network (wired or wireless) to an external hard drive (or even solid-state flash drive) of the user's choice. The latter, which is often a noisy device, may be located in a remote location in the home, such as in a closet. (I don't know about you, but my closets have no AC outlets. But there are ways to fix that.)

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CES 2009
Are You Being Served II
Tom Norton  |  Jan 09, 2008  |  0 comments

Here is some additional information on the PS Audio Memory Transport

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