uavKim Wilson

Snell Acoustics new Illusion reference monitors are the ultimate LCR, selling for $10,000 a piece. The Illusion series speakers incorporates a new concept in enclosure design that significantly reduces resonance and spurious vibration.

If you just need to have your media accessible where ever you go, Seagate's Free Agent Theater might come in handy. Pop in one of their Free Agent portable drives into the slot on top of the Free Agent Theater, then plug the unit into a TV. It has it's own GUI for you to navigate through your media. A huge design misstep (in my opinion) is no HDMI out, only component and composite video. Also, no coax or digital out, only analog (RCA) outputs.

THX is sure not sitting around and living off their existing licenses. Like everyone else they are looking for the next Big Thing. Here at CES, they are touting a new THX technology called Media Director that is meant to simplify home theater set-up and operation. MD turns movies, music and video games into, what THX calls “smart content” that can communicate information about AV settings directly to your home entertainment products. The technology lets consumers tap into and maximize the features and modes of their electronics. More than ever consumers are faced with an overwhelming amount of playback and set up options on their gear and its no wonder they are confused, tending to use the out of the box settings. THX hopes to take a lot of that confusion and frustration out of the process.

Tivoli Audio known for their high-quality desktop radios has added networking, making it possible for them to stream from Internet radio stations around the world. It also allows access to stored media on PCs from any room in the house through a wireless or Ethernet connection. Using the front panel readout, you use the supplied remote to scroll through your media or Internet stations. The basic unit has a single speaker, and a second speaker can be purchased to listen in stereo.