If your audio memory extends back far enough you’ll recall Audio Alchemy. That company marketed an extensive line of inexpensive DACs long before streaming and downloading digital music was possible and D/A converters were the hot ticket...
As much as I was impressed by HiFiMan’s HE-400i headphones and EF100 tube headphone combination (see my previous post), the company’s HE1000 prototype, open back cans blew me away...
To date I haven’t been much of a headphone person, but I still recognize their importance and appeal in today’s market. Headphones, in short, are now a very big deal for many consumers...
Wolf Cinema has consistently offers the best home theater setups at CES’s Venetian hotel venue. That’s probably not saying much, as the displays at the convention center are dominated by flat panels and the Venetian is mainly high-end audio heaven. CEDIA EXPO, held in September, is the show for projector-based home theater demos...
Haier is a Chinese brand less well known here than TCL or Hisense, much less Vizio, Samsung, or Sony. It did show some very nice looking sets in a large, tastefully decorated booth, but like Changhong above, it needs to increase its market presence significantly before most consumers will recognize its name.
I spotted the Chinese TV make Changhong at last year’s CES. But their booth was modest with little traffic. This year they made a big show of it, with ladies in Chinese garb bringing in the crowds...
You’ve heard of Google Glass, now make way for Toshiba Glass. It certainly sounds much the same. And that was just one of the ways Toshiba’s booth was dramatically different than in the past...
A number of new 4K Ultra HDTVs (in the Diamond line) and 1080p Full HD TVs (in the Emerald line) were announced at the show by Amtran/JVC. The DM65USRLCD is a 65-inch, 4K set favorably reviewed in our February/March 2015 issue (right in photo). There's also a 55-inch Diamond model at $899 and a new 85-incher (left), expected to hit stores later this month at the remarkable price of $7,500.
3D was hardly a presence at this year’s show, and aside from a small 3D video wall at the LG booth most of the action was on glasses-free 3D designs...
JBL launched a new lineup of speakers priced for the budget-seeker: the Arena range. Topping it off is the floor-standing Arena 180, at $699/pair (shown in the photo above)...