Like a master linguist conjugating a verb, Harman International has a way of reusing original ideas to good advantage in different settings. So, it's not exactly a surprise to find a family resemblance between Infinity's high-end Cascade speaker line, circa 2006, and the TSS-800 set, circa 2007. They share a unique extruded-aluminum form that's tapered at both the top and bottom, for starters.
The music-industry trade groups that have launched mass lawsuits against consumers may be about to become three-legged stools. EMI, of the four largest music labels, may be moving to cut its funding for the Recording Industry Association of America and its British cousin, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Sometimes it makes me nervous to lift an iPod-compatible compact audio system out of the box. There are plenty of them out there and I want to review only the exceptional ones. From time to time I pull off the wrapping and know I'm looking at a loser before the iPod even touches the docking connector. Flimsy construction usually leads to flimsy sound. On the other hand, some systems also make a fine first impression. The
Tannoy i30 is a case in point. It was packed better than most of the surround receivers I reviewed, in charcoal-colored non-disintegrating foam. At a solid eight pounds, it felt good in my hands.
The Blu-ray folks who have been guzzling champagne for the past week might want to put the cork back in the bottle and put it in the fridge. Yesterday's raft of Apple announcements included the company's entry into high-def movie downloads and deals with several major studios.
What a difference a year makes. It wasn't long ago when LCD sales were trumping plasma in flat-panel land. But manufacturers like LG and Panasonic now expect higher plasma sales in 2008, according to
Reuters.
Are you hankering to get into high-definition disc consumption at a bargain price? Toshiba has just made its HD DVD players even more attractive with big price cuts--though as a statement on the format's future, the move is ambiguous at best.
As much sculptures as speakers, the new Strada Series from Gallo Acoustics comes in a cast aluminum enclosure with innards similar to those in the Reference 3.1 towers. Price $899/each. The TR-3 sub, which will replace the TR-2, features a long-throw aluminum cone woofer and will sell for $895. Both available in the second quarter of 2008.
The 9L Active speaker from Quad couples 50 watts of digital amplification with a wireless link, the exact nature of which is to be determined. There's a volume knob on the front, as opposed to the inconvenient rear-mounted control on similar products, and really, don't those little things matter when you use something on a daily basis? Shipping in May for $750/pair.
Phil Jones of American Acoustic Development told us about some of his new speaker lines. The 3000 Series, including the 3003 floorstander ($3900/pair), uses a silver tweeter and ring (as opposed to cone) woofer. Why is the baffle so wide? More forward energy, said Phil. The more modestly priced Vi Series including the Vi410 ($550/pair) has a soft dome tweeter and carbon fiber woofer.