Shane Buettner

CEDIA 2009

Shane Buettner | Sep 13, 2009 | Published: Sep 14, 2009 | 0 comments

It’s not every show that I see a truly unique new display category emerge, but Seura’s displays are just that. Damned difficult to photograph, but fascinating. Building flat panel displays into pretty looking art and picture frames is one thing, and Seura does that too. But Seura is building flat panels seamlessly into mirrors, kitchens, bathrooms and even showers. Shown here is the waterproof Hydra and its color matching options. I tried to get a shot of one of the mirror displays, but the reflections were out of hand. You have to see it to believe it. Utterly unique. I can’t wait to shower with Monday Night Football!

CEDIA 2009

Definitely Definitive

Shane Buettner | Sep 13, 2009 | Published: Sep 14, 2009 | 4 comments

Things are tough all over. This man is the prettiest model that Definitive Technology could afford to show off its new Mythos XTR-50 ($799 each). Bada-bing. Actually that’s Definitive’s man in charge, Paul DiComo. The new XTR-50 is Definitive’s answer to the flat panel’s ongoing bout with anorexia. Although the speaker also ships with attractive table-top stands, the XTR-50’s wow factor is its shocking 1.6” depth, which is all the more startling when wall-mounted around one of the latest wafer-thin flat panels. Wall mounting is ultra simple with the supplied brackets, and they can be oriented horizontally or vertically (even the Definitive logo detaches and re-attaches to match). Now all you need is a flat panel that doesn’t look fat when surrounded by two or three XTR-50s.

CEDIA 2009

The Big Bad Wolf

Shane Buettner | Sep 13, 2009 | 0 comments

Home theater or digital cinema at home? Wolf Cinema’s DLP digital projectors blur the line. The biggest, baddest Wolfs (Wolves?) are three-chip DLP projectors with full 1080p resolution, constant screen height, and scalable light output configurations for a wide variety of screen sizes, materials and lighting conditions- including very large screens. They are custom install centric in that they run hot and require professional installation and ventilation. Wolf Cinema’s distributor seems open to getting us a review sample, so it looks like I might get to take this Ferrari for a drive!

CEDIA 2009

Chord Don’t Need No Stinking Cables

Shane Buettner | Sep 13, 2009 | 0 comments

This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Chord Electronics’ Chordette Gem is a really cool USB DAC. But as cool as that is, that’s not even what’s coolest about it. Have an iPod Touch or iPhone? Yeah, me too. I opened my iPhone's BlueTooth settings and saw the Chordette right away and paired it with a 4-digit code expertly supplied by Sumiko’s Norbert Schmied (granted, it was the 1-2-3-4 default, but my man was all over it). Right away I was playing tunes through the stereo speaker system connected to the Chordette over BlueTooth (and Light Sabers, Star Trek phasers, and other, um, iPhone app related sound effects, some of which may have been regarded as unsavory). We don’t need no stinking white cables! $799 and you’re living the dream!

CEDIA 2009

Do You Know This Speaker Company From Adam?

Shane Buettner | Sep 12, 2009 | 1 comments

Adam speakers are well known in the pro audio world, and better in Europe. But they are crossing the seas and making a splash in the home audio/video market. I auditioned the high-end Tensor line in a two-channel setup but the company is preparing for US launch a diverse line of home theater and in-wall/on-wall speakers. The sound I heard was preternaturally clean, dynamic and rhythmically right. They’re coming.

CEDIA 2009

The Biggest Damn Soundbar I’ve Ever Seen!

Shane Buettner | Sep 12, 2009 | 0 comments

Leon speakers are all about audio- audio for your video. The company custom builds speakers around video displays of all kinds, there is nothing off the shelf about any Leon system. On display at CEDIA was this whopping 140” wide Stewart CineCurve screen (that’s almost 12 feet wide for those of you keeping score at home!) with accustom built Leon speaker system tracing the screen. I'm cheating calling it a soundbar, but I don't know what else to call it and I'm lazy. I don’t know how much the speakers cost, but if you can afford a CineCurve that size, and a projector to drive it, you don’t care!

CEDIA 2009

Perfect Bass Forever?

Shane Buettner | Sep 12, 2009 | 0 comments

Paradigm is rolling out its PBK-1 Perfect Bass Kit as an optional upgrade for its entire subwoofer line. For $299 you can use the included microphone and tailor your sub’s response. The microphone and supplied software are based on the ARC system Anthem uses in its surround processors (Anthem’s parent company is Paradigm) and measure several different in-room positions to calculate correction for a variety of listening positions. No sub should leave the dealer without it!

CEDIA 2009

Focal Went Upside My Dome

Shane Buettner | Sep 12, 2009 | 0 comments

Audio Plus’s John Bevier totally brown-bagged me. He grinned unabashedly and led me to a darkened demo room. To see what? To hear what? Soon, I was watching a 2.35:1 image on a really big screen. Universal’s Wanted on Blu-ray, an absolute guilty pleasure, roared into its dynamically brutal train crash sequence. The sound was spacious, articulate, and punchy. You figured it out before I did, but the cute little Dome system pictured above, with speakers the size of grapefruits, is where all that sound was coming from. Walking among Focal’s impressive (and sometimes imposing) line of speakers had been a setup from the start. The Dome costs $2,500 for a 5.1 channel system, and in addition to the splashy colors, they can be mounted on stands, on wall, or plopped onto a piece of furniture. They can be swiveled any which way for optimal sound. This is a design solution that rocks!

Blu-ray Player Reviews

Denon DVD-A1UDCI Universal Blu-ray Player

Shane Buettner | Aug 31, 2009 | 0 comments

Price: $4,500 At A Glance: Full interactivity and advanced audio • Reference-level picture and sound • HQV video processing • Slow disc access and load times

The Chosen One?

This isn’t the first player we’ve reviewed in the high-end price category. In some respects, we’ve walked away impressed by the high-end players we’ve reviewed, but none of the high-end designs we’ve looked at has earned their pay grade by making our Top Picks list. It’s possible that this tells us more about the less expensive players on the market than the more expensive ones. Blu-ray’s inherent quality, advances in video processing, and the proliferation of HDMI have resulted in sub-$500 players that will satisfy even the most finicky videophile with a front-projection system. In short, midrange and even entry-level players have gotten so good that, although we’ve been waiting to be floored by a high-end player, so far it hasn’t happened. Whether it’s lack of speed, audio or interactivity features, or performance, we’ve been waiting for a player that makes us stand up and shout, “Noooo!” when the UPS man comes to take the player back to the manufacturer. With regards to both its price and its performance aspirations, the $4,500 Denon DVD-A1UDCI is the most ambitious Blu-ray player we’ve yet reviewed. Is it the chosen one?

Other Source Component Reviews

Digeo Moxi HD DVR

Shane Buettner | May 11, 2009 | 1 comments

Price: $799 At A Glance: Superb user experience • Widgets! • Big storage with ability to scale higher • Works only with CableCARD • Not compatible with PPV or On-Demand • Can’t order pizza

Pimping Your HD Cable Ride

DISH Network and DIRECTV have poached a lot of cable customers using the allure of their premium HD DVRs. Bigger storage, more robust features, a slick user interface, no cable company to deal with—it’s an easy sell most of the time. But what if you can’t or won’t do the dish and still want an enlightened HD DVR experience from digital cable? Digeo’s answer is the Moxi HD DVR. At its core, the Moxi is a high-end HD DVR that has a 500-gigabyte hard drive with a 75-hour HD capacity and the ability to add a ton of additional storage. On paper, the Moxi would be a compelling device even if this was all there was to it. But its DVR functionality is only the beginning. The Moxi is also a media hub that aggregates content from your home network and the Internet without bringing a full-blown media PC into your living room. Yep. Those newfangled widgets are inside. Let’s take a look.

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