Tom Norton

CES 2012
Mark Levinson Turns 40
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Funny, it looks a lot younger with the introduction of a new integrated amp, a CD/SACD player, DAC, and preamp. All of them are 2-channel only, of course. The first three are expected to come in at $10,000 or under when they appear in mid-2012. The preamp, however, will set you back $25,000. All four offer a full complement of digital inputs (including asynchronous USB). The preamp and integrated amp also have analog inputs. The player has external digital inputs, and both it and the DAC have volume controls and may be used as digital preamps for direct connection to your power amps.
CES 2012
Parasound Goes Three Channel
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Good things come in threes, and in this case it's Parasound's new three-channel Halo A31 amplifier ($3000, available soon). It's essentially a three-channel version of Parasound's highly-regarded Halo A21 stereo amp, and a cousin to the company's Halo A51 five-channel design. Why would you want a three-channel amp? To locate your front channel amps up front and your surround amps in the rear where they can benefit from shorter cable runs to the surround speakers. Or perhaps you don't need as much power in back, or already have a decent stereo amp you can use there.
CES 2012
Thiel Restoration
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Thiel Audio is ready to restore any of their speakers you might have on hand, or find in a garage sale or Aunt Minnie's attic. Like this 1970s vintage pair of CS1.2s, for example.
CES 2012
New Thiel Floor Stander
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
In an adjoining room, Thiel was demonstrating the new CS1.7 (estimate $5500/pair, available early in 2012), a replacement for the well-received CS1.6. They use the same woofers as the MCS1.2, below, and sounded superb driven by Bryston electronics. But I might add that Thiel has used this same room for the last three CESs, and it hasn't produced anything short of audio magic there yet.
CES 2012
A Long-Awaited Thiel Center
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Two years ago I prodded for a new Thiel center channel to match the company's flagship CS3.7 speaker. Now it's here—or will be later this year. The MCS1.2 uses the same coaxial midrange-tweeter driver as the CS3.7, along with a pair of smaller, newly developed woofers. In addition to use with the CS3.7s, the MCS1.2 can also be used as left and right front speakers and/or surrounds. Pricing TBD.
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CES 2012
Feathers in Their Caps
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Handing out the Daily Rag at a trade show can be a mundane exercise elsewhere, but in Las Vegas it rarely is.
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CES 2012
Disharoo Do
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Dish Network’s Hopper greeted everyone passing through the main doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
CES 2012
LG 3D Gets BIG
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
The entry point for the LG booth (why do they call them booths when they’re more like stadiums?) was perhaps the knockout of the show, with dozens of LG flat panel displays arrayed in a video wall displaying a stunning loop of 3D images. And because LG is using passive glasses in all of its LCDs, it was able to show 3D not only on these screens but on most of the screens in their booth as well, providing either regular or clip-on passive glasses to all comers.
CES 2012
JVC Shows it All
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
JVC demonstrated three of its projectors, the DLA-X30R ($3500), DLA-X70R ($8000), and the DLA-X90R ($12,000). The DLA-X30R was demonstrated in 3D with an anamorphic lens on a 2.35:1 source. The ability of the JVC projectors to do 3D with such an add-on lens new for 2012. Previously, and with some other projectors, the internal processing did not have enough horsepower to handle both 3D and the anamorphic vertical stretch needed for use with an anamorphic lens.

The DLA-X70R was used for a 2.35:1 2D source, but here by using the zoom method to fill the screen (a convenient option here thanks to the lens memories that all three projectors offer. A review of the DLA-X70R is in the works and should appear in our May 2012 issue. Both of these projectors were used on Screen Innovations Black Diamond screens (1.4 gain, 100-inches wide) in a well-darkened space.

The DLA-X90R was demonstrated in JVC's 4K e-Shift theater on a 150-inch diagonal (about 130-inches wide) Stewart DT Reflection screen (gain 1.7). the images were stunningly vivid, and the demo all too brief!

CES 2012
Sony in the Playoffs
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
According to the CEA (the Consumer Electronics Association, the CES show-runners) the CES exhibit space covers the equivalent of 34 football fields— likely enough to hold all of the NFL playoff games with room left over for the Super Bowl, both this year and next. Sony's booth must be occupying at least two of those fields, with the same dizzying array of new products as in all the big booths, from the sublime to the gadgety. More than a few of those products are mentioned in these pages; for more on several of them, including Sony's Crystal LED technology demonstration, see our video blogs.

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