LATEST ADDITIONS

Constellation Audio produces some extraordinary audio components, and the brand new Vega preamp (left) and Cygnus CD player/DAC (right) are no exception. Both are members of the company's Performance line, which uses virtually identical circuitry as the much more expensive Reference line with less costly components and construction techniques. Still, these products provide over 90 percent of the Reference line's performance at about a third the price—$15,000 to $20,000 each—and they share the same gorgeous industrial design.

No price was in sight for this jumbo Samsung 75" LCD/LED 3DTV. But it's edge lit, utilizes Samsung's Micro Precision Dimming, and should hit the shops by the second half of 2011.

The SS-AR1 floorstander ($27,000/pair) has appeared at various shows in the past and we've seen it before. But CES 2011 marked its real entry into popular consciousness as part of a Sony division that also includes ES receivers and projectors. Ray Kimber of Kimber cable and IsoMike recording fame and Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds lent their credibility to the proceedings. The speaker's blend of woods includes a cabinet of Hokkaido maple that's harvested only in November when it's at the peak of its powers. Drivers are designed by Sony and custom made by ScanSpeak. The piano black finish is done by a company that makes, um, pianos. Demos included a Nat King Cole tune in which the strings were vivid yet unhyped and the voice reproduced so well, it practically burnt a hole in our brain. We're convinced this is a very fine speaker indeed, and not at all surprised, having liked Sony's long-gone SS-series speakers from the 1990s.

While DTS was industriously showing the 11.1-channel version of its Neo:X technology at South Hall, Onkyo was demoing the same technology at the Venetian, but in more low-key way, and with a mere 9.1 channels (5.1 plus back-surround and height, no width). We can't explain why, but it sounded better, even with the same demo material. The guy in the pic must have agreed as he slowly levitated into the air, somehow drawn to the height channels like a moth to flame, and spontaneously combusted.