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Audio Video News
Apple Goes Hollywood- And Streams It To Your Living Room
 |  Sep 21, 2006  |  First Published: Sep 22, 2006

OK, I know this is remedial reading, but Apple's introduction of movie downloads through the iTunes Store and the coincident unveiling of its iTV player is clearly the biggest news that happened last week outside of the <a href="http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/cedia2006/">CEDIA Expo</a> in Denver.

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Ears On
Speaker Constellations Shift
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 21, 2006
Polk Audio's acquisition by Directed Electronics is the latest in a series of shifts among the audio industry's rich assortment of stars. Directed—a power in mobile tech products, judging from its website—had already acquired Definitive Technology. In another noteworthy deal, Klipsch bought API, the Canadian giant whose brand names include Mirage, Energy, Athena, and Spherex. Klipsch is also the proud new owner of Jamo, the cool Danish brand. And all this comes on top of last year's sale of Boston Acoustics to D&M Holdings—a stable that already included Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Snell, Escient, and RePlayTV—and NHT's move from the Rockford Corp. to the Vinci Group. Why are so many potent and prestigious brands changing hands? It feels as though some invisible hand were rearranging the constellations, and declining audio-component sales are the obvious suspect. But historically, major speaker brands (with the notable exception of Bose) have been sold and resold regularly, and all the brand names involved here are valuable ones that deserve fresh and vigorous marketing.
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A/V Veteran
CEDIA Then!
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 20, 2006

I uploaded my final blogs from CEDIA Expo 2006 on Tuesday. I returned Sunday and had intended to post them early Monday, but United Airlines delayed my luggage until Monday afternoon. It was very thoughtful of United to help me avoid schlepping home bags loaded with brochures, notes, my camera card reader, and the power supply for my laptop. They even hand delivered them to my home for me.

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Sharp LCD HDTV Giveaway#2
 |  Sep 19, 2006
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Enter to Win a Sharp Aquos LC-32D40U 32-inch LCD HDTV
 |  Sep 19, 2006

Sound & Vision LCD HDTV Giveaway #2

Enter as often as you like - each entry a chance to win!

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Ear Plugs for iPods
Fred Manteghian  |  Sep 19, 2006

Sennheiser, makers of some fantastic headphones, now make a $79 in-ear earphone. With soft silicon tips, these won't abrade your ears like the crap Apple gives you with their $300 player.

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Fabulous Fujitsu
Tom Norton  |  Sep 19, 2006

The show floor was cheek-by-jowl with impressive flat panel displays, but none of them stopped me in my tracks faster than this display from Fujitsu. The new Aviamo series is still tentative for production. Reportedly, it was not scheduled to be shown until CES, but Fujitsu decided to bring the prototypes to CEDIA to see the reaction. There are three models, a smaller 1080p CD (37" I believe), and two 1080p plasmas. All three have the latest iteration of Fujitsu's AVM video processing: AVMIII.

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Suave Soavo
Tom Norton  |  Sep 19, 2006

Yamaha's new Soavo speaker line currently has five models, the Soavo 1 floor stander and and Soavo 2 bookshelf, plus a center, surround, and subwoofer. the big Suovo 1 is priced at $1800 (each). They're classy-looking and appear to be very well built. A brief 2-channedl audition in a small demo room on the show floor (not the best listening conditions) revealed an extremely tight bass response, but a rather forward midrange and high frequency balance. Still, they are definitely worth a closer audition under better conditions.

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Suovo Part 2
Tom Norton  |  Sep 19, 2006

Yamaha's new, high-end Soavo speaker line.

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Digital Projection x 5
 |  Sep 19, 2006

Digital projection went all out with this comparison; 5 different DP projectors displaying the same material. The Titan 1080p-250 is at the lower left ($42,995 + $12,995 for the premium lens option of your choice); the dVision 1080p ($29,995) is at the upper left. At the lower right is the Titan HD-250, a 720p design ($29,995 plus $9995 for the lens). I compared the two Titans closely, and while at first glance the 720p design looked outstanding, the 1080p's image was both smoother and, at the same time, more naturally sharp. Yes, those differences were relatively subtle, but nonetheless significant. Needless to say, you really can't see any of this from the screen shot shown here.

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