LATEST ADDITIONS

CES 2011
Will Rude Hand Gestures Be Part of Your AV System?
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 09, 2011
Xbox Kinect users already know how cool it is to use motion control. PrimeSense, the folks who developed the technology behind the Kinect, are now actively licensing it to other companies and hope to have it built in to TVs in the near future. Computer maker, Asus, will be the first computer company to develop a product that will allow you to stream content from your PC to your TV and control it using hand gestures.
Audio Can be 3D, Too
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 09, 2011

GenAudio's AstoundSound 3D-audio system is explained by inventor Jerry Mahabub; download a free 30-day trial of the consumer application here.

CES 2011
GoldenEar
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 09, 2011
CES 2011
IOGEAR
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 09, 2011
CES 2011
JVC Front Projectors
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 09, 2011
Sony SS-AR1 Speaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  First Published: Jan 09, 2011
Every few years or so, Sony makes a splash with audacious speakers aimed at audiophiles, and this is one of those years. The SS-AR1 is a 4-driver, 3-way speaker with a 1-inch soft-dome tweeter, 5-inch sliced-paper cone midrange, and two 8-inch aluminum-cone woofers in a vented enclosure made of laminated Hokkaido maple that's harvested only in November. This model costs the equivalent of about $27,000/pair in Japan, but no firm pricing has been established for the US market.

The demo system I heard included an EMM XDS1 CD player, Pass X20 preamp, twin Pass 600.5 monoblocks, and Kimber cables throughout. Listening to Take 6 singing "I L-O-V-E U" from So Much 2 Say was astonishing in its clarity and definition of each sound in the dense mix.

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Meridian Media Core 600
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  First Published: Jan 09, 2011
For multi-room custom installations, Meridian is introducing the Media Core 600 audio server with two hot-swappable hard-drive bays, conveniently located in the front, and outputs for six independent zones, each including S/PDIF, SpeakerLink, and fixed and variable analog. The Media Core 600 replaces the Ensemble and eliminates the latency between zones playing the same content by slaving multiple zones to one clock. Even better, a new House Sync feature slaves multiple units to the same clock, eliminating latency in very large systems. Pricing and availability are to be determined.
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Meridian Media Core 200
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  First Published: Jan 09, 2011
The Sooloos audio-server system from Meridian is an audiophile favorite, but the Control 15 with touchscreen interface is pretty expensive at $7500. New at CES is the Media Core 200 server, which uses the iPad or iPhone as the control interface and sells for $4000. That's still a lot, but it includes 500GB of hard-disk space—enough for 1000 uncompressed CDs—and access to Rhapsody and Internet radio. Outputs include S/PDIF, SpeakerLink for Meridian digital powered speakers, and fixed and variable analog.
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CES 2011
Speaker Box 5
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  First Published: Jan 09, 2011
The new Speaker Box 5 from Project (the turntable people) sounded ridiculously dynamic for such a tiny feller. Distributed by Sumiko, they will sell for $400/pair in a variety of colors, such as this fire engine red. The electronics shown here are not included!
CES 2011
PSB's Mini Me
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  First Published: Jan 09, 2011
At $700/pair, PSB's Imagine Mini (second from left, on stand) may turn some heads. It did not have any deep bass, but was clean as far down as it went, and even when played loud (though not unreasonably loud) did not fall to pieces. With a good subwoofer, five of them plus a spare (unfortunately they are sold only in pairs), or four with an Imagine center, could make for a sweet, small room home theater setup.

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