LATEST ADDITIONS

Ears On
Postcards from Los Angeles: Part V
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 06, 2006
Dave Wilson's venerable Watt Puppy is now available in baby blue for $27,900. Having heard it with a recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I think I may have to spend more time in Utah. Even in an acoustically imperfect room, the massed vocals were so beautiful, they tax my powers of description. You just had to be there. This is why events like the HES are so precious—and why high-end dealers with good demo rooms deserve the big bucks.
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Ears On
Postcards from Los Angeles: Part VI
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 06, 2006
If there is a god, and he has a drawer full of headphones, this is what it would look like if the contents of that drawer were strewn along a very long table. I got in some face time with the new Grado Reference 1000 ($995) and it was like wearing a concert hall on my skull.
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Ears On
Postcards from Los Angeles: Part VII
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 06, 2006
This could be one of those large jars of formaldehyde in a mortician's lab, or a really cool fish bowl, but in fact is the first liquid-cooled power amplifier: the Von Gaylord Uni Signature. Mustering 200 watts per channel, each mono-block comes with a separate boxy power supply. The four pieces retail for $59,000 (goldfish not included).
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Ears On
Postcards from Los Angeles: Part VIII
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 06, 2006
The largest meter at the show belonged without question to the McIntosh MC2KW power amp. It costs $30,000 but think of the money you'll save on lighting.
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Ears On
Postcards from Los Angeles: Part IX
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 06, 2006
Here is Barb Gonzalez, author of The Home Electronics Survival Guide Volume 1—I like the Volume 1 part!—flanked by two chimps. Ken Kessler, left, author of Quad: The Closest Approach, drew the most traffic with his world-class charisma (sorry about the flash). At right is the unedited original of my blog pic, with lovely pink and blue background, shot at the Paradox Coffeeshop in Amsterdam, a moment of bliss captured for posterity. Have you heard about my annually updated home theater guide? Just checking.
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Ears On
Postcards from Los Angeles: Part X
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 06, 2006
At this moment in the Anthony Wilson Nonet's performance, the guitarist and bandleader had just triggered a guitar sample, over which he then soloed. It was eerie and moving and that's why I've chosen this ludicrously out-of-focus picture—because it was the greatest moment of HES 2006. If you want to share moments like this, you'll just have to come to HES 2007.
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Audio Video News
Fuelish TV Network
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jun 06, 2006
It had to happen. The gas pump experience - once a bastion of bliss where drivers could soothe their road rage by enjoying the mesmerizing effect of digital dollars-and-cents displays flashing ever faster - is now to be defiled by the presence of pump-top LCD monitors displaying ABC News content with stereo sound. Yes, the old Pump-N-Go will never be the same.
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Other Tech
The List
SV Staff  |  Jun 05, 2006

We've added four products to The List in June. Yamaha's VX-2600, at about $1,000 retail, delivered great sound and video scaling to win our receiver shootout. The Westinghouse 42-inch LCD flat-panel is an exceptional value and boasts 1080p display and input. Crystal Acoustics, a British speaker outfit, scored with its $2,000 THX-certified system.

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Other Tech
Alan Parsons Does 5.1 Live on XM
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 05, 2006

Live music in surround: You just can't beat it. When S&V was asked if we'd like to head down to our nation's capital and see Alan Parsons do an installment of Artist Confidential in 5.1 for XM Satellite Radio back on March 4, we jumped at the chance.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Crystal Acoustics THX-3D12 Home Theater Speaker System
Daniel Kumin  |  Jun 05, 2006
Crystal Acoustics is a new brand to me, and to most American home theater fans. The British outfit exploits the far from revolutionary concept of combining European design with made-in-China cost efficiency to reach for a new level of affordability.
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