LATEST ADDITIONS

Crazy Nuts Expensive
Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 02, 2006

MBL had some great sound in their room. Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" left me with goose bumps and Leonard Cohen's baritone vibrated through my being. While a playing of the "1812 Overture" was meant to highlight the dynamic abilities of the system (the demonstration only partially succeeded in this), I still find that these big speakers are at their best with more minimalist music, imparting the human voice, that violin of the gods, with a sweetness and believability that is rarely captured.

The system, composed of the MBL Reference line speakers mbl 101E ($46,900 / pr) and monoblock mbls 9011 amps ($73,200 / pr), mbl 6010 preamp ($19,000), mbl 1621 transport ($19,000) and mbl 1611 dac ($21,000), all run with Tara Omega speaker cables ($10K/pr) and Tara Zero digital cable ($6,000) and Zero interconnects ($14,000 / pair). And you need a couple of pair of interconnects too, so this stuff starts to add up big time. You do the math. If I had this kind of money, I'd pay off my mortgage first.

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Whatever You Need
Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 02, 2006

Call him Leo Get$. That was his idea to put the dollar sign in his name. Sony hired these two human billboards to walk around and promote their Blu-ray product. Leo was working his wares on the elevator area badge checker at the show with no success, but his motto, just like Joe Pesce in <i>Lethal Weapon II</i> is, "Whatever you want, Leo Gets, get it?"

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Blu-ray On Day 1
Shane Buettner  |  Jun 02, 2006

Late Thursday I made it over to Sony's Blu-ray demo theater display, where I was treated to the most extensive Blu-ray demo I've yet seen. Sony had a demo BD that was put together to show off not only clips from many popular films (<I>Spider-Man 2</I>, <I>Chronicles of Narnia</I> and the digitally animated <I>Chicken Little</I> among others) but also the first look at BD's dynamic interactivity.

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A Piece Of The Action
Shane Buettner  |  Jun 02, 2006

While it's still all too common to walk by a demo room at a trade show and see a clip of <I>Fifth Element</I> running, it is far more rare to actually see one of the police officers from <I>Fifth Element</I> standing in the room!

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Ears On
Diablog: Trade-Show Control Act
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 02, 2006
You have that look on your face. It's the look that I see only when you're about to hatch some kind of stink-bomb. Come on, out with it.
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HP Goes LED
Tom Norton  |  Jun 02, 2006

HP becomes the second manufacturer (Samsung being the other) to announce a rear peojection DLP high definition television using the new Photonic Lattice (PhlatLight) technology that makes use of LED elements instead of the usual projection lamp. The 52-inch (diagonal) HP ID5286 is expected to ship in August at $2800 expected retail. Advantages are claimed to be longer life than a projection lamp, instant on/off, richer color saturation, and no color breakup (rainbows) because the sequential red, green, and blue illumination operates much faster than the mechanical color wheel it replaces. The set uses a wobulated chip offering 1080p resolution, with direct input capability for 1080p sources.

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Onkyo Unobtanium
Tom Norton  |  Jun 02, 2006

Every show we're fated to be teased with a product that isn't sold here in the U.S. These Onkyo D-312E two way stand-mounted speakers, auditioned with the new Onkyo amp and CD player discussed below, impressed me with their lively but not technicolored presentation, at least as heard from a location in the back of a crowed press conference. I hope to get another listen. But they are, as of now, available only in Japan and Europe. Rated at 200W power handling courtesy of a 65mm voice coil on its woofer. The ring tweeter appears to be the same unit used inb the D-TK10, below.

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Onkyo Digital Amp
Tom Norton  |  Jun 02, 2006

Yes, it's two-channel only, but we wouldn't be surprised if the high efficiency VL Digital amplifier technology in the new A-9555 integrated amplifier (100Wpc into 8 ohms, 200Wpc into 4) won't find its way into future Onkyo and Integra home theater components. In fact, the press releases says it will. And at $699.99 (August availability) it's cheaper than most digital amp designs that have any high quality ambitions. Onkyo also intriduced a new audiophile CD player, the DX-7555 ($599/March). A new CD player from any Japanese manufacturer is a hot story these days.

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Onkyo Miniatures
Tom Norton  |  Jun 02, 2006

The product of a joint effort between Onkyo and an unnamed but (said to be) renouned guitar maker, the Onkyo A-OMF combines a 10cm deiameter woofer and ring-drive tweeter in a cabinet just over 10" high and weighing about 7 lbs. The cabinet's side panels, not much thicker than the shell of a guitar, were vibrating quite lustily during the demo. But a knuckle rap test suggested that they are also well damped. Leo Kottke fans rejoice.

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Watt-Puppy 8 Unveiled
Tom Norton  |  Jun 01, 2006  |  First Published: Jun 02, 2006

Fred Manteghian beat me to the punch in his description of the fabulous-sounding Wilson Watt Puppy 8s ($28,000/pr minus change). Unclothed, they look pretty much liked the previous WP 7, but sound both more refined and dynamic than my recollection from the last time I heard that earlier model (admittedly, a few years ago). Another 2-channel demo, but Wilson also makes suitable center channel speakers, surrounds, and subwoofers.

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