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Midweek Music Update: Bob Dylan, David Byrne, Ian Hunter, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, and More
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 06, 2012

It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got a Stream

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CEDIA 2012
Hide Your Sub Away
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 05, 2012
“Make it disappear” is a common refrain in the world of custom-installed home theater systems where speakers are routinely concealed in walls and ceilings.

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CEDIA 2012
High-Performance Headphone Listening
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 05, 2012
Cary Audio has made a distinguished contribution to the headphone craze sweeping across the consumer electronics industry with the HH-1 headphone amp. Introduced at CEDIA Expo, the amp is designed and built in the U.S. and teams a tube preamp stage with a solid-state MOSFET output stage, chosen for its tube-like sonic characteristics. Featuring Class A operation at all output levels and a 30-second muting circuit to prevent annoying turn-on pops, the amp sports a pair of RCA inputs with loop-through outputs and is designed to drive headphones with impedances between 30 and 600 ohms. Price: $1,595.

CEDIA 2012
Monstrous Sound on the Go
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 05, 2012
Surprisingly big sound from a tiny box is what you can expect from the Bluetooth-enabled ClarityHD Micro Speaker Monster introduced at CEDIA Expo. The concept: Instead of suffering through the tinny sound you get from your smartphone, tablet or PC, stream the audio to a portable speaker that easily fits in a briefcase or backpack.

CSR’s aptX audio coding is employed to deliver CD-quality sound and functions such as playing music, answering calls and Bluetooth pairing are handled by simple voice commands. Operating range is 30 feet and the speaker’s lithium-ion battery is said to last 5 hours on a single charge. Available in black and white, the ClarityHD sells for $220 and has a minijack input for use with non-Bluetooth devices.

CEDIA 2012
CEDIA Expo 2012: Sony Teams Up With Control4 To Add Automation To ES Receivers
Michael Berk  |  Sep 05, 2012

In a sign of the times, Sony and Control4 announced today that a pair of Sony's top-of-the-line ES receivers (the $2,099 9.2 channel STR-DA5800ES and the $999 7.1 channel STR-DA2800ES in particular), would include Control4 automation right out of the box (single-room, entertainment-center-specific flavor only), with upgradability to a full Control4 Activation License available for $300 through your friendly neighborhood system integrator.

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CEDIA 2012
Sony Bows 84" 4K TV
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2012
Sony’s launched its new XBR-84X900 84-inch diagonal LED edge-lit LCD set at its CEDIA EXPO 2012 press conference. With a native 4K resolution (3840 x 2160), it can display native 4K material at 24Hz or 30Hz, or upscale 2K sources to 4K. With its passive 3D glasses, it can also produce a full 2K 3D resolution to each eye (passive glasses in a 2K 3D set reduce the resolution of a 1920 x 1080 source to 1920 x 540). The set looked spectacular and will be available at selected Sony stores in November for $25,000.

Sony also announced two new flagship XBR-HX950 LCD flat panels: 55-inches ($4500) and 65-inches ($5500). The sets offer full LED backlighting with local dimming and are available now.

CEDIA 2012
Sony Unveils High-End 3D Projector
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2012
Though outwardly similar to last year’s VPL-HW30ES, Sony’s new VPL-HW50ES (available in October) is an updated design. It incorporates the same Reality Creation processing as the company’s flagship VPL-VW1000 4K projector, scaled down here for 2K operation. There’s a new Iris 3 algorithm for the projector’s advanced dynamic iris, for a claimed dynamic contrast ratio of 100,000:1. The light output is also said to be increased by 30% to 1700 lumens. The 3D transmitter is internal, and the 240Hz panel is claimed to reduce 3D crosstalk. There’s also a 2D-to-3D conversion mode and a 244-zone panel alignment feature to insure convergence.

While at $4000 the VPL-HW50ES is more expensive than the HW30ES (which remains available at a reduced price of $3000), the new projector’s price includes 2 pair of active 3D glasses and a spare projection lamp.

CEDIA 2012
Sony Adds Home Automation to ES A/V Receivers
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2012
Sony introduced three new AV receivers. The claim to fame of both the STR-5800ES (130 Watts per channel) and STR-2800ES (100 WPC) is that they may be directly integrated with the popular Control4 home automation system. They may also be used with a variety of other automation systems. The third model, the STR-DA1800, does not have Control4 built-in. All three offer 4K upconversion, full WiFi, Bluetooth, Airplay, and Internet access features.

CEDIA 2012
CEDIA Expo 2012: New Epson Projectors
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Sep 05, 2012

Epson today announced three new projectors, including an update to the Sound+Vision Certified and Recommended Epson PowerLite ProCinema 5010.

The 6020, 5020, and 3020 are all 3-chip LCD models with 3D, lots of light output, and more.

All the details after the jump.

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CEDIA 2012
CEDIA Expo 2012: Under-TV Speaker Systems
Brent Butterworth  |  Sep 05, 2012

Under-TV speakers should have taken off years ago. They give you all the benefit of a soundbar but they’re a lot easier to install. Just place one  under a flat-panel TV, connect a cable or two, and you have a reasonable facsimile of home theater sound in a matter of minutes.

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