LATEST ADDITIONS

CES 2009
Sooloos Media Server Is Interface-Savvy
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
The media server category is growing. Sooloos distinguishes itself by concentrating on its touchscreen interface. You can import iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries, though ripping through Sooloos will allow true gapless playback by encoding each CD as a single long file. The basic configuration holds 2500 CDs though a test version has done up to 100,000. Touchscreen is fanless, therefore totally silent, and suitable for your listening room. Rendering and storage components are separate and can be kept in a closet. You can search with multiple criteria -- jazz, or jazz with Thelonious Monk, or jazz with Thelonious Monk recorded in the 1950s. There's Rhapsody support. Meridian made a wise move by getting involved with these people (and vice versa).
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CES 2009
One More Time for Sooloos
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
When playing an album, the interface shows the cover full screen.
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CES 2009
Acoustic Energy Has Never Been More Radiant
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
The new Radiance line from Acoustic Energy, one of Britain's finest speaker makers, includes tower, monitor, center, and sub models with varying configurations built around 6.5-inch woofers, 5-inch midranges, and 1-inch tweeters, all aluminum. Thermal management -- that is, letting heat escape -- was a design priority, implemented with a double voice coil that sits both inside and outside the former. The ring radiator tweeter is designed to match direct and reflected sound into a seamless whole. The minimalist crossover uses no resistors. A 5.1 set with towers in the front left and right positions will sell for $6200, while four monitors, center, and sub will go for $4400.
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CES 2009
Avalon Spells Aspect with a Capital A
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
The A-shaped Avalon Aspect boasts 92dB efficiency, which should make it compatible with home theater use as long as you're willing to buy five of them -- no complementary center or other models yet. For $8500/pair you get two 7-inch kevlar woofers and a one-inch proprietary neodymium composite tweeter. The latter gets a waveguide-like treatment thanks to a foam structure built into grille. You won't see it unless you pop the grille and look at the underside, as Avalon showed us.
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CES 2009
PSB Has Got Some Watts for You
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
PSB's SubSeries 500 subwoofer ($2149) propels a 12-inch woven fiber driver into action with a Class H tracking power supply amp rated at 500 watts continuous power, 750 dynamic, and 1500 peak. The combination extruded aluminum and MDF enclosure should be tough enough to stand up to that onslaught of low-frequency vibration. Stop drooling, that's not polite.
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CES 2009
Polk Does It Nine Ways from Sunday
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
Though strictly speaking, it was a Friday when we saw the Polk OWM5, a $179 speaker that will tolerate any of nine mounting methods if you speak to it nicely. Let us count the ways: vertical wall mount, horizontal wall mount, vertical shelf mount, horizontal shelf mount, corner mount, horizontal ceiling mount, vertical 45-degree wall mount, vertical corner wall mount, and standard articulating wall mount bracket. There's also an OWM3 which is less versatile, with a mere seven mounting methods.
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CES 2009
NAD Gets Stylish with DVD System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
Strictly speaking, we should be telling you more about NAD's first Blu-ray player, and you've already heard about its a/v receivers, but the Viso Two HTiB got our attention with stylish looks. It's a DVD (and DVD-Audio) player with built-in 50-watt stereo amp and Dolby Virtual Speaker (and Dolby Headphone). Price is $1299 if you want something really cool looking to play your old DVD library in the bedroom. But what's that underneath?
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CES 2009
NAD Speaks for the First Time
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
Why, it's NAD's first speaker line, the Viso Thirty bookshelf and center channel models. They've got titanium tweeters, four-inch polypropylene woofers, and a $699 pricetag (we need to clarify if that's per speaker).
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CES 2010
Focal 814V Tower Loudspeakers
uavGary Altunian  |  Jan 09, 2009

Focal of France showed their new 814V 2 1⁄2-way bass reflex tower speaker with one 6 1⁄2" woofer, a 6 1⁄2" mid-bass driver and a 1" inverted dome tweeter. The gloss black finish on the 814V is designed to complement a flat panel television with a gloss black bezel. The 814V is available now with a suggested retail price of $1795/pair.

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Audio Video News
CES 2009: Pioneer's Blu-ray Array
SV Staff  |  Jan 09, 2009
Pioneer didn't have a big press push at the show this year, but they are pushing three new Blu-ray players with BD-Live. The Pioneer BDP-120 and BDP-320 and the Elite BDP-23FD are all BD-Live with either expandable external memory or built-in...
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