LATEST ADDITIONS

Rotel Gets Mark's Attention
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
My reference receiver since 2001 has been the Rotel RSX-1065, so you can imagine the genuine excitement I felt at learning Rotel is about to drop its successor on an unsuspecting world. There are two of them, actually. The RSX-1560 has seven channels of Class D amplification for $2599, while the RSX-1550 has five channels of Class AB amplification for $1999. Both out in October. Please be advised that my longtime position on 7.1-channel surround (incidentally, both models process 7.1 channels) is that it's for idiots, clowns, suckers, and people who incorrectly believe that an average home theater needs more surround coverage than two speakers can provide. Other new Rotel models include a surround pre-pro, five- and two-channel amps, and (hmmm) no seven-channel amps.
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Classé Wants to Mount Your Rack
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
Custom Theater System is the name Classé is giving a new series of rack-mount amps coming in spring. They include a 10-channel pre-pro, 300-watt Class AB monoblock, 600-watt Class AB monoblock, 300-watt Class AB stereo amp, and surround amp with 200 watts times five.
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B&W Extends CM Series, Almost Unnoticed
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
B&W has extended its CM Series with the floorstanding CM9 ($1500/each), floorstanding CM7 ($1000/each), and CM5 monitor ($750/each), so may I change the subject now? I somehow became fascinated with the chunky CT7.3LCRS (pictured, $1500/each) and its smaller siblings, the CT7.4LCRS ($1000/each) and CT7.5LCRS ($600/each). The big one has two eight-inch fiber woofers, a six-inch Kevlar midrange, and a one-inch soft dome tweeter. These three speakers can muster up to 94, 93, and 92 decibels respectively and are designed for use with front-projection systems or maybe (yuck) cabinetry. The new CMs are coming in November and the CT7s have been shipping for the past couple of months.
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Marantz Is True and Blu
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
Two of three new Marantz receivers have onboard decoding of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and both flavors of DTS-HD. They include the SR6003, 100 watts times seven, $1200; the SR 5003, 90 watts, $800; and the SR4003, 80 watts, $549; all available September. That third one has high-res PCM input, so it'll have no trouble getting the good stuff from a Blu-ray player's built-in decoder. Marantz has one of those too – the BD7003, due in November for $799, is Profile 1.1/Bonus View, not Profile 2.0/BD Live. Marantz also made an odd decision affecting two new SACD players, the SA1552 ($1999) and SA8003 ($999). They have neither HDMI 1.2 outputs nor analog multichannel-outs. Presumably Marantz is aiming them at a two-channel audience. Pictured: BD7003 Blu atop SR6003 receiver.
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Denon Exploits Audyssey's Dynamic Volume
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
Denon's receiver demos made good use of Dynamic Volume technology licensed from Audyssey. If the dynamics of action movie soundtracks are too much for you, you'll like the way Dynamic Volume keeps voices constant but curbs the more brutal excesses of effects -- by monitoring the signal, not just the room. If you watch TV programs via your receiver, it'll help tame those blaring ads too. Dynamic Volume is available as a firmware upgrade for some existing models. New models shown by Denon included the two-zone/two-source AVR1909, 90 watts times seven; the AVR989, 115 watts; the AVR889, 100 watts; and the AVR789, 90 watts. All have onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.
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Snell Paints You Quite a Picture
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
The Snell IC-LCR7custom earns its $1500 pricetag with a D'Appolito array, boundary switch, treble cut/boost, bass down to 70Hz -- and of course that snazzy hand-painted grille.
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Soundmatters Discovers That One Pill Does in Fact Make You Small
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
That thing dangling from the neck of Soundmatters' Lee Adams is the foxL Pocket Monitor, a portable audio device said to go as low as 80Hz. I'll just have to get one and see. The Bluetooth version is $249, the other $199.
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RBH Lays Out Your Options
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
Can't decide what finish you want in an RBH speaker? This demo unit should help.
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Tannoy Displays Stack of Love
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
Yup, that is a stack of four 15-inch subwoofers. Specifically, it's the Tannoy 15DS sub and it sells in the low four figures. The Tannoy demo also made use of the IW63 in-wall speaker. Invert the mount and it becomes, as it did here, an on-wall.
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Thielnet Now Known as Zöet. Seriously.
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2008
You hire a marketing firm and what happens? They decided to rechristen your cool wired/wireless music networking scheme with a word containing a diaeresis (look it up). But then, they also come up with cool ideas like festooning your demo room with LP covers. Signal sources included both a turntable and a Blu-ray player. It was tasty. Look for Zöet in 2009.
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