LATEST ADDITIONS

Plays From Ceiling
Fred Manteghian  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008

Canadian audiophile speaker manufacturer Totem has a new in-wall and in-ceiling line called Totem Tribe. The ceiling mounted speaker caught my eye, as its angled woofer-tweeter-woofer array nicely aims at the listening area while three dual-stage passive radiators help extend bass performance down to 57 Hz. The sound of the single playing unit was remarkably alluring.

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The Doobie Brothers Rock CEDIA
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008

Monster Cable and SpeakerCraft put on quite a party Friday night. After Monster's Dealer of the Year awards were handed out, the Doobie Brothers took the stage at the Wells Fargo Theater and rocked out for an hour and a half. Man, those old guys can still kick it pretty good.

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Mitsubishi LT-46149
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008

Here's another product I learned about months ago but couldn't write about under embargo. Mitsubishi's 149 line of LCD TVs includes an innovative speaker system called the Integrated Sound Projector (ISP) at the bottom of the screen. This sound bar has 16 drivers with beam steering for a convincing simulated surround in an enclosed room. The user interface includes a very cool control screen for the ISP (pictured here), and the demo was actually quite impressive, way better than conventional TV sound. The 149 is available now in 46- and 52-inch sizes that list for $3100 and $3600, respectively. Finally, a TV audio system that I could listen to with pleasure.

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Samsung BD-P2500
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008

Unveiled first at Samsung's line show a couple of months ago, news of the BD-P2500 Blu-ray player was embargoed until the launch at CEDIA, but the 2550, an identical player intended exclusively for Best Buy, let the cat out of the bag well before that. The 2500 is fully compatible with BD-Live, including 1GB of <I>onboard</I> memory&#151;none of this memory-stick nonsense. Also, HQV processing is back&#151;huzzah! It should be available in October for $500.

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Looking Sharp
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008
Shown here is a better look at one of the upcoming Sharp Limited Edition flat panel. LCDs mentioned in our Wednesday press conference report. The should be available soon.
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Mitsubishi HC6500
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008

In a strong design departure from its previous projectors, Mitsubishi is introducing the Diamond Series, which dovetails nicely with the company's rear-pro and LCD top-of-the-line series of the same name. The HD6500 (pictured, $2500) claims a dynamic contrast ratio of 15,000:1, while the HC7000 ($4000) boasts an incredible 72,000:1 thanks to a new iris. Of course, I'll believe it when I see it for myself, but the demo in a semi-dark environment looked pretty good, and from past experience, I expect it to look great in a more controlled environment.

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Sharp Limited Edition
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008

LCD TVs that incorporate LED backlighting with local dimming are a pretty big theme at the show, and Sharp has thrown its hat into that ring with the Limited Edition series. Even more impressive, the 52- and 65-inch sets are also ultra thin, measuring a mere 1 inch thick in the main portion of the screen (the central region is a bit thicker). They use red, green, and blue LEDs instead of white, and Sharp claims a color gamut 150% of NTSC. The colors were striking and almost too intense, especially red. They should be available in October, but pricing is TBD.

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Planar
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008
Planar demonstrated its current PD 8150 DLP projector on a huge, acoustically transparent screen (about 10-feet wide), and the image was plenty bright. The demo material was also some of the best and most diversified seen at the show (from Con Air, Pixar Shorts ("One Man Band"), and A Night at the Museum). The manufacturers shown contributed equipment to the system.
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SE Who?
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008
A new company, called SE2 Labs, introduced the ITC One Integrated Theater Console. Built into its 100+ lbs chassis is a BD player,a full set of electronics including pre-pro and amps, and just about everything else you'll need tg drive your speakers. Lots of external inputs, of course. You'll need cash, too, as the retail price is $30,000. But SE2 Labs claims that if the internal components were purchased separately, they would cost $42,000. An amp-less version is available for home theater fans who like to make that choice themselves, but the cost is the same (balanced outputs are provided).
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HK Flagship
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  First Published: Sep 06, 2008
In addition to its ability to decode all the new high resolution audio formats, 110W of power into each of its 7 output channels, and a Faroudja DCDI video processing, the Harman Kardon AVR-7550HD is one of the first AV receivers to offer Dolby volume. (under $3000, early 2009)
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