LATEST ADDITIONS

The DreamVision Starlight2 ($9,495) was being demonstrated on a 120" wide, flat white, Perfect View screen, with a fixed Schneider anamorphic lens. Scenes from both Avatar and Dark Knight looked terrific, which did not surprise me given my experience with the DreamVision Starlight1 and the same lens (Home Theater, October 2010).

Pioneer speaker guru Andrew Jones, designer of Pioneer's Elite line of speakers and even more up-market (very upmarket) TAD designs, has been busy at the other end of the market. The very other end. The new Pioneer Audio Artistry by Andrew Jones line of speakers starts below $80/pair for the C-1 center channel and tops out at $199/pair for the biggest bookshelf model, the BS-41!

The Viva Utopia is the latest entry in Focal's Utopia range. Its flanking woofers and a mid-tweeter array can be used horizontally or vertically, serving as perhaps the world's priciest LCR. Used vertically, the top and bottom woofers can be tilted (as shown) at various angles to optimize the arrival times at the main listening position. When used as a horizontal center, however, the woofer modules are locked in a straight-ahead orientation, with the mid-tweeter array is rotated 90-degrees. Both of these adjustments must be performed at the factory; if this arrangement is needed the unit must be specifically ordered as a horizontal center. $12,500 each.

SIM2 Multimedia teamed up with Krell Industries for an elaborate AV demo featuring 3D via SIM 2's Grand Cinema C3X LUMIS 3D projector. Or should I say projectors. This setup uses two Grand Cinema C3X Lumis 2D projectors, each of them 3-chip DLPs, one for each eye image, linked together electronically for synchronization and mounted together on a rigid mount for proper physical registration (as shown in the photo, $79,995 for the projector pair and mounting). This 2-projector is said to help compensate for the loss of effective brightness inherent in 3D. Current owners of a C3X Lumis can send it in to be converted to the 3D version, at a price to cover the cost of the second projector and the needed modifications.