There's a whole new 15 series of Rotel AV receivers and separates, finished in handsome new dress (also available in black). The two receivers and pre-pro decode all the new audio formats via HDMI, and will pass 1080p/24 on HDMI (there is no video processing--a deliberate design choice).
Classe is bringing out a whole line of electronics designed specifically for custom installation in a rack. Though the cosmetics are different from their standard lineup, the performance and prices) are not. Shown here is their 600W (into 8 ohms) monster monoblock.
This flash photo was taken off-axis SI's Black Diamond screen, one of several entries in the market to make video projection practicable with some room lighting. It actually did a good job in avoiding wash out by at least a modest amount of ambient light
Dedicated home theater rooms with a row or two of plush, oversized reclining seats with built-in cup holders certainly are cool, and if I had the tens of thousands of dollars it takes to do a full-blown dedicated home theater room I’d put in half a dozen of those types of chairs, too. But I prefer a home theater room that can be used for more than watching a movie. Some of the Bass furniture at the company’s booth on the floor at CEDIA fits that ideal nicely with designs that are meant to be rearranged when the purpose of the room changes. (At least now I don’t have to go to IKEA.)
Theta's Casablanca III pre-pro, one of the longest-running (though often-updated) pre-pros ion the home theater market, will soon be updated once more with full decoding for all the new high resolution audio formats over HDMI. Casablanca owners rejoice.
Triad’s new InWall Silver/4 Omni Sconce brings together two things that like watts – a speaker and an LED light. Although you can’t color the sound, the speaker does come with color gel options of amber, orange, green, red, blue, and yellow.
Epson launched several new projectors at CEDIA. The most exciting was the flagship PowerLite Pro Cinema 7500UB ($5000, December). Demonstrated with both standard 16:9 material and 2.35:1, the latter with the optional anamorphic lens ($6000) on a 101.5" wide, 2.35:1 Stewart Studiotek 130 screen, it looked superb--probably the best projector I saw at the show at its price or less, and competitive with some far more expensive designs. Blacks were excellent, too, particularly since this LCD design was demonstrated without any help from its dynamic iris.
No, it’s not the latest fundraiser asking you to donate a buck for each meter Accell’s new cable can send an HDMI 1.3 signal. The UltraRun 1.3 series of cables includes lengths of up to 25 meters that sport built-in signal repeaters. The repeater on one end of the cable is detachable making the cable easier to pull through walls. It’s also easier to replace the repeater if it should cease repeating.
Dali announced its news Lektor loudspeaker line. There are three bookshelf speakers in the line (at $450, $475, and $645 per pair) an LCR suitable for any channel ($420 each), two floor-standers (the 8 at $1800/pair and the 6 at $1200/pair, and an upcoming subwoofer. At this price point, the Dali ribbon tweeter is gone, replaced by a dome tweeter and a cone midrange. Available in late October.
Sim2 demonstrated three of its DLP projectors, but their big launch was the D60, a single-chip 1080p DLP at $6000--a new low price point for the company.