Sony this week announced pricing and availability of two new budget AV receivers and four soundbars, including the high-end HT-ST9 that will list for $1,500 when it hits stores in July.
Late this summer, or shortly thereafter, Sony will attempt to upend the way we look at UHD and high dynamic range (HDR) with its new Z9D series of premier Ultra HD. Don’t look for them at Joe’s Video down the street, however, but rather in premier outlets such as Magnolia (located in or adjacent to selected Best Buy stores) and custom installers. They’re also likely to find their way into more than a few professional facilities.
Even though Sony's one of the top brands in several audio categories, the company hasn't made much of a push with its audio products in the last few years. That all changed at an event today in Los Angeles, where Sony showed off a new A/V receiver and a new soundbar, and also announced new HTiB (home theater in a box) systems.
This year at CEDIA Sony had a huge booth containing three home theater demo rooms. There’s the mega-system with the VPL-GTZ380, which I describe in this post. But that projector’s $80,000 price point and 10,000-lumen output are beyond what most home theater owners want to spend or need in terms of output. However, the company is quick to point out that in terms of how the image is created—with three of its new 4K-native 2160 x 3840 resolution SXRD chips its Z-Phosphor light source, and the X1 Ultimate for projector processor—the three new laser models share the same hardware with the big pro model.
The show in Dallas is over but the memories remain. It was no ordinary expo, three years have passed since I last attended a CEDIA, and the relief in seeing folks face-to-face and getting hands-on with gear was palpable. So too was the sense of having fast-forwarded to the future, the changes in tech reflected skipping right from 2019 to 2022, instead of seeing the usual yearly increment. Here's a slice of what got my attention on the show floor, our Sound & Vision Editor's Picks for CEDIA 2022.
Soundboks, a young company specializing in Bluetooth speakers with offices in Denmark and Santa Monica, promises to rock your world with an industrial-grade speaker designed to keep the tunes cranking all day and all night, whether you’re partying in your backyard or hanging at an outdoor festival.
San Diego-based Soundcast today introduced the VG1 portable Bluetooth speaker ($150) featuring an IP67 “ingress protection” rating certifying that it’s impervious to dust and submersible in 3 feet of water.
SoundTube and dARTS, two of the seven audio brands owned by Kansas-based MSE Audio, are showing how to get creative with subwoofer placement at CEDIA 2022.
I’ve been a hard-core Beatles fan for…well, let’s just say a very long time. So I was more than a little intrigued when I saw Pro-Ject’s Fab Four turntables (my name, not theirs) at the May press event unveiling Giles Martin’s stereo remix of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The thought of a “new” Beatles record being played on a table that pays homage to the greatest band ever was compelling. Maybe it’s time to revisit my long-dormant vinyl collection...
They call it “the most beautiful TV you’ve never seen,” which is a perfect way to describe The Frame, a high-style 4K display from Samsung that morphs into wall art when it’s not in use. While the idea of concealing a TV behind artwork is nothing new—there are companies that specialize in motorized TV concealment systems—Samsung’s fully integrated execution is the most elegant approach we’ve seen.