Premiere Design

Filmmakers and musicians spend countless hours tweaking their images and sound to perfection. But when their masterworks are played on home A/V systems, that carefully crafted music might sound nothing like it did in the studio, and that hot video might look lukewarm on the average flat-panel monitor.

When you consider the price of a power amp, it's interesting to calculate the cost per watt. In that light, the Gaku-On monoblock from British maker <A href="http://www.audionote.co.uk">Audio Note</A> and distributed in the US by <A href="http://www.audiofederation.com">Audio Federation</A> is the most expensive power amp I know of.

Is the NL Reference from Florida-based <A href="http://www.edgeamp.com">Edge Electronics</A> just another high-power, high-priced monoblock power amp? I think not.

There are power amps, and there are power amps&#151;and then there's the Pivetta Opera One. Standing six feet tall and weighing over half a ton, this monster is designed by Pivetta Andrea (pictured here with his creation), built by the Italian company bearing his given name, and distributed worldwide exclusively by <A href="http://www.higherfi.com">HigherFi</A>.

I don't typically cover so-called multimedia speakers in this blog, but when I came across an ad for the GLA-55 from <A href="http://www.harmankardon.com">Harman Kardon</A> in an upscale magazine, I was intrigued. The cabinet looks like it was chiseled from rock crystal, and its beauty turns out to extend well below the surface.

As you may have surmised by now, the Ultimate Gear blog is dedicated to A/V products that are extreme in terms of performance, design, and/or price. I normally try to find items that embody all three elements, but sometimes, one of them takes center stage. So it is with the PrestigeHD Signature Rose LCD TV from British luxury purveyor <A href="http://stuarthughes.com">Stuart Hughes</A>, which can be yours for only &#163;1.5 million, or about $2.2 million as of this writing.

As an A/V enthusiast, you might well be familiar with <A href="http://www.kaleidescape.com">Kaleidescape</A>, a California-based maker of high-end movie servers. <I>UAV</I> hasn't covered its products lately because we are dedicated to high def, and they have been limited to serving DVDs&#151;until now. The company today announced the introduction of full support for Blu-ray with its new M-Class architecture.