Price: $1299 At A Glance: Good detail & shadow detail • Vivid colors • Not-so-great blacks • Excellent user interface
I've always liked Epson projectors—they generally produce an excellent picture for a reasonable price, which makes them a great value. The PowerLite Home Cinema 8350 is no exception, though it's not quite the home run that Epson's UB (ultra-black) models are. In fact, my primary complaint with the 8350 is its not-so-great blacks, which isn't helped much by the dynamic iris on real-world material. Granted, its blacks are better than those of the Optoma HD20, but they're still too bright to achieve a really great picture, especially in dark scenes. Also, colors are not spot-on accurate with this Epson, though I didn't find that bothersome when watching Blu-rays, DVDs, and TV programming. Another surprise—despite color fringing and softness I saw in certain test patterns, the detail in real-world content was quite good, if just a tad softer than the DLP-based HD20.
With one of the longest model designations in the industry, Epson's new top-of-the-line 1080p projector will be available in two versions—the Pro Cinema 7500 UB (<$5000) and the Home Cinema 6500 UB (<$3000). Both include HQV Reon-VX processing, a purported contrast ratio of 75,000:1, Fujinon lens, and high-speed auto iris. The Pro version includes an extra lamp, ceiling mount, ISF certification, longer warranty, and anamorphic scaling with an optional Panamorph lens. Both should be available in December.
Among all the super-expensive projectors at CEDIA, some of the biggest buzz has been about Epson's entry into the LCoS market, which turns out not to be entirely true. In fact, Epson has developed a new but related imaging technology it calls "3LCD Reflective," which is basically liquid crystal on quartz instead of silicon. (Keep in mind that quartz is silicon dioxide, so maybe it's not that different after all.)
I've had a very old equalizer for about 25 years, and I would love to use it for listening to my tapes. To do so, however, I didn't know that the receiver needs a "tape monitor" capability, which most modern receivers don't have. Are there any equalizers that do not need tape monitoring?
While religious and political animosity continues to brew between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, there is one thing they can agree on: digital cinema. A subsidiary of technology and services provider <A href="http://www.avicatech.com">Avica</A>, Digital Cinema Limited (DCL), has announced that they are starting to implement a nationwide digital-cinema network that will ultimately lead to a conversion of all 515 screens in both regions of the Emerald Isle to the digital format. After two years of planning, DCL began installing the first 25 projectors earlier this month and hopes to have all Irish screens operational within a year at a cost of over $53 million.
Who would have thought that Estonia, a tiny republic on the Baltic Sea in the far northeast corner of the European continent, is home to a high-end speaker maker? Estelon was founded in 2006 to bring the vision of designer Alfred Vassllkov to life. His first productthe Model XAis still the company's flagship.
When I first saw a photo of this speaker, it reminded me of a Mexican chiminea, a free-standing clay fireplace with a bulbous lower body and tall, thin smokestack. But the only heat generated by this bad boy is of the sonic variety. Born of a collaboration between Serbian ribbon-speaker specialist <A href="http://www.raalribbon.com">RAAL</A> and American pro-audio designer <A href="http://www.requisiteaudio.com">Requisite Audio</A>, the <A href="http://www.raal-requisite.com">RAAL Requisite Eternity</A> is the world's only speaker with a cast-bronze woofer enclosure.
According to the Home Cinema Choice blog on TechRadar.com, the idea of exclusively bundling the Avatar 3D Blu-ray with Panasonic's 3D productsa deal that runs until February 2012was initiated by 20th Century Fox, not Panasonic. Also, this is likely to be a one-time thing for the company, not a regular policy.
The Great Audio-Cable Debate Are exotic audio cables worth the money? Can you really hear the difference? I have a hard time putting my arms around spending thousands of dollars on cable made of 99.9999% long-grain copperas I understand it, copper is copper. Also, I've been told to use XLR interconnects.