Tom Norton

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CES 2009
Pioneer Speakers
Tom Norton  |  Jan 08, 2009
There are two new members of Pioneer's premier speaker family. The S-4EX-W, the smaller bookshelf model in the photo, and the smaller center channel,the S-8EX-W. (The two floor standers and the subwoofer are not shown here.) The Pioneer rep on hand seemed a bit fuzzy on the prices, but $4,000/pair for the bookshelves and $2100 for the center was his story. All of the speakers, and corresponding in-walls, employ a unique magnesium cone woofer with an integral, coaxially mounted beryllium-dome tweeter. Shipping now.
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Pioneer Speaks
Tom Norton  |  Sep 06, 2007

Pioneer also had its new S-3EX speakers on static display. A smaller, $6000/pair variation on the floorstanding S-1EX we reviewed recently, the S-3EX keeps the price down by employing a simpler cabinet, substituting carbon graphite for the tweeter diaphragm instead of the beryllium used in the S-1EX, and using a slightly smaller midrange cone (but still made of magnesium). While the S-3EX should ship soon, you'll have to wait until mid 2008 for the matching center channel and "bookshelf" models.

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Pioneer VSX-94TXH
Tom Norton  |  May 09, 2007

Pioneer VSX-94TXH

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CEDIA 2010
Pioneer's Blue Light Specials
Tom Norton  |  Sep 24, 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!
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Pixar Blu-ray Pix
Tom Norton  |  Nov 14, 2007
Ratatouille, Cars, and Pixar Short Films Collection
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Planar
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2008  |  Published: Sep 06, 2008
Planar demonstrated its current PD 8150 DLP projector on a huge, acoustically transparent screen (about 10-feet wide), and the image was plenty bright. The demo material was also some of the best and most diversified seen at the show (from Con Air, Pixar Shorts ("One Man Band"), and A Night at the Museum). The manufacturers shown contributed equipment to the system.
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PMC
Tom Norton  |  Sep 16, 2006

PMC Pro and Bryston demonstrated this small bedroom system.

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PMC In and On
Tom Norton  |  Jan 11, 2007

PMC also showed these new in- and on-wall speakers. The Wafer 1 sells for $1199 each (on-wall version) and the Wafer 2 for $1799 (on-wall). The demo was a bit atypical of how the environment of the speakers in an actual installation, but they still sounded quite good. The speakers are actually loaded into transmission lines, despite their small size.

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CEDIA 2011
Polk LSiM
Tom Norton  |  Sep 11, 2011
The new Polk LSiM flagship lineup was mentioned in an earlier blog, but here's a shot of the whole family, from the top of the line LSiM 707 floorstanders ($4000/pr) on down to the two different center channels speakers (both of them 3-ways). This range was announced and first shown as last year's CEDIA, but production has been much delayed (see below for one reason why!). But they are now ready to ship. We're anticipating a review system real soon now.
CEDIA 2011
Polk on the Inside
Tom Norton  |  Sep 11, 2011
Here's a cutaway look at the insides of the Polk flagship LSiM 707. You can see why the release of the new LSiM lineup was much delayed. The cabinets are very complex to build.

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