Mark Fleischmann

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
CEDIA 2011
Procella Continues Two-Part Strategy
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
Why bolt a speaker onto a sub? Well, if you deploy five or more of them, your surround system's regular sub will have huge reinforcement, great coverage, no holes in bass response. That's what Procella does with products like the new P610. Thanks to shallow depth, it's not as bulky as it looks. Inside are a 10-inch sub driver at bottom with a 6.5-inch midrange and one-inch tweeter at top, the latter recessed deep into a waveguide. Price $3199 for the speaker half and $1499 for the sub half.
CEDIA 2011
Induction Dynamics Rocks T-Heads
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense was crackling and rocking at the Induction Dynamics booth, benefiting from the dARTS DSP-based room correction developed by stablemate Phase Technology. The system with S1.8Td tower, C1.8d center, S1.8Sd surround, and SW2 sub totaled $55,000-60,000 depending on finish and config. The demo system pictured was in basic black but I loved the gloss rosewood shown in front of the booth. Are 63 different grille colors enough?
CEDIA 2011
Definitive Technology Bows StudioMonitors
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The venerable Baltimore-based speaker maker showed three new monitors, two new soundbars, and three new subs. The three StudioMonitors include the SM65, an LCR with two 5.25-inch woofers ($449/each), SSM 55, a two-way design with 6.5-inch woofer, $299/each), and SM 45, two-way, 5.25-inch ($199/each). The two larger models have passive radiators on top; the smaller one is back-ported. All have woofer phase plugs whose rubber surfaces are dimpled to control air flow. These speakers are voiced for the audiophile on a budget, as opposed to the home theater buff looking for deep thrills, so the bass is said to trade off midbass force for greater extension. Shipping October. DefTech's two new soundbars include the XTR-SSA5 ($999) which has woofer-tweeter-woofer arrays for three front channels plus some extra drivers that sorta kinda contribute to surround effects (it's a long story). With Pink Floyd's "Money," the five-channel bar managed to break the cash-register effects free from the bar, about a foot out and to the sides. The three-channel version is the XTR-SSA3 ($799). Three new subs range in price from $599-799 and have remote controllable preset EQ modes. Coming this fall is the ProCinema 400 sat/sub set ($599).
CEDIA 2011
Monster Does Speakers and Cloud Power Control
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The two big stories at the MonsterCable press conference were the introduction of a glossy powered speaker and a cloud-based initiative that makes powerline conditioners more versatile in operation.

Continue Reading >
CEDIA 2011
Onkyo Has Ultra-HD Upscaling But...
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The Onkyo TX-NR5009 ($2899) and TX-NR3009 ($2199) and their Integra equivalents are the only receivers that upscale to 4K x 2K. But they weren't as photogenic as the two docking systems, the iOnly Play, left, with cool sliding cover over the dock; and the iOnly Bass, right, which is large enough to accommodate an iPad. Pricing $249 for either.
CEDIA 2011
Ten Reasons to Like Integra
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The Integra DTR-80.3 nine-channel receiver ($3000) and DHC-80.3 pre-pro ($2600) and their Onkyo equivalents are the only receiver/pre-pro that upscale to 4K by 2K. That they can be ISF-calibrated for each source component is just as unusual and even more impressive. Pictured: Ten reasons why custom installers like to do business with Integra.
CEDIA 2011
Klipsch in a Can Is Surprisingly Tasty
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
Klipsch now makes headphones, as shown by Brooke Hilsmeyer. The killer is the MODE noise-canceling model which sounded great and worth $350. There is also a smaller non-NC Reference 1 and an S4A earbud, designed especially for use with Android devices.
CEDIA 2011
MK Sound Does First True Tower
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The relaunched MK Sound has introduced something it never had before: a true tower loudspeaker. Previous ones were actually just stand-mounts on tower-shaped pedestals. The THX-certified F-950 ($2200/pair) has two 5.25-inch woofers with dual magnets for extra oomph plus a soft dome tweeter in a box to protect it from its own back wave. Also shown were three new THX-certified subs (8, 10, 12 inches) using MK's famous push/pull technology.
CEDIA 2011
Polk In-Ceiling Packs Hidden Punch
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
Each of these three in-ceiling models has a concealed woofer mounted at a diagonal. It fires through apertures at the front, where there are also tweeter and midrange drivers. Prices range from $400-1000/pair with ascending woofer sizes from 6 to 8.6 inches. Two buttons tailor the speaker to the space. They include a notch filter and a circuit that adjusts for room reflections.
CEDIA 2011
Polk Bar Liberated by Box
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 08, 2011
The Polk SurroundBar 500 ($999) was first announced a year and a half ago but took some fine tuning. It moves the messy details of connectivity to an outboard rack-size box, left, allowing the enclosure to be just 0.9 inches deep. It can operate in three-, five-, and seven-channel modes. The woofers at the sides have dual voice coils to make such complex motion possible. The picture may not do justice to the dimpled surface of the drivers, which we assume is for air-flow control. Oh, and have we mentioned that Polk has overhauled its excellent LSi Series for the first time since 2002? There are two towers, a monitor, two centers, and a surround. One or more of them will prove quite reviewable.

Pages

X