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CES 2012
PSB Rocks Imagine T2 Tower
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 12, 2012
PSB's Imagine T2 tower can be mentioned in the same breath as the brand's world-beating Synchrony line. The titanium tweeter and polypropylene midrange are backed up with three polypropylene woofers crossed over at 500Hz, 250Hz, and 80Hz, making this a five-way speaker. All drivers live in separate chambers to prevent them from interfering with one another. The result of all that scrupulous construction and ingenuity is a genuinely fantastic sounding speaker with powerful bass, a musically adept midrange, and just the right amount of top end. The number of audio demos at the show that came close can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Price is $3500/pair in veneer or $3850/pair in gloss white or black.
CES 2012
Forbidden Fruit Beckons at Venetian
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
It is hard to walk from the Sands Convention Center to the audio exhibits at the Venetian Towers without noticing this tempting array of candy apples. They sure looked better than the modest fruit distributed with the press room's box lunches.
CES 2012
Lexicon Amp Is Mating with Receivers
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
You'd think a Lexicon multichannel amplifier would get hooked up almost exclusively to a Lexicon pre-pro. But we're told the DD-8 amp is actually being used by a lot of consumers as an upgrade for an a/v receiver which is then relegated to the role of pre-pro. A winner of awards at both CES and CEDIA, the amp musters 125 watts into eight channels and sells for $2500.
CES 2012
Revel Shows Middle Speaker Line
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
The new Revel Performa 3 speaker line nestles snugly in the middle niche between the higher-end Ultima and more affordable Concerto. Ten models (shown here in prototype form) will include two monitors, three towers, two centers, surround, and two subs. Most will ship this summer except for one tower and one sub, due in fall. Enclosures now have curved sides. The floorstanders have rounded backs while the monitors have straight backs. New driver arrays and waveguides make things even more interesting. By the way, one of the most satisfying demos we've heard at CES so far was the Revel W780 in-wall speaker. For $600/each you get strong bass extension and a midrange that's kind to vocalists.
CES 2012
McIntosh Pre-Pro Does AirPlay at Half the Price
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
The new McIntosh MX121 pre-pro is, at $6000, half the price of its predecessor. And it's got AirPlay!—along with the updated HDMI connectivity and video versatility you'd expect. McIntosh also did a very impressive two-channel demo featuring its XR100 floorstanding speaker, a four-way design featuring a super-tweeter, two mid-tweeters, eight midranges, and four woofers for a mere $10,000/pair. Build quality is over the top: the tweeters have the kind of voice coils you'd expect to see mated with a 10-inch woofer. Surging strings were detailed in an almost three-dimensional sense. If you think McIntosh is just another pretty fascia, you should hear these speakers. Also shown was the Anniversary 275 stereo tube amp, so called because only 275 will be made.
CES 2012
Dynaudio Goes Wireless
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
As Dynaudio's first wireless speaker, the Xeo stays right up to date with a significant CES 2012 trend. Getting that capability with the usual sweet Dynaudio sound will cost you $4500/pair for the floorstander or $2300/pair for the stand-mount. However, if you add additional pairs, you can reduce those speaker prices by the $350 cost of the transmitter/receiver kit. The signal is uncompressed, naturally.
CES 2012
Aerial Gets More Sensitive
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
Aerial Acoustics has long been known for great-sounding speakers but not, until now, for those with high sensitivity or efficiency ratings. The Model 7 changes that with an efficiency rating of 89dB, something that can run off a decent receiver with, say, 50 watts per channel. Price $9850/pair.
CES 2012
DeVore Nails It
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
Really good sound was heard in the DeVore Fidelity room. That's all we have to say. Isn't that enough?
CES 2012
Summit Moves the Sweet Spot
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
The coolest trick at CES was Summit Semiconductor's WiSA (Wireless Speaker & Audio) technology and the way it could literally move the sweet spot from the usual front-and-center position off to the side or to the back of the room. It was uncanny. WiSA spreads uncompressed high-res signals wirelessly among powered speakers. You're looking at the power/receiver board that makes it work. WiSA will surface first in Aperion products. The loudspeaker industry would be crazy not to jump on this, especially since it can be built into speaker systems selling for less than $1000.
CES 2012
MK Celebrates a THX First
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2012
MK's M7 speaker is the first—anyone's, not just MK's—to receive THX Compact Speaker certification. That means it produces sound pressure levels of up to 105dB in rooms up to 1000 feet and at distances of up to eight feet. Price $1000/pair. MK also showed a few prototypes including the MP9 three-channel soundbar, available in white or black gloss for $1000, and an in-wall sub with dual eight-inch drivers in an aluminum-steel enclosure with 400-watt hybrid amp. Look for both in June or July.

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