Darryl Wilkinson

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CEDIA 2010

Darryl Wilkinson | Sep 22, 2010 | 0 comments

As part of a suite of energy saving products aimed at saving up to as much as 60 percent of home energy usage, Lutron is introducing a plug-in appliance module that will integrate with the company’s current RadioRA2 lighting control system. The new module turns off standby power to electronic appliances when not in use, which Lutron says can save up to 10 percent of a home’s electricity usage. Installation is simple: plug the appliance into the module, and then plug the module into the wall. After installed and programmed into a RadioRA2 system, appliance control can be incorporated into whole-house scenes, such as “Goodnight” and “Away”. Scheduled to be available in December of this year, the module will have a list price of $149.

CEDIA 2010

Phase Tech Wants You to “Dance You’re A** Off”

Darryl Wilkinson | Sep 21, 2010 | 0 comments

Former Spice Girl “Scary Spice”, Mel B, and current star of both “Mel B: It’s a Scary Life” and “Dance Your A** Off” is getting some Phase Technology, Induction Dynamics, and SoundTube speakers in her (no doubt, plush) home in California. I’m sure as part of a quid pro quo, Mel B is going to appear at the Phase Technology/Induction Dynamics/SoundTube (all part of the MSE Audio Group) booth on Friday, September 24th, in order to sign autographs and attract as much attention to the booth as possible. I was never a fan of the Spice Girls, nor do I watch any of Mel B’s current TV efforts – but I will go by the booth; not on Friday, though, because they’re having free beer on Thursday. (I’d have gone by regardless of the free booze since Phase Tech is one of my favorite all-around speaker companies.)

CEDIA 2010

Russound Sends the iPod to Collage

Darryl Wilkinson | Sep 21, 2010 | 0 comments

If you read our review of Russound’s Collage Powerline Media and Intercom System, you know I was extremely impressed with its ease of install, reliability, and potential capabilities. One of those capabilities – integrating with an iPod through an optional iPod dock – is now a reality because Russound is introducing the CPD1, which makes your iPod an available source on a Collage system. Since the Collage system uses Powerline technology for connectivity, there are no new wires and few additional wires that need to be run to install the system. Installing the CPD1 is just as easy (about as plug and play as you can get), and the dock adds a third source of music in addition to music stored on networked computers and each Collage Keypad’s built-in FM tuner.

On-Wall Speaker Reviews

Definitive Technology Mythos XTR-50 On-Wall Speaker System

Darryl Wilkinson | Aug 23, 2010 | 1 comments

Price: $3,912 At A Glance: Less than 2 inches thick, including the wall mount • Catenary-geometry-derived aluminum-dome woofers • Aluminum enclosure

How Perfect Can Perfect Get?

It’s always a big deal when Definitive Technology introduces a new speaker. Why? Well, as I’ve written in the past, the company has hit as many home runs as Mark McGwire—without the engineers taking any banned steroids, testosterone supplements, male-enhancement products, or vitamins. (That last part about the vitamins probably isn’t true. I’ll leave it to your imagination about the rest.) In the same way fans watched with anticipation and cameras flashed every time McGwire came up to bat, those of us who are lucky enough to do this sort of thing for a living eagerly await the chance to get our remote-control-stained hands on any new Definitive Technology speakers. Unlike with McGwire, it would be big news for the Definitive Technology team to strike out. None of us sitting in the press box really expect that to happen, though. We’re most interested in finding out how good the new speakers are going to be.

AV Receiver Reviews

Cambridge Audio Azur 650R A/V Receiver

Darryl Wilkinson | Aug 15, 2010 | 0 comments

Price: $1,799 At A Glance: Second- and third-zone A-BUS keypad outputs with video • Extra channels to biamp front speakers • Audio Split mode • Optional iPod dock

Simpler Sounds Better

I’m not sure I qualify as an Anglophile, but I do like most things British—except for spotted dick. Even after you know that it’s just steamed suet pudding, it still doesn’t sound any better. So I expected that I’d feel a continually growing affinity for the new Azur 650R AVR from Cambridge Audio (that’s the “other” Cambridge for you Massachusetters). Since it began in 1968, the company has made a well-respected, high-fidelity name for itself. It even built the world’s first two-box CD player. After a tough time in the mid-’80s, Cambridge Audio was acquired by Audio Partnership, which currently owns a number of other venerable U.K. brands. As I hear them tell it, this economy of scale is a good thing for Cambridge Audio—and something that most higher-end companies don’t normally enjoy—because such a spread of brands lets the parent company employ an unusually high percentage of engineers on their staff (almost 40 percent). They happily tell the fact as if it guarantees them success and good cheer. Or at least good gear. I certainly expected it to be that way. I was initially impressed by the specs and build quality, so it surprised me when I didn’t keep that warm and fuzzy-logic feeling after I first set up the Azur 650R. In fact, I began to think that maybe Audio Partnership had hired too many engineers.

Blu-ray Player Reviews

Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD Blu-ray Player

Darryl Wilkinson | Aug 02, 2010 | 0 comments

Price: $699 At A Glance: DVD-Audio and SACD playback • Pure audio mode • Not a Blu-ray 3D player • Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Decoding•

Fastest Drawer in the West?

A quick Internet search can easily turn up a Blu-ray player or two for sale at close to $100—and plenty of decent-performing ones for less than $200. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a refurbished player for under a hundred bucks. The great thing about the situation for consumers is that there are plenty of goodperforming, affordable Blu-ray players out there—but that means any upscale manufacturer has its work cut out for it to distinguish itself from the herd. So if a manufacturer is going to be bold enough to come out with a Bluray player for $699 or so, that machine had better be top notch.

Custom Installation Equipment Reviews Custom Installation How-To

Going Retro

Darryl Wilkinson | Jun 16, 2010 | 0 comments

I’ve always lived in a used house. “Existing home” is the euphemism real estate people like to use. Life is good—until you realize that there are no phone jacks close to the spots where your bed or desk should go. And why are there no Ethernet jacks in the house? And no wiring for TVs anywhere but the living room? Needless to say, you can’t find in-wall speakers, volume controls, or multiroom A/V distribution of any kind. Maybe you should have guessed from the horse and buggy parked in the garage when your real estate agent showed the house that the previous owners weren’t interested in keeping up with the more technologically advanced Joneses across the street.

In-Wall Speaker Reviews

Triad DS500 In-Wall Speaker System

Darryl Wilkinson | Jun 07, 2010 | 0 comments

Price: $3,400 At A Glance: Totally invisible speakers • Extremely diffuse dispersion • Must be used with a subwoofer

Invisible or Invisibull?

It’s a terrible disease in which your brain gets eaten away from the inside out—yet you won’t see those little donation boxes at checkout counters begging for your loose change to find a cure. In fact, most people aren’t aware that it even exists, although they certainly see its debilitating effects every day. It’s called Chronic Euphemism Syndrome (CES), and it runs rampant throughout consumer electronics companies’ marketing departments. Salespeople suffer mightily from it, too. The entire profession is tainted with images of the truth being throttled to within inches of its life in the back room where the salesperson heads after he says, “Let me ask my manager.”

Media Server Reviews Streaming Device Reviews Wireless Multiroom Speaker Reviews

Multiroom Magic with Sonos

Darryl Wilkinson | Apr 26, 2010 | 0 comments

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

Price: $1,098 (as reviewed)

At A Glance: Robust wireless communication between devices • Supports most audio codecs except Apple FairPlay DRM-protected and WMA lossless • Access to numerous online audio-subscription services • ZonePlayers can stream local analog sources to other zonesI’ve often thought it would be nice to have music in multiple rooms of the house; but, as I’ve alluded, my home is not custom install friendly. I decided that a wireless multiroom system would definitely be the best bet. Sonos, a company that focuses exclusively on wireless multiroom audio, has a system that’s designed to do just thatŃand moreŃin up to 32 independent zones without breaking the bank or tearing down any walls. After I read the endearing tag line, “Wireless that works like magic,” I thought, what better time or place could there be to check out Sonos’ latest system incarnation? So I asked Sonos to send out its Bundle 150 two-zone package ($999 ) plus a ZoneBridge and let the fun begin.

Custom Installation Equipment Reviews

Russound Collage Powerline Media and Intercom System

Darryl Wilkinson | Apr 19, 2010 | 0 comments

Price: $3,945 At A Glance: Up to three independent music streams • Built-in FM tuner in each keypad • Rhapsody and SHOUTcast Internet radio access

Collage Hits a Home Run

Given the choice, Hercules would choose to clean the Augean stables in a single day rather than wire my house for multiroom audio. Gypsum dust, asbestos-laden insulation fibers, desiccated rodents, and poisonous spiders are just a few of the delights that await the installer (or, in reality, me) who takes on the task. It’s also a logistical nightmare since my house doesn’t have an attic or basement, plus the house only has about 8 inches of crawl space underneath it. Don’t get me wrong, I like my house. It’s the thought of running wire through, under, and around it that gives me pause.

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Darryl Wilkinson

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