Fred Manteghian

"<i>Our chief weapon is greater capacity...greater capacity and more manufacturer support
… more manufacturer support and greater capacity. Our *three* weapons are more manufacturers and greater capacity…and higher content availability…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Blu-ray consortium…. Our *four* …no… *Amongst* our weapons…. *Amongst* our weaponry…are such elements as more manufacturers, greater capacity….I'll come in again.</i>"

I got a chance to see the Statement D2 pre/pro from Anthem up close. I like the 4 HDMI inputs but I'm already starting to think 5 or even 6 would be appropriate for the next gen. Marketing manager Mark Aling told me their new room equalization software is now available and will be integrated into the D2. It adds a couple of hundred to the price, bringing it up to just under $7K. Unusual is Anthems recognition that every EQ mic shipped with a pre/pro or receiver is inherently different from each other mic, so they actually cut a CD for each microphone / serial# combination and their software recognizes where compensation is needed to overcome the sample to sample variation between microphones. I doubt you'll ever see that level of detail from a mass-market receiver manufacturer, but in a "statement" product like the D2, it really sets Anthem apart from the pack. If you already own a D1 or D2, you can get the upgrade by contacting your dealer.

NHT has come a long way, or a different way, or, whatever. Their A/V pre/pro, bundled with five speakers, two self-powered subs, five 4-channel amps (one for each speak), plus, uh, wires I think, goes for $40,000! Each of the amp's channels is responsible for one of the four drivers in each speaker, so there is no crossover in the speakers themselves. Of course, in the middle of the convention hall you couldn't get much of a feel for the systems sound. I would have liked to have heard an isolated room demo.

THX is working a new connect-the-world project, code named Blackbird. Having seen how easy it is for the general public to mangle their picture and sound with all the new toys they've been acquiring recently, Blackbird presents a solution for the three cardinal sins of home theater, by sending metadata in the form of control signals through HDMI to all Blackbird enabled devices in the chain.