The good news is, owners of the Theta Casablanca can finally get HDMI switching capability (4-in / 1-out). The price? $4,000 <i>provided</i> you're at Casablanca 3 level. To get there from my original Casablanca would add between $3K-$4k to that price. How bad do you want it?
With most of the same goodies found the $5,500 flagship RX-Z11 I recently reviewed in Home Theater magazine, this $2,700 receiver from Yamaha is a killer bargain! The below black and above white clipping Kris Deering noted in the review has been corrected in the new models (including newer Z11s). You get Internet radio, 140 watts x 7 channels, Rhapsody streaming, XM/Sirius readiness, and web-browser control, five HDMI inputs, two outputs, and scaling up to 1080p.
There are 12 coffee can sized driver housing lined up facing each other and porting out that long slot you see. It takes four of these units in total to get the THX seal of approval during install, but the price of $7,000 is actually pretty reasonable compared to a couple of $3,000 discrete subs.
Center channel in the new Klimt series from Vienna Acoustics is called the Poetry. Note the coaxially mounted tweeter and midrange. Quite lovely, and expensive, but I didn't get the price.
French audio manufacturer, heretofore excelling in two channel audio has put their toe into the home theater waters with their YA701 multichannel receiver. Okay, first off, there's no video switching built in, but YBA offers a video box with two HDMI inputs (one output) and two component and two composite inputs (and outputs). There is no accommodation for HD audio formats, but YBA plans an upgrade in the future for Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD MA. Pretty cool and we're looking forward to the next generation.
The front panel LCD screen is an integral part of the new SSP220. It looks great, as does the rear panel connection which feature both single-ended and balanced outputs. Video processing includes converting component to HDMI up to 1080p. It's good to see some high end companies like Halcro getting into the home theater game, even if the SSP220 is $12,000!
Michael Kelly stands next to his updated 20T speaker. German manufactured speaker material includes carbon fiber. The cast ribbon guide is a custom piece as well.