Mark Fleischmann

Audio Video News
Wilmington, NC Lives the DTV Future Now
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 11, 2008
The DTV transition took over a whole metro area for the first time this week. Folks in Wilmington, North Carolina are getting digital signals exclusively in a trial run for the overall U.S. DTV transition which is scheduled for February 17, 2009. That's when analog broadcasting will stop entirely, with analog signals surviving only in cable, satellite, and other non-antenna systems. Wilmington is just experiencing the future a few months early.
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THX Media Director Moves Forward
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 07, 2008
At CES 2008, THX began talking about Media Director, a program that would get hardware and software to talk to one another via metadata, automatically running movies with the right audio and video parameters. THX is now assembling a database of 1000 popular movie titles, codenamed Aardvark, to assemble the metadata needed for each piece of content. And it's now using the HDMI Infoframe Analyzer, shown here, to test audio and video devices to ensure that they shake hands and exchange metadata with one another, sort of like digital beings swapping business cards in a bar.
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LG Blu Does DTS-HD
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 07, 2008
Does LG's new BD-300 Blu-ray player do DTS-HD? Early product information had been vague on this point, with references to Dolby TrueHD but none to its DTS counterpart. Well, there is a DTS-HD logo on the player, so it must decode DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. Without downconverting them to DTS Core, I hope.
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BG Sub Takes Unusual Shape
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
BG's THX-certified BGX-4850 is an in-wall sub that fits into a 7 by 26.5 inch space with standard 2x4 construction. Backed with an external 2200-watt amp, it uses a series of four-inch cones paired off and facing one another, a strategy known as mass balancing. It was demoed amid the sonic chaos of the show floor and did produce good bass.
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Canton Refines and Adds Speaker Lines
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
The new Canton Reference 3.2DC is a second-generation implementation with ceramic-aluminum tweeter and aluminum mid and woofers, with the mid on top. It and the new GLE line have rounder contours surrounding the baffle to improve dispersion. The Ergo has gone from black to silver cones and the Vento has added a very handsome curved center. Wood veneers on the glossy Reference and not-so-glossy Vento are furniture grade and would not mar even the nicest home decor. Canton is nailing the in-a-box crowd with the DM 2, a 2.1-channel system that will also be available in a 5.1-channel version with a wireless surround option. The bidirectional RF LCD remote looks pretty spiffy.
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Geneva Systems Multiply
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
Judging from the display, Geneva Lab has been adding to its array of compact systems. The newer ones seem smaller than the big one we reviewed.
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TiVo Goes THX
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
The TiVo HD XL ($599) records up to 150 hours in HD. It can even record two shows at once. Loaded with "DTV transition ready" ATSC tuner and a CableCARD slot, it has been voted The Product Mark Fleischmann Is Most Likely to Have Slipped into His Briefcase If the THX People Hadn't Been Hanging Around Him Trying to Tell Him Stuff.
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Paradigm Re-Does Reference--Mark's Reference--Again
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
Oops, Paradigm has done it again. The original Reference Series Studio 20 was a simple rectangular solid. In version 4 it acquired a curved tweeter-on-top portion. And at CEDIA, Paradigm showed yet another new version with side curves. The former vinyl wrap has also given way to wood veneers. As a user of two generations of Studio 20s, including the now-outgoing one, I'm more than interested in this. How amazing that it should happen in the same show where Rotel updated my reference receiver. The new Studio 20 ships in January, pricing to be determined.
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Paradigm In-Walls Are Updated and Monster Sub Has USB
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
Also new from Paradigm are the in-wall PCS80SQ and in-ceiling PCS ADR, $299/each. I didn't get a chance to hear them but it's encouraging that Paradigm designed rack-mount amps especially for them, including the 300-watt X300 and 850-watt X850. My colleagues have already covered the 3000-watt Signature Sub 25, with its three-inch woofer excursion, but I thought I'd throw in a rear shot. Note the USB input which facilitates mic measurement, because if there's one component in your system you really need to dial in right away, it's the sub!
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Totem Brings High Performance to Your Wall
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 06, 2008
In-wall models have always been thick on the ground at CEDIA and in recent years good ones have proliferated. Among the best I heard at this show were Totem Acoustic's Tribe In-wall LCR. Even amid the noise of the show floor, it immediately began communicating musically with a sonic signature that should be very familiar to Totem fans. Bass was strong, dynamics good. Price is $995/each. Totem also showed and demoed the Tribe In-Ceiling, with its dual angled baffles, and considering the acoustic challenges facing any in-ceiling model, it sounded almost equally good. Both have multiple woofers, passive radiators, magnetic grille, back box, anodized aluminum front frame, and biwire terminals.
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