Home Theater Gear

Onkyo releases the $599MSRP TX-SR608 A/V receiver with HDMI 1.4 for 3D support. The TX-SR608 supports two of the features found in the HDMI 1.4 feature set, those being the aforementioned 3D support, and the audio return channel. The audio return channel, as the name suggests, passes audio back from a TV's built in tuner to the receiver, making for an elegant, single cable solution.

What else has Onkyo wrought for the new 608? It gains 10 watts from the 607, courtesy of a new amplifier section that harness the power of  inverted triple stage Darlington output, and 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown PCM1690 DACs for better audio quality. The new receiver is now THX® Select2 Plus certified, whereas the outgoing TX-SR607 bore no such mark of THX approval.

For those of you with a PC that you want to connect to your AV system, yet are saddled with only a HD-15 VGA video connector, the new 608 welcomes you with open arms, as it has just such a video input for you to take advantage of. That's a real help if your TV has no such input, because it will be sent over the HDMI cable. All output can be scaled all the way to 1080p using the built-in Faroudja DCDi. The old unit only went as far as 1080i.

Onkyo has also upgraded the unit's GUI to a more 21st century appearance, with transparent overlays, cool icons, and color graphics. All in all Onkyo has made some satisfying upgrades, and kept the cost in check, meaning more value for you in your home theater.

Posted by 1touch at 07:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

JVC introduced new wireless speakers, a powered subwoofer, and a new sound bar today. It is just the thing if you can't or don't want to run new wires in a family room, bedroom, or den, but are looking for a surround sound system. 

From JVC:

"JVC today introduced a pair of soundbar home theater systems, offering consumers a home theater sound solution to meet a range of budgets and needs. Among the two new systems is the world’s first dual wireless soundbar system that features a wireless subwoofer and wireless surround speakers. The other is highlighted by a super-slim soundbar and a thin, wall-mountable amplifier.

JVC’s new dual wireless soundbar system is the TH-BA3, a 280-watt, 5.1-channel surround sound system that includes a sound bar, wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speaker kit comprised of wireless left and right surround speakers and a wireless receiver. The sound bar contains four speakers – one each for the left and right main channels and two for the center channel. Also built into the sound bar is the power amplifier, surround decoding, system controls and the transmitter for the wireless surround speakers. It offers one analog and two optical digital inputs and decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals.

The new JVC TH-BS7 system is designed to match the slimmest of flat panel HDTVs. It includes a sliver of a soundbar that measures just 1.4 inches (36mm) tall, an even slimmer wall-mountable amplifier/control unit and a wireless subwoofer.

The 180-watt, 4.1-channel TH-BS7 owes its slim design to JVC’s own Direct Drive speaker technology that uses a unique voice coil design and strong neodymium magnets to deliver outstanding sound quality and a broad soundfield from a super-slim speaker. The design allows the TH-BS7’s soundbar to boast a frequency range of 200 - 20,000 Hz that falls to just 200 – 10,000 Hz at 360 degrees off-axis. The soundbar features four JVC Direct Drive speakers – left and right main channels and left and right surround channels – each driven by 20 watts. The two surround channels are processed using JVC’s Front Surround technology to provide a surround sound effect without the need for rear speakers.

Complementing the slim design of the soundbar is the system’s amplifier/control unit. It measures just 1.2 inches deep and can be wall mounted. It decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II, and offers one analog and three optical digital inputs. The system’s wireless subwoofer features a six-inch woofer powered by a 100-watt amplifier.

Pricing and availability:

"

Posted by 1touch at 06:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

  Triad Speakers, known for their wide range of home theater and custom installation oriented speakers, announced this week they would begin selling an in-wall speaker that is completely invisible once installed.  The invisible speaker category was pioneered more than a decade ago by Sound Advance Systems, and more recently entered by Mount Vernon, Washington based Stealth Acoustics.

For Triad Speakers, who has made their name building compact, high performance subwoofer/sat combinations, home theater speakers, and enclosed in-wall / in-ceiling speakers, invisible speakers are a perfect fit. Their dealers are heavily into the custom installation end of the market, and invisible speakers are nothing, if not a custom oriented product.

Triad's new ones are their Designer Series. They'll fit in barely more than an inch of depth, and are water resistant so you can install them outside, in bathrooms, or in pool rooms with no ill effects. They have limited low end response, and in fact are designed to be high pass filtered using special Triad crossovers that roll off at 120Hz. The crossovers also have limiting functionality built-in to protect the drivers (and possibly the wall) from excessive excursion.

The actual vibrating panel is constructed of high-tech, honeycomb aluminum driven by one or more transducers, and the frame is powder coated aluminum. The construction is reminiscent of an aircraft or race car. The aluminum panel is skinned with a thin membrane type material to give the paint and mud something to stick to.

The new speakers come in single point stereo or normal mono (2 required for stereo) versions. There are 1, 2, and 4 transducer versions ranging from $550 to $1,050 each. The crossovers are extra, but they're not, because you must use them, so figure their $100 (for 1 pair of speakers) cost into the overall bill.

The number of people who want the systems to be heard and not seen, appears to be growing, as more companies get into that niche.

Posted by 1touch at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is not the kind of email I ever want to receive. Upon opening my email this morning, I was greeted by the news that Jim Thiel, one of the founders of the legendary speaker company that bears his name, passed away late last week. Jim and partner Kathy Gornick started Thiel Audio back in 1976 during the "Golden Years" of audio.

 

Jim's talent as a loudspeaker designer was only eclipsed by his passion for his work. That combination produced some of the audio industry's great loudspeakers.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Jim and spending a few hours discussing speaker design, among other things, at the Thiel factory in Lexington, Kentucky. During that meeting and others to follow, I was always impressed with not only his depth of knowledge, but his willingness to take the time to discuss things both in and out of the audio industry.

His CS2.4 is still one of my favorite loudspeakers.

Jim was like the cordial mad scientist,  brilliant and approachable. The world is a worse place for his passing. RIP, Jim and condolences to Kathy, Dawn, all the others that knew and loved him.

Posted by 1touch at 04:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PSB Speakers, one of Canada's leading speaker manufacturers, showed off their newly designed Image series speakers at the CEDIA Expo. The Image series speakers have been in PSB's line for several years, and while they have received rave reviews for their great sound quality at a very reasonable price point from owners and critics alike, they were never the best looking speakers one might find. PSB has redesigned the Image series, and those critics sould now be silenced.

The speakers are a far cry from the drab, monolithic boxes many people tolerated in the past. Like your obnoxious uncle that was a generous financial whiz, you kept the old Image series around for certain attributes, all the while cringing about others. Now, however PSB looks to have answered their critics and have ensconced the new Image series speakers in slimmer, more attractive cabinets with gracefully curved front baffles. Said baffles are hewn from 1-1/8" MDF to give the drivers a solid platform from which to work and reduce cabinet resonance. Such baffles are rare in speakers at this price point. The cabinet's are internally divided to optimize enclosure size for the individual drivers, eliminate interdriver interference, and reduce standing waves that can affect many slim cabinet designs.

Their total makeover doesn't stop with the cabinets, either. No, PSB has seen fit to completely redesign the Image series from top to bottom. They have completely new drivers. Instead of the aluminum coated poly mid bass units of old, they now sport slick yellow clay/ceramic filled polypropylene midranges and woofers. The tweeters have not escaped the redesign either. They are the same 1" titanium units, PSB fits to their higher end Imagine series. For that matter, the mid-bass drivers and woofers are the same as found in the Imagine speakers too.

PSB has seen fit to change the line in terms of models too. They have added a smaller bookshelf speaker with a 4" driver. This is a great addition to the line, giving consumers an additional option when budget, aesthetics, or room size dictate a smaller sized and lower priced little bookshelf speaker. Add a sub, and you have a high performance little 2.1 package at an amazingly low price. The Image B-4 crams a ton of performance into a cabinet only slightly bigger than 5" wide by 9" tall. Even better, you get this excellent sound quality for only $299 a pair. One caveat with the Image B4, they are rear ported, so you can't place them on bookshelves with their back to the wall if you want to get the best they have to offer. CEDIA goers had nothing but rave reviews for this little dynamo. Some listeners even compared it to bookshelves costing three times the price.

If you want to use the Image B4 as the front speakers in a home theater set up, you're in luck; PSB has also introduced a matching center channel speaker, dubbed appropriately enough, the C4. It uses the same driver complement, but has the traditional W-T-W center channel layout, with two woofers flanking the tweeter. The Center channel will be priced at $275/ea when the new Image series starts hitting dealers shelves before the end of this month.

The new Image line also includes two tower speakers, one with  dual 6 in woofers, a 5-1/4" midrange and a titanium tweeter, and another with 2 5-1/4" mid bass units and a tweeter. These are the T66 and T5 respectively. Bookshelf speaker aficionados are rewarded with a trio of choices as well, the B6 and B5, in addition to the B4 already mentioned. There is a a larger C5 center and a S5 surround rounding out the new Image line.

All in all, the improved driver complement and redesigned cabintets promise to produce an instant classic. The old PSB image series speakers were already one of my favorite speakers in the bang for the buck category, and the new series improves on them in every area. PSB founder Paul Barton even said "....the Image Series represents my best achievement." That's a pretty strong statement from a man with a 30+ year history of creating notable speaker designs.

Posted by 1touch at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Harmon Kardon released the new AVR-7550HD AV receiver today. The new receiver boasts a plethora of cutting edge features, inlcuding  HDMI™ (V.1.3a with Deep Color), Faroudja DCDi Cinema™ digital-video processing, the Torino video processing chipset, providing extraordinary upscaling to 1080p over HDMI for all video sources. The AVR 7550HD is also compatible with HDMI (V.1.3a with Deep Color) devices.

The AVR 7550HD is one of the first new receivers to incorporate Dolby Volume and is the first to use the latest-generation Texas Instruments™ Aureus™ DA710 audio digital-signal processor. Not content to use one, Harman uses 2, in a dual-DSP implementation.

First shown at CES in Las Vegas, where it won the 2009 International CES Best of Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Award for the Audio Components category, the $2,800 receiver was supposed to have been available some time ago. If you've been around the A/V industry for any length of time, you're probably unfazed by slipped release dates though.

Swing by Harman's booth,  # 1924 in Hall C, to check it out.

Posted by 1touch at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Integra has announced they will be unveiling a bevy of new recievers and surround sound pre pros at the 2009 CEDIA Expo in Atlanta beginning Thursday. The new home theater components will include new technologies and extend some extisting ones lower in Integra's line up.

There will be four new A/V receivers (the DTR-40.1, DTR-50.1, DTR-70.1 and DTR-80.1) and a pair of surround pre pros (DHC-40.1 and DHC-80.1) making their debut at the Atlanta show. What's new? Well, to name a couple of things, you'll see Audyssey DSX and Dolby ProLogic IIz with its front height speaker capability. The Dolby ProLogic IIz adds the two additional speakers to expand the sound stage in the vertical dimension. The DTR-70.1 and DTR-80.1 and DHC-80.1 will get you the power of Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction.

All Integra receivers now feature some sort of Audyssey room correction, in addition to Audyssey Dynamic Volume, and Audyssey Dynamic EQ. TYhey have also jumped on the network media badnwagon in a big way. This functionality is supported by all the new Integra pieces. They not only allow you to stream music from your PC, but you can now add Pandora, Rhapsody, and Sirius Internet Radio to your list of sources. Rhapsody and Sirius will of course demand a smal fee before they'll come out and play. In addition, the new Integra units are fully, gasp, Windows 7 certified. If you need DLNA compatibility, they are also DLNA Version 1.5-certified.

On the video side of the equation, Integra hasn't forgotten things either. On the contrary, they have included Imaging Science Foundation's Certified Calibration Controls on the DTR-50.1, DTR-70.1 and DTR-80.1 receivers in addition to the two pre pros. The DTR-70.1 and DTR-80.1 and the DHC-80.1 also feature HQV Reon-VX video processing. If you think you'll ever run out of inouts, you may be right, but it's not because you have the typical TiVO HD, Vudu, cable box, BluRay Player, Satellite receiver, HTPC, and Kaleidescape. The new Integras boast at least 6 HDMI inputs, with the DTR-50.1 and DTR-70.1 increasing that number to 7, and the DTR-80.1 adding one more, to make it an even 8 HDMI inputs! The pre/pros give you dual HDMI outputs too.

You can run your entire system from these babies too, because the DHC-80.1 has 3 additional zones of powered stereo audio, in addition  to the 145 watt x 9 (remember, it's PLIIZ) channel surround system, for a total of four powered zones. Add a Crestron or AMX control system and you can have house audio system and home theater complete with full feedback to your control interfaces scattered throughout your humble abode.

How much will the new Integra receivers and pre/pros cost? Well, you'll have to shell out some green, although not as much as this sort of feature set would have garnered in years gone by. The prices (MSRP) for the new units are:
DTR-40.1 $1,000
DTR-50.1 $1,400
DTR-70.1 $2,000  
DTR-80.1 $2,800
DHC-40.1 $1,200
DHC-80.1 $2,300

Posted by 1touch at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wireless outdoor speakers are great for making your time around the yard much more enjoyable. Installing outdoor speakers is growing in popularity as people want to spend more time outdoors and enjoy it more. This is tailor made for those who entertain. One of the biggest obstacles encountered by folks wanting to bring their favorite music outside with them is the need to run speaker wire.

Up to now you had two choices; either tack unsightly wire or conduit up the side of your house, or spend a lot of money or time retrofitting the wires to the speaker locations. Wireless speakers? They just didn't sound good enough for all but the most basic installations, and if you any sort of audiophile aspirations you were out of luck altogether.

What about an iPOD or other MP3 player? Well, that would be great if you were the antisocial type and wanted to hang around with a pair of headphones on. If you're entertaining that is a pretty poor solution though. Hence the need for honest to goodness speakers that play music throughout your yard.

How about just bringing out a boom box? You could do that, but you'll get no access to your music collection, and in most cases the sound quality from these leaves a bit to be desired.

Technology waits for no one, and this has never been more true than with the wireless speakers now available for outdoor applications. The advent of powerful digital signal processing and digital transmission technologies, in some cases coupled with digital amplifiers that actually sound good, has enabled speaker engineers to develop some products that only 5 years ago would have been tremendously expensive, if you could get them at all.

Now, companies such as Soundcast systems have released products like the Outcast. The Outcast is one of the new class of high quality wireless outdoor speakers you can buy now. One of the secrets to their success is the use of the same Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) originally developed for secure, military, communications. It is now widely used by cordless telephone manufacturers to give their upper end cordless phones range and clear sound.

By all accounts the Outcast gives remarkable sound quality for a wireless speaker, but you'll pay a premium for that added build and sound quality. If you want a taste of that premium sound quality on a smaller budget, you can now get the Outcast Jr, a smaller version of the Outcast.

Even lower end outdoor speakers such as the more conventional 900MHz wireless rock speakers from companies such as TIC, Advent, and Audio unlimited are much better than others of their ilk from just half a decade ago. These just have a 900MHz radio transmitter with an RCA input for whatever source you want to use. This feeds a receiver in the speaker. Most of these type units are mono, but still fit the bill for getting your music where you want it with reasonable sound quality. They are about a third the cost of the Outcast systems.

Sony recently announced their new Altus wireless multi room audio system. This uses their S-AIR 5GHz technology first introduced a year ago to stream music around the house. While they as yet do not have a dedicated outdoor speaker option, their indoor speakers are so easy to move around that it would be a snap to remove them in times of bad weather, or when the sprinklers came on.

For another angle at getting your music outdoors, Logitech has their Squeezebox wireless media players. While not speakers, you can easily connect them to a set of outdoor speakers to get music stored on your computer playing outside with no wires. These babies have a really slick remote available that allows you to get feedback from your computer so you can change playlists, or find songs to fit your current mood. You'll also be able to get Internet radio, Rhapsody (you'll have to pay for this), and Pandora on the Squeezebox to really expand your listening options.

This should give you a taste of what is available to get your music from indoors to out without running new wires or opening up the windows and cranking up the volume inside.

Apologies for not writing this at the beginning of summer..

Posted by 1touch at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Debuting just in time for next week's CEDIA Expo, the new NAD C245BEE 4 channel power amplifier is the perfect complement to any NAD (or any other manufacturer's 3-zone receiver. As is typical with NAD power amplifiers, the unit is conservatively rated. This one boasts only 35 watts per channel, but NAD is known for making a relatively small number of watts sound like much more.

The C245BEE has a number of custom installer friendly features, including a detachable IEC style power cord, and 12V trigger inputs. It's green too, with less than 1 watt power usage in standby mode. It has all discrete, high current output devices, as you'd expect.

Here is the information you want to know about NAD's new 4 channel amp:


 • 4 x 35W Minimum Continuous Power into 4 / 8 ohms, all channels driven simultaneously, 20Hz – 20kHz at 0.03% THD (NAD Full Disclosure Power)
• 55W, 85W, 95W IHF Dynamic Power into 8, 4 and 2 ohms, respectively
• 2 x 70W Minimum Continuous Power into 8 ohms in Bridge Mode
• Channel A + B Switching
• ATOLogic 12 volt trigger/ signal sensing input
• Line Level ‘Loop Through’ Outputs
• Short signal path from input to output
• All sockets Gold-plated
• Multi-way Binding Post Speaker Outputs

The MSRP on the C245BEE is $599.00

Posted by 1touch at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Procella Audio, another high end speaker manufacturer throws their hat into the U.S. ring, and gives you yet another choice for your high end home theater audio system.

Those in the audio industry may know Chuck Back, who spent 3 decades at M&K. He will be leading Procella's entry into the U.S. market.

One of their specialties is high output, very dynamic speakers for home theater, recording studios, and post production applications.

 

Procella Audio's official Press release is below.

Los Angeles, Calif. - August 31, 2009 -  Procella Audio, a global high-end loudspeaker manufacturer with offices in Los Angeles, Stockholm, Sweden and Sydney, Australia, is launching operations in the United States with the opening of its Los Angeles office. The company will make its U.S. debut in booth 6235 in the B Hall at the CEDIA Expo in Atlanta Georgia, September 10 to 13, 2009. Joining the company and directing U.S. operations is industry veteran Chuck Back, formerly EVP of Miller & Kreisel Sound. His global partners, former directors of DTS' European offices, are Anders Uggelberg, who is based in Sweden, and Gerben Van Duyl, who is located in Sydney, Australia.
                                                                                                                              
The Procella product line consists of three L/C/R/Surround loudspeakers and three powered subwoofers, combining audiophile sensibilities and sound quality with performance to professional audio standards. Based on a scalable concept that offers multiple system configurations, Procella systems assure listeners the ability to achieve reference-level playback with uncompressed dynamics in any size room up to small cinemas. Procella's Identical Voice™ concept ensures a pure timbre match among all Procella models, allowing system designers to use any combination of products with no change in audio quality.
 
The L/C/R/Surround models are the P6, P8 and P815. Procella speakers make exclusive use of 1" polyamide high-frequency compression drivers mounted on Procella-designed elliptical waveguides. In comparison to dome tweeters, these drivers provide far superior power handling, maximum output, lack of dynamic compression, and uniform dispersion at all frequencies. With either long-throw 6.5" or 8" mid/woofers, all models use Procella-designed crossovers that exhibit flat phase response and ultra-low group delay, with distortion-free air core inductors and polypropylene capacitors for maximum sonic purity.
 
The P6 is a compact, two-way speaker with a long-throw 6.5" woofer and a 1" high-frequency unit. The speaker is designed for use in small to medium size home theaters, living rooms and studios. Its recommended subwoofer crossover frequency is 80 Hz, and MSRP is $1,499 each. The P8 is Procella's reference main speaker, using an 8" long-throw woofer and a 1" Procella high-frequency module. The recommended subwoofer crossover frequency is 80 Hz, and MSRP is $2,499 each. Both the P6 and P8 cabinets have shallow depth for on-wall and screen wall placement. The full-range bi-amplified P815 provides maximum output, suitable for very large rooms and small cinemas. It mates a 15" woofer, in its own enclosure, to a P8 secured by a mounting bracket and connected with a custom umbilical cable. Power is 700 watts for the 15" woofer module and 700 watts for the P8 module. The recommended subwoofer crossover frequency is 40 Hz, and MSRP is $8,999.
 
Procella's powered subwoofer models include the P10, P15 and P18.  Only sealed boxes are used, for their superior transient response and maximum deep bass extension. Each subwoofer's cabinet depth has been kept shallow to provide a low profile for placement in screen walls, in narrow spaces near projection screens or against walls with flat-screen televisions. All models have a dual-driver design and dual amplifiers utilizing 28/56 bit DSP processing, which provides four user-selectable settings for room boundary conditions: free standing; against a wall; in a corner; and mounted in a baffle wall.
 
The P10 is a dual 10" subwoofer, powered by a 2x350 watt continuous power amplifier. Its low frequency response extends to 19 Hz ±3dB, and its maximum output is 119 dB (50 Hz). MSRP is $3,999. The P15 is a dual 15" subwoofer with a 2x350 watt continuous power amplifier and response to 22 Hz, with 125 dB maximum output at 50 Hz and an MSRP of $5,999. The P18 is a dual 18" sub with 2x700 watts of amplification and response to 18 Hz, with an incredible output of 133 dB at 50 Hz. MSRP is $8,999.
 
Launched in 2006 in the U.K., Procella Audio was formed by Anders Uggelberg, who was at the time Director of Cinema Technology for DTS Europe and Gerben Van Duyl, who was also at DTS as Director of Business Development for Consumer Technology.
 
Uggelberg, a THX trained and certified cinema designer with over 300 cinema and professional studio designs to his credit, was asked to design and build a state-of-the art in-house 30 seat preview theater at the DTS Europe headquarters in Twyford, U.K. Working with Van Duyl, their goal for the theater was to produce reference quality sound for playback of current and future cinema and home entertainment media. The duo surveyed an array of available speaker systems, and determined that no existing system could meet their requirements. As a result, Uggelberg designed a new speaker system, which he and Van Duyl quickly realized had great commercial potential, leading them to depart DTS and form the new company.
 
Today, Van Duyl is based in Sydney, Australia, where, in addition to Procella Audio, he is also managing director of MAREOR, an Australian distribution company for several high-end cinema and home cinema products. He is a full voting member of the BAFTA (British Academy for Film and Television Arts) and member of the BAFTA Sound Chapter, since 2003.

Uggelberg is located in Stockholm, Sweden, where he is the primary speaker designer for Procella. Also a consultant to cinema exhibitors in Scandinavia, he is currently a board member of the ICTA (International Cinema Technology Association) since 1997, a published member of AES (Audio Engineers Society) and a member of the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) since 1980.

Los Angeles-based Chuck Back is responsible for all U.S. activities of the company. A 30 year veteran of the audio/video industry, Back was Executive Vice President of Miller & Kreisel Sound from 1989 to 2007, where he was responsible for all aspects of day-to-day operations for the highly-regarded loudspeaker manufacturer.
 
For more information, go to www.procella-audio.com.

Posted by 1touch at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An upgrade of their SC-600 subwoofer amplifier, the SC-602 will allow two SC-600IW or IF subwoofers to be driven from a single amplifier. Velodyne's existing amp for these products, the SC-600 will only drive a single sub.The amp uses two efficient, Class 'D' outputs, each rated at 200 watts RMS.

Posted by 1touch at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Parasound adds itself to the list of companies not exhibiting at CEDIA in Atlanta this year. Citing the economy and product availability, they indicated they would exhibit at the CES in Las Vegas Jan of 2010.

Parasound stated they wanted to be able to give a firm answer to the dealers' overriding question "When are you going to ship the new HDP-70 and C 3 processors and the new HDR-77 receiver?" Since they are not in a position to answer that, they felt it would be best to postpone an appearance, as the rest of the line is fundamentally unchanged.

Some news on the new products though, there will be Dolby Volume and Dolby PLIIz. In addition, the receiver is taller, 4 rack spaces, rather than the original 3. Why? Because they ahve changed form a digital poower amp section to a real, high current class A/B amp section. They also anticipate having a Halo Blu-Ray player to show at CES. 

Posted by 1touch at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Speakercraft's Proficient Audio division has announced the new M-80 surround receiver, first shown atr last year's CEDIA Expo in Denver, will ship about the time we head for this year's CEDIA show in Atlanta. The M-80, priced at $1,250, has a full complement of features and a stylish, heavy duty, machined aluminum faceplate to distinguish it form the mass market competition. Proficient describes the new receiver as follows:

The M80 is one of only a few receivers-and probably the only one in its price range-designed specifically to meet the needs of custom installers. This state-of-the-art receiver includes all technologies necessary for accurate reproduction of Blu-ray Discs, video games and other advanced media. It features DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD lossless audio, four HDMI inputs, and Faroudja DCDi Cinema video processing. Seven 130-watt high-current Class AB amplifiers deliver superb audio quality and a high damping factor, for precise control of any speaker.

If you've been looking for a new receiver in the 1k dollar price range and want something from the standard Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, Sony fare, maybe the profisient is a receiver to take a look at.

Posted by 1touch at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gefen, known for making high quality digital audio and video switching and transceiver equipment, has announced they will be showing their new surround sound audio processor at the upcoming Atlanta CEDIA Expo.

Made for connecting to a TV or cable box to decode the digital surround, Gefen's processor includes a single HDMI and single (S/PDIF coax or Toslink) digital audio input. It mirrors those for outputs, enabling the HDMI to be routed on to a display device. 

It includes built-in 20w RMS amplifiers and RCA audio outputs for connecting external amplification and powered subwoofers. The unit supports 5.1 channels for both the powered and line level outputs. It has an RS-232 port for serial control.

Their feature set for the new processor includes:

• Splits one HDMI input source to 2 mirrored HDMI outputs with HDCP pass-through
• Extracts digital audio from an HDMI or S/PDIF source to 5.1 channels of analog and digital audio
• Outputs digital audio to S/PDIF and TOSLINK connectors at up to 5.1 channels
• Outputs analog audio at 5.1 channels of Surround Sound on L/R RCA jacks
• Outputs amplified analog audio at 20 Watts per channel RMS on external speaker terminals
• LCD display and IR remote control make operations friendly
• HDMI compliant; HDCP pass-through

 

Gefen is listing the retail price for these to be $899. While the unit is probably of the same high quality as other Gefen products, it seeks to fill a small, niche market; deriving surround sound by simply plugging in the surround from a cable box or built-in TV tuner. It will be competing against A/V receivers boasting many times the power, number of inputs, and a more robust feature set. The recveivers will include things such as acoustic room correction and video switching /  transcoding at the same price point.

The Gefen's internal amplifiers do not deliver much power, but would be well matched to a small set of high quality, efficency speakers. At only 14"W x 2.8"h x 6.7"d, the unit is small enough to mount behind a flat panel on an tilt or articulating wall mount. It would also fit nicely in a small cabinet, along with a cable box and Blu-Ray player. Simply run your surround speaker wires to the TV location, plug in the digital audio cables, anbd you're off to the races, or maybe watching them, in full surround sound. If you're looking for something simple and of high quality, this may fit the bill.

Gefen also promises to show several more new products at CEDIA next month. Stay tuned.

Posted by 1touch at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marantz is having Bluetooth streaming audio capability for it's new, 004 series receivers, such as the SR-5004 and SR-6004. It is an extra cost option on the 5004, but included with the SR-6004. To make this magic work you need the just announced RX-101 streaming audio module for Bluetooth.

Now you can send the MP3 music from your phone or black berry to your audio system or home theater. Very cool.

From Marantz

"Based on the success of the IS301 and its Bluetooth audio streaming feature, we are pleased to officially begin accepting orders on the new RX101 Bluetooth Audio / IR Receiver module. When connected to the new M-Xport (Marantz eXpansion Port) on the back of the SR5004, the RX101 enables compatible Bluetooth devices such as the iPhone, iTouch, Treo, Blackberry, PCs, etc. to wirelessly stream audio to the RX101 and play it back through the SR5004.

With the ability to pair up to 8 devices, the RX101 is perfect for any system where music is stored on multiple devices. Because the RX101 is also an IR Receiver, an entire system can be hidden behind closed doors and be seamlessly controlled. Like the SR5004, the optional RX101 is scheduled to begin shipping in September."

Posted by 1touch at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's that time of year again. Manufacturers are getting ready to release new home theater gear. Here is one of the new surround receiver offerings from Marantz, the SR-5004. The SR-5004, naturally enough, replaces the SR-5003 this fall. There are a host of changes and improvements in the new model, and a slightly higher price to go along with them.

Among the new features included on the SR-5004 are:

• Dolby ProLogic IIz

• Audyssey Dynamic Volume

• 1 component video output instead of the 2 found on the SR-5003

• 3 optical digital audio inputs, instead of the 4 found on the SR-5003

• A new, GUI based on screen display for the SR-5004, rather than the text based OSD found on the SR-5003

• Optional Bluetooth connectivity

Look for the new SR-5004 to be released in September, just about CEDIA time.

Update - The Marantz SR-5004 has been released and is selling well. It has been well received by consumers and custom installers alike.

 

Posted by 1touch at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

NHT, the well regarded speaker company that took a break from operations for a while is now back, and ready to go. They are reopneing with a new twist, they will sell direct from their web site and from authorized dealers and installers. However their products are purchased, NHT will send them directly to the customer.

This is a whole new angle on going green, as one of the resons stated by CEO Chris Byrne for the change is that it will be easier onthe environment because the speakers will only have to be shipped once. That is a great sentiment, but if the speakers are sold by a custom installation firm they will still be likely to dispatch an installation van to the job site with all the other product and supplies. Sending the speakers directly to the customer's house isn't likely to be much greener than sending them to the dealer.

Byrne indicates NHT has several new design concepts in the works. This should be a welcome development, as NHT has enjoyed a well deserved reputation for turning out some great, and sometimes interesting speakers. I'm actually listening to a 10 year old pair of NHT Super One's powered by an (also 10 year old) Adcom GFA-535 as I write this. They've never sounded better.

Posted by 1touch at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Based upon the same technology and drivers as Thiel's Powerpoint speakers, the DewPoint is perfect for those outdoor living spaces that have taken over in the last few years. In areas with moderate climates year round, the outdoor living space has become an ever more important part of people's lives, and many of those folks love great music. Thiel reasoned there was no reason they could not enjoy the same kind of sound quality outside as they do inside.

The DewPoint is scheduled to begin shipping before the end of July at a price of $1,450 each. They are weather resistant, not weather proof, so while they may be located outdoors, they should be mounted under an eve or other location out of the way of direct rain and moisture. Stay tuned for more info on these speakers soon.

See their entire line at http://www.thielaudio.com

Posted by 1touch at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)