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Misc
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Saturday, 08 September 2007 |
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 Not as much to report from CEDIA 2007 day 3 as there was the first couple of days, but a couple items did slip through the cracks.
Texas Instruments announced their new DLP chip, the Dark Chip 4. The Dark Chip 4 touts a native contrast ratio of 15000:1 and is 1080p. No word on whether or not it is a true 1080p or whether DLP will still have to resort to wobulation to achieve the resolution.
Denon showed two Blu Ray players. The DVD-3800BDCI and the DVD-2500BTCI are profile 1.1 players that support decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. No ethernet on either, and the DVD-2500BTCI is limited to HDMI audio, having no analog outputs. The DVD-3800BDCI has a Silicon Optix REALTA HQV for superior deinterlacing and upscaling abilities. Both are slated to hit stores in December, the DVD-3800BDCI at $1999 and the DVD-2500BTCI for $1199.
 Cary adds a video processor to their Cinema line. The Cary Cinema 11V sports six HDMI 1.3 inputs that can pass 1080p video sources at 120 Hz. The nifty feature here is that the 11V will strip the video information from incoming HDMI sources and pass just the audio portion of the signal to a pre/pro. No word on video chip, other features or pricing.
Lots of music servers from many manufacturers. Blah. That's it for day 3. |
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Separates
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Saturday, 08 September 2007 |
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 B&K just showed it's first new component in some time.
The 7.1 channel Reference 70 preamp/processor has an onboard Silicon Optix Reon HQV chip in it, ensuring excellent upscaling and deinterlacing of standard definition video feeds. The unit will accept multichannel PCM over HDMI, but unfortunately decoding of Dolby Digital+, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio is not supported. B&K components offer great performance for audiophiles and home theater buffs alike, at a price point that isn't entry level but won't require a second mortgage.
It's good to see them finally update their aging pre/pro, but the inclusion of lossless codec decoding would have been nice. Perhaps it will be possible for B&K to offer this functionality in a future firmware update. No other details or pricing available at this time. |
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Misc
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Friday, 07 September 2007 |
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Day two is in the bag at CEDIA 2007. Some of the items not posted due to lack of interest or information:
NAD has some relatively inexpensive new gear on the way. Look for an HDMI 1.3 compliant receiver and pre/pro in the $2k ballpark.
Sherwood also has an HDMI 1.3 receiver in the works.
Integra announced a forthcoming high end HD DVD player, the DHS-8.8. Not much of an announcement, as it's a rebadged version of the announced Onkyo HD DVD player, which is a rebadged Toshiba HD-XA2. The Integra does add Wolfson and Burr Brown DACs and RS-232. The unit will sell for $1099.
Marantz showed a mock-up of a Blu Ray player, but as to whether or not it was a design slated for production is anyone's guess since no details are available.
The computer component manufacturers see how much fun the Format War is and are picking sides. Acer is throwing it's weight behind HD DVD, and ASUS is picking Blu Ray.
Lastly, the Blu Ray camp claimed they have surpassed HD DVD in stand alone player sales. Toshiba fired back stating that 3 weeks don't paint the whole picture, and that Sony can stick it because since inception, HD DVD is mopping the floor with Blu Ray in stand alone player sales. (I'm paraphrasing here)
And that's about it for days 1 and 2. |
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Separates
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Thursday, 06 September 2007 |
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 Audio component maker Rotel has announced a new home theater preamp/processor this week at CEDIA.
The RSP-1069 sports four 1080p compliant HDMI inputs, in addition to three component inputs for managing all of your video sources. On the audio side, Burr Brown DACs handle all the digital to analog conversion. Curiously absent from the details released are any mention of onboard Dolby Digital+, Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD decoding.
At $2199 the RSP-1069 is a little expensive for a pre/pro with a 2006 feature set. The RSP-1069 will be available this fall. |
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Loudspeakers
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Thursday, 06 September 2007 |
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 Salk Sound has announced a new, relatively inexpensive floorstanding loudspeaker.
The 2 way SongTower QWT is a design by renowned DIY designer Dennis Murphy. The svelte SongTower measures 44.5x8x11.5, and is a transmission line design. The Hiquphon 3/4" tweeter and pair of 5" Seas bass drivers are aligned in an MTM configuration with a frequency response of 42-20k Hz. Sensitivity is rated at a tube-friendly 88 dB, but AV receiver users be advised that the SongTower is rated at 4 ohms impedance. The $1495/pair SongTower is available in walnut, cherry, maple, black satin, and for a limited time, honey locust.
As with all Salk Sound speakers, they will accomodate your request for just about any exotic wood veneer if you don't mind paying a little more. A $1395 version of the SongTower using a Vifa tweeter is also being offered. |
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