Conducting an audio demonstration on the open show floor is usually only done for the wow factor. As in "Wow, that's loud. Would you mind turning it down or putting air shocks on it so you could drive it out of here?" The Lipinskis (Lukas' dad Andrew was in town too) had five of their 707 speakers setup in as workmanlike a fashion as you might expect given their surroundings. Without missing a beat, Lukas asked me to sit down. Even given the ambient noise, the five channel Manhattan Transfer recording he played for me was impressive. The true timbre of the speakers could still easily be heard through the surrounding ruckus. Lukas said that, noise aside, the open show floor is otherwise preferable to most of the hotel rooms he gets at other shows.
Sunfire announced their upcoming Theater Grand Receiver 3 (TGR-3) as part of their premium XT series of components. While it isn't rated as powerful as their dedicated multi-channel amps, I don't know anyone who would complain about having 200 watts times seven channels in their receiver. In fact, Sunfire claims the TGR-3 is the world's most power receiver. Sunfire's trademarked Tracking Donwconverter technology allows you move power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip. Oh wait, that's my car. Actually, having used a Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature amplifier as a reference for over 3 years, I can attest to the fact that their technology works as advertised.
Analog Devices is known mostly for I/O (input/output) chips, but the company is showing its new video processor at CES. The ADV 8002 includes two scalers, motion-adaptive deinterlacing, noise reduction, and video enhancement, and it can pass 3D without processing it. The production version will have at least two HDMI inputs and two outputs as well as all the standard analog-video inputs, and it will be able to process two different programs independently and simultaneously—for example, sending 1080p to an HDTV and 480p to an SD display in another room. This processor should be shipping in consumer products this spring, though the company rep would not reveal from whom.
Chip maker Analog Devices has some interesting demos in its booth, such as this electrooculogram (EOG) system that tracks eye movement based on tiny voltages generated by the eye muscles. Other than medical applications, such as lazy-eye rehabilitation and quadriplegic assistance, such a system could be used to control game play or even an entire home theater. Of course, wearing those electrodes wouldn't fly with consumers, but a future version could incorporate them into a goggle headset.
"I love driving a cab. But you've got to be careful. Few nights ago I had a gun in my cab. Guy got in, and I said, either you give me that gun or you're gettin' out. He gave me the gun. When we got back from the crack house, he was so happy to have his drugs, he got out of the cab and forgot about the gun. I sold that gun to a cop."
Top-flight DVDO deinterlacing is the highlight of Arcam's DV139 DVD-Video/-Audio/SACD universal player. It acknowledges the latest fad in video specsmanship by upscaling images to 1080p though it is not a Blu-ray or HD DVD player. Still, given the fact that the first-gen Blu-ray and HD DVD players don't play SACD or DVD-Audio, the DV139 may deserve a place as the second (or first) of two players on your rack. (Feeling artsy, I forbade removal of the water bottle.)
Artison's new subwoofer, RCC 600, hides in a wall, with four unique drivers that oppose each other with rigidly attached baskets. This allows the reactance forces generated to cancel one another. According to Artison, one RCC 600 provides a bass/sound quality surpassing that of a typical 12-inch subwoofer.
Artison chief Cary Christie describes the processor and amp designed to drive one or two if his new in-wall subs (background and in entry below). Each in-wall sub will cost $1000 and the amp/processor another $1000.
Atlantic Technology unveiled a new in-wall speaker that features an adjustable crossover that alters the speaker's lobbing effects to better control the speakers imaging and harmonic balance. Even when situated relatively high on the wall behind a Screen Research acoustically transparent screen the sound seemed to come from several feel below the speaker's actual physical position. Magic? No just solid engineering.
Following on the success of AudioControl's Maestro M2, the M2e theater processor incorporates AudioControl's Active Balanced Technology, which allows it to output a high-rez component video signal that can extend 1,000 feet over standard Cat-5 wiring.
CEDIA 2006
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