M&K, one of the long time leaders in loudspeakers and specifically professional grade monitors, is back. Their booth was pretty Spartan but they had a nice line-up of old favorites on display.
AVRak’s new Fatrak component rack is 36” wide – enough for two components to sit side-by-side on each shelf – so the rack can hold the same amount of gear as a 72” tall standard rack. The Fatrak pulls out far enough from the cabinet so that you can swivel the rack for easy access to the cables and wiring that will look like a rat’s nest no matter how hard you try to organize it. The 36” tall model (FT-36) is rated to hold up to 350 pounds of gear. There are also 24” and 30” versions available. Custom heights can be ordered as well. The FT-36 sells for $2,172.
I don’t know how humid it gets in Boston, but I do know how humid it gets in my bathroom after one of my children takes a luxuriously long shower (the kind that sucks every last drop of even lukewarm water out of the hot water heater). Boston Acoustics’ new HH 460T2 is a “high-humidity and weather-resistant” single-point stereo in-ceiling speaker that includes a foam collar around the center post that protects the voice coil from dampness and a crossover that is covered with a special type of varnish to protect it from the elements. The speaker also uses the same type of binding posts found on Boston’s Voyager outdoor speakers, so they’re easy to seal with silicone after the wires have been connected. Two models are available. The HH460T2 is $275 each. The higher-end VH470 T2 is $450 each.
Raxxess makes more racks than you can shake a remote at, including some affordable residential racks that utilize wood shelves. If you need a bit more ventilation, however, you’ll need some of the metal shelves that have plenty of cutouts for better airflow. For really serious (and heavy) systems, Raxxess offers racks that include a rolling support that hides under the front of the rack.
Boston Acoustics rock-like speakers aren’t new, but I did learn something new about them. The tweeters in the speakers are angled upward about 45 degrees. If you use these speakers around your patio or pool where people will be standing or sitting near by, the angled tweeters will help your guests hear the high frequencies in the music. And then you might even get a write up in the society page of your local newspaper detailing what swell entertainment you have in your backyard.
Pro-Ject's Design Box Series includes an iPod dock, USB phono preamp, stereo amp, mono amp, tube amp, etc. And if you buy four of them, you can keep them in this attractive box, which also comes in red and other colors. And if you flip the box over, you'll find a cutout that accommodates the iPod dock, were that one of your choices.
ONLY .00001 PERCENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION WILL OWN ONE, says Yamaha of its top-line RX-Z11 receiver. What Yamaha does not mention is that the other 99 point something percent are getting ready to slit their throats and steal the receiver.
The Dynaudio Sapphire is a one-thousand-unit limited edition that made its debut at CES 2008 and is shipping now. It costs $16,500/pair but, hey, just listening to it couldn't do you any harm, right?
Auralex is trying to make acoustical control attractive to more than just hard-core home theater owners. At CEDIA they showed off some of their new SonicPrint custom-printed ProPanels – fabric-covered acoustic absorptive panels – that can be outfitted with fabric covers printed with any kind of design or image you want. They have thousands of licensed artwork available, or you can send in your own image(s) for immortalization on your home theater wall. Auralex has some movie poster artwork available already, and their negotiating to have even more. Hanging an acoustic panel that looks like a movie poster on the wall will sure sound better than hanging a real movie poster covered with glass in a frame on the wall.
PSB's Paul Barton shows off his new Imagine line to showgoers. With trickle-down technology from the bleeding-edge Synchrony line, it's a great-sounding family of speakers, as I discovered at a recent demo in New York. Put it on your short list of must-hears.
The Infinity Prelude Forty ($6000/each) is a slimline tower with dual eight-inch side woofers, four flat-panel midranges, and tweeter. Wish my abdomen were as flat as those diaphragms.
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