Two (And A Half) Basic Flavors
I'd love to regale you all with stories of the CRT front projectors of yesteryear. These beasts were bigger than a VW, but cost a lot more. But that's not why I'm here. Thanks to the digital revolution, high quality front projection is now as affordable as premium rear projection TV in many cases, and less expensive than many premium flat screens.
I know- that’s a badly overused pun. But at the insistence of editor Tom Norton and contributing writer/reviewer Randy Tomlinson I found Revel’s off-site demo of its new Salon2 loudspeaker, which is targeted to come it at around $22K/pr. And will be joined in the Ultima line by matched center and surround speakers.
6020A L/R/LS/RS: Two-way bi-amplified active speaker with one 4" woofer and one .75" tweeter, $545/ea.
5050A Subwoofer: 70-Watt powered sub with one 8" woofer and two 8" passive radiators, balanced and single-ended line-level inputs, $1,595
Genelec is a big name in the pro side of the business and is hoping to make a name in the consumer world with small, self-amplified systems like this one. The 6020A monitors are Genelec's smallest speaker yet, but still carries an amplifier for each driver in these two-ways. The 5050A sub fills on the low-end, but does so with a footprint that's just 13" around. Check our December issue to find out how it sounds.
The first bitter disappointment associated with moving into my new home and reconfiguring my AV system came to fruition earlier this week when it was discovered that I can no longer use DirecTV as my source of TV and HDTV programming. While the southern exposure at my new place is good, a beautiful little patch of fir trees across the street blocks one of the satellites critical for HD programming. Looks like Comcast is the only game in town for me now. Ugh. Can't say I'm looking forward to it. Let me tell you why.
So, here’s a little slice of the Editor’s life. I live in the Pacific Northwest and work from home, traveling to Home Theater’s Los Angeles offices about a week per month to close each print issue. Last week and next week are back to back closes for HT’s December issue and the massive Buyer’s Guide annual. Coming home from these work trips, after catching up with the family my favorite ritual is opening up my stack of packages that inevitably arrive in my absence, which always includes my supplementary/impulse buys from Amazon. Yes, movies and music.
Features We Like: Two HDMI 1.1 inputs (PCM-audio compatible), three component inputs, EzSet/EQ auto calibration and room EQ, three each coaxial and toslink optical digital audio inputs, one 7.1-channel analog audio input, XM Ready, USB Audio and iPod connectivity, AV sync delay, A-BUS Ready, multi-source/multi-zone
The biggest news of CES 2008 landed yesterday with Warner's announcement that it is moving to exclusive Blu-ray support by June of 2008. Yesterday's news was that New Line and HBO (distributed by Warner) aren't yet officially attached to this strategy, but stories circulating the 'net today say New Line is already falling into line with Warner's HD strategy.
Shane Buettner covered developments in the HD DVD and Blu-ray format wars at this year's CES. This is his report. And for our wrap-up of all the other goings-on at CES, watch this space for our final report on CES 2006 this coming week!—TJN
Did the HD DVD Group announce a bunch of hot HD DVD titles that will be coming our way in ’07? Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? HD DVD’s supporting studios will be releasing an awesome slate of new release and catalog titles, but for myself and fellow sci-fi buffs many of these pale compared to this double whammy: Not only has Warner announced that 2007 is the year that Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner will see a remastered release in HD, the remastered versions of the original Star Trek series will be released by Paramount on HD DVD this year as well. Someone pick me up off the floor!
Shane Buettner
Site Map / Direct Links
