Friday, September 9, 2005 - Part 1

The iPod's tremendous success has spawned a sub-industry in accessories. The first one we spotted at CEDIA is also one of the most impressive. Add an iPod to Monitor Audio's $349 i-deck and you have an audio system...

...complete with credit-card-sized remote control.

New from Nordost are the Baldur interconnects ($449 per meter pair) and speaker cables ($999 per two-meter pair). The interconnects are the lowest-priced cables to incorporate Nordost's Micro Mono-Filament technology. [www.nordost.com]

Theta's Virtu PowerDAC (above) and Valis controller (below) were designed as a pair to preserve an all-digital signal path. The Virtu accepts digital input up to 192kHz and has seven channels of "high-efficiency" digital amplification. The Valis handles surround-sound processing, and can output digital or analog signals.

The Virtu and Valis will sell for around $10,000 together.

Another obvious trend at CEDIA this year is in-wall and on-wall speakers -- they're everywhere. PMC's on-wall Wafer ($1000 each) includes switching for mounting orientation and high-frequency balance. Other PMC speakers are powered, but the Wafer is not.