Series 1
All prices are quoted in euros unless otherwise noted.
1 €  is approximately 1.29 US dollars at time of report.

Sony held a press conference to promote the new Qualia series of electronics that are designed to be Sony's statement products for audio and video. The first Qualia product to be introduced in Europe, set for release in June (it's already available in the US), is the 004 projector, which uses Sony's SXRD (Silicon Crystal Reflective Display; why there's an "X" and not a "C" in the acronym, we're not sure of either) display technology, which is LCos-based (liquid crystal on silicon) and uses a xenon lamp. Sony claims that at "normal" lamp settings, the 004 produces just 26dB of fan noise. The 004's targeted European retail price is 30.000 €, and it comes with...

...one of the nicest remote controls we've ever set our eyes and hands on. It even has a motion sensor built in to turn itself off when not in use to extend battery life. The Qualia 004 not only looks great and is built astonishingly well, it projects the finest video image we've seen from a home-based projector, which is precisely why we've featured Sony's demo as a Standout Room.

Sonics is a new German company founded by the former owner/designer of the well-known Audio Physic brand, Joachim Gerhard. The Allegra retails for 5900 € per pair and has a cabinet built with copper veneer over MDF, both on the outside and inside. The lightly scored swirls on the side give the speaker a distinctive appearance.

Germany's Clearaudio is well known for all-acrylic turntables. However, in Munich this year, Clearaudio showed the new Ambient turntable (3700 €, without tonearm or cartridge), which features 32 layers of wood sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum. The only acrylic used is for the platter. The Ambient also features...

...a separate motor assembly with a built-in power regenerator to ensure that the electronics inside are fed a pristine electrical signal. Clearaudio says they are able to keep the motor and associated assembly compact by using surface-mount components.