Friday, April 1, 2005
All prices in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The new Paradigm Monitor 90P v.4 ($2199 per pair) sounded ready-made for home theater on a scene from X-Men. Only absolute bass freaks will need a subwoofer with them -- their bass section is powered and sounded extremely potent. [www.paradigm.com]

GutWire usually has multiple new products at every show. For Son & Image 2005 it's a trio of new power cords. From left to right are C Clef² ($799), G Clef² ($459) and Basic Clef² ($349). [www.gutwire.com]

Something old and something new. On the top shelf is a vintage Technics turntable, and below the ELP Laser Turntable LT-2XRC ($22,499), a turntable that uses a laser to read records -- LPs, 45s and even 78s.

The LT-2XRC not only plays 78s, which are available at garage sales and in thrift shops in abundance, but even cracked ones.

ProAc's newest speaker is the Studio 140 ($3800 per pair), which uses two 6 1/2" woofers along with a standard-for-ProAc 1" silk-dome tweeter. The Studio 140s are said to be 91dB sensitive and an 8-ohm load -- perfect for tubes. They sounded full and natural as part of a home-theater demo.

The cabinet of the BNS Loudspeakers Halo is made entirely of Corian, which is inert and very hard. The Halo is available in over 100 different finishes. It also has omnidirectional bass and seemed to work well close to room boundaries. The price is $8800 per pair.