Sony, the biggest of the big
consumer-electronics companies, may show the awkwardness of its size all too frequently,
but it also brings to market innovative products in regular succession. Past CEDIA Expos
have introduced us to amazing new video monitors and projectors, as well as Location Free
TV, which allows you to watch television via wireless streaming anywhere in your house.
This CEDIA, Sony showed off more amazing video products, often at prices lower than
those of previous models. These include a few camcorders that we learned about in the
waning minutes of the show. With the emphasis of this CEDIA on high-resolution video,
Sony's HDR-FX7 camcorder ($3400), with its 1080i output and Carl Zeiss lens, looks to be
the high-end way to record video here and now. It can also do 1.2-mexapixel still captures
to a separate Sony Memory Stick, which makes it more than a simple camcorder. While I
don't write about such products, I would love to play with an HDR-FX7.
Another bit of info discovered near the end of CEDIA Expo.
I questioned a Sennheiser representative on the supposed replacement for the HD 650s,
Sennheiser's current top-of-the-line headphones. I had heard that even higher-end 'phones
were in the works.
"We haven't announced that we're working on such a
product" the fellow said with a wry smile.
I chuckled. "If you were working on such a
product, when could people expect to see it?" I followed up.
"If we were working on such a product, you likely
wouldn't see it until the end of next year."
There you have it -- maybe. Something to anticipate for
CEDIA Expo 2007.
* * *
Like the portion of CES that is held in the Las Vegas
Convention Center, CEDIA Expo is housed under one immense roof, which makes digging up
products to cover like looking for a number of needles in a very big haystack. I'm not
complaining, but I am expressing my disappointment at missing noteworthy products, which
simply cannot be avoided.
One interesting product that we didn't miss was a new cable
from AudioQuest, the Horizon. This expensive interconnect ($6200/meter pair) retains the
DBS system that AudioQuest introduced with its Sky interconnects, among others, but uses
proprietary RCAs and XLRs
that were designed to provide an uncompromised connection to the pure-silver conductors
without subjecting them to heat from soldering or welding. The connectors, which are
delicately milled from pure copper (the RCA is plated with silver), are beefy to the
extreme. There aren't any like them available right now, but if Horizon is successful,
look for knockoffs to appear in short order. We can't wait to give these cables some
system time.
Doug Schneider has written about the best video displays
that he has seen at CEDIA, so I thought I'd add my two cents, especially because one
monitor looked clearly better than all the others to my eyes: the Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1,
which is billed as the "world's first 1080p 50" plasma monitor." I think
what impressed me most about the picture from this monitor was the blackness of the blacks
– like wet velvet, an effect that was enhanced by the very bright and true colors.
This is the HDTV that I would buy, and because Pioneer has lowered its price from $10,000
to $8000, I would have a better chance at affording it.
* * *
Two home-theater demos reminded me of what I like and
dislike about home-theater sound.
A system that replicates a soundfield is right to my ears;
there is a sense that all of the speakers are working together and not functioning as
individual entities. I'm not so much talking about tonal blending (although that's
important) but spatial blending. When I'm watching a movie, I hate hearing
individual speakers and prefer a softer, more continuous sound that's not ultra detailed.
The first system I heard that succeeded was from Mirage and
used a full complement of OM Design speakers, including the new OMD-5 (above, $375 each).
Talk about continuous! These speakers practically inflated the room with sound, enveloping
me and creating a very credible facsimile of space. The second system was from Magnepan
and used a pair of center-channel speakers mounted one on each side of the monitor. This
eliminated any directionality and, again, created a more spacious presentation.
Both of these systems were easy to forget about as I sat
and watched a few demo chapters from standard-definition and HD DVDs. What a joy to watch
video and not be assaulted by audio! In a bit of breaking news, later this year Magnepan
will be outfitting luxury suites at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas with the same
dual-center-channel system I heard.
Still, there are highlights, one of which occurred in a
press conference held before the expo part of CEDIA began. In a bit of self-deprecating
humor, Jim Thiel introduced his new SCS4 speaker
while poking fun at the fact that the CS3.7, which was introduced in January, is still not
shipping. Supply snags have slowed production of the CS3.7, but no such issues exist with
the SCS4, which will be shipping before the end of the year. It uses a shielded version of
the the PowerPoint and PowerPlane coaxial driver, which combines the same tweeter used for
the top-of-the-line CS7.2 with a very stiff, light two-piece midrange/woofer cone. To
increase rigidity, the SCS4's baffle is made of diecast aluminum; the inch-thick MDF
cabinet comes in a much smaller number of finishes, which helps Thiel offer the SCS4 at
under $1000 each. "There are very few sonic compromises built into this
speaker," Jim Thiel explained, even though it is the first Thiel speaker in quite
some time to come in under one kilobuck. It is suitable for L/C/R and surround
home-theater use as well as good ol' stereo. [www.thielaudio.com]
Of all the many products I've seen so far, Logitech's
soon-to-be-available Harmony 1000 remote control is the one that has me in a tizzy. I will
soon be writing a love song to the Harmony 880; the new 1000, with its 3 1/2" color
touch screen and computer-based setup, has me wondering how controlling an A/V system
could get any better. It would be nice if the Harmony 1000 cost less than its $499 price,
but if you've used a Harmony remote, you'll be thinking that this sexy number looks to be
worth its cost before you press any of its buttons.
