January 9, 2005 - Part 1

PSB's CHS40 in-cabinet speaker (meant to be used in furniture cabinets) is the smallest model in the company's CustomSound line. Priced at $1249 each, the CHS40 is based on Platinum-series technology, the company's flagship line. It has two switches, one for boundary compensation and another for adjusting the high frequencies and mounting behind a perforated screen. The tweeter/midrange section rotates 90 degrees, so the speaker can be mounted horizontally if desired. [www.psbspeakers.com]

PSB describes the in-wall CW800E speaker ($2749 each) as essentially "a Platinum T8 speaker in the wall." The CW800E actually comes with its own shallow cabinet that's fully mounted inside the wall, giving the speaker the proper-sized enclosure. (The picture on right has the back cut away for display purposes.) [www.psbspeakers.com]

Meridian has offered DSP-based loudspeakers for over a decade. At CES, the company debuted the DSP 5200 floorstander, which is available in a variety of finishes for $10,995 per pair. In the middle is the matching 5200HC DSP center-channel speaker tentatively priced at $5995.

Meridian's DSP speakers are self-powered and accept only digital input.

Snell's new M-7 speaker was designed by Joseph D'Appolito and is priced at $1800 per pair. The company says that this relatively compact two-way is capable of reaching 106dB output and can deliver bass to 43Hz.

Jamo's DVR-50 DVD receiver is said to be "the first DVD player in the world offering DivX and PAL/NTSC progressive scan." It is priced at $599.

KEF's innovative Instant DVD Theatre is a compact, all-in-one home-theater solution that uses two main speakers, a subwoofer (not shown), and a DVD receiver to simulate 5.1 surround sound. The main speakers feature Uni-Q point-source drivers and side-mounted NXT panels. The total system price is $1499.