Show Report

Day 1 - Friday, September 7, 2001

Day 1 of CEDIA is the first day that the floor show is open. The press gets a one hour head start over the general public, and we try to use that hour to the best of our ability.

There are press conferences throughout the day, several of them scheduled at the same times. Where possible, we attend these events.

Marantz held a press conference outlining their new products, including a DLP projector with Faroudja de-interlacing, the model 9200 and 8200 receivers, new RPTV sets, and a new DVD-V player. Mordaunt-Short speakers (distributed in the US by Marantz) introduced a 5.1 package home theater package for US$999.

PS Audio held a press conference to announce their three newest power products, the Power Director -- this includes four of their ultimate outlets, power up sequencer and accurate power meter (for measurements), Power Editor -- a voltage regulator which can compensate for under and over voltages within limits, and an "audio-grade" UPS. The folks at PS Audio folks hinted at even more power products to come.


EAD is in the process of updating their entire product line. Pictured here are the Theater Vision Ultra (DVD-V Progressive, DVD-A), Ovation-8 processor and Powermaster 9000 amplifier. All were finished in their difficult to photograph, spectacular to view "V-Cut" silver faceplates.	Aragon, purchased by Klipsch last year, showed their new line of products with striking industrial design. All are finished in silver with a triangular plate with blue light shining down. The preamp/processor above will retail for about US$3500, and the amplifier's price is not specified. Expect more updates for the Aragon line in 2002.

Key Digital presented their transcoder / scaler product called the Digital Leeza. This is the first product from Key Digital targeted for the consumer marketplace. Its design was guided in part by feedback from several of the internet forums.	The Consumer Electronics giants are introducing plenty of new products. Pictured above are several of the latest from Panasonic. Included are a new LCD monitor, a DVD-RAM/DVD-R/DVD-RW player (with a shockingly low MSRP of US$1500), and DVD-H2000 reference level DVD-A/DVD-V progressive scan player. An integrated LCD monitor and DVD player and a 50" Plasma display were also new from Panasonic. At CES, DVD-RAM players were selling for US$2500, so the tremendous price drop between generations of DVD-RAM could indicate a rapid price deterioration in this product category.

Krell displayed prototypes of their Soundscape series components, which will be available for retail sale. While not mass market priced, the Preamp/Processor will retail at the down to earth (for Krell) price of US$4000.	Canadian manufacturers are well represented at CEDIA. Pictured above are new introductions from the Paradigm group, featuring inside/outside and in-wall speakers. Other introductions were on display but not pictured here.

Paradigm's Sonic Frontiers/Anthem electronics line introduced the AVM-20 preamp/processor -- the follow up to the AVM-2 and their corresponding 7-channel amplifier the PAV-7, with power output of about 120watts for each of its seven channels. Expect to see the pair sell for under US$5000 in the near future.	Lexicon displayed their new MC-12 preamplifier/processor. In a departure from their earlier products, the MC-12 features analog bypass. In matching cosmetics is the LA-7 multi-channel amplifier. A five channel version, the LA-5 will also be available.

Besides updates to their Series 3 amplifiers, Cinepro announced their DC-10 preamplifier processor and X7 power amplifier. Both are prototypes, but they expect to have them in production near the end of 2001. The power amplifier is expected to retail for under US$3000 for 7x200wpc. If the quality is comparable to their Series 3 amplifiers it should be a tremendous value.	Sherwood displayed their two new receivers, the model 9300 (about US$2000) and the model 8300 (about US$1200). Both have an impressive feature set, and the 9300 includes upsampling of PCM inputs to 24bit/192kHz.

Buttkicker's poster pretty much sums up their Series 2 product. It will retail for US$200 less than the first version, with lower power requirements and physical size. Now it will cost less to add their form of fun to your home theater environment! I wonder when JJ will place his order.	The new Halo line from Parasound continues development and will likely end production in early 2002. Available at two price levels initially, the D1 DVD player and C1 controller will retail for about US$5000 each.

Theta Digital had their Citadel amplifier standing guard over their booth. These monoblocks output 400wpc and stand on end for an imposing vertical presence. Theta was also discussing their Extreme DAC for the Casablanca II. It is a 24/384 DAC!	Bryston's 6B-ST amplifier, the business end, is shown here. This utilizes the ST series circuitry and is fully modular. The companion monoblock (the PowerPac 250) will be released in the future. As with all Bryston products, this amplifier carries their famous 20 year warranty.

Wilson Audio, makers of some fine speakers, were displaying 3 new models. On the left is their new Sephia, above right is the Watch Center Channel, and below right is the Watch surround channel.	Tributaries (the cable company) introduced their VX2 Video Processor. This utilizes a modular chassis, with passive backplane and is capable of video routing, transcoding, scaling, and switching. A minimal configuration will have an MSRP of approximately US$1800 and up, depending on card configuration.

Pictured above are the latest power products from PS Audio. These are discussed in the press conference notes at the top of the page.

Click on links below to go to the photo pages for each day.

DAY-0 DAY-1 DAY-2 DAY-3 Wrap-Up

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