Day 1 - Tuesday, January 8, 2002

 

Aragon has overhauled the cosmetics of their line, and the models too.  Shown above are the 28k mkII, the 8008 mkII, and Palladium 1k monoblocks.  As Kotches says, "SEXY!" Aragon has a few suitors in line, namely Colin, Chris, and John (Kotches) for a date with the Stage One "7.1" Surround Processor and 2007 seven-channel power amplifier.

Dunlavy's SC-IIIa and SC-S2 15" downward-firing subwoofers supposedly keep response within ± 1.5 dB. Hard Disc storage of CD libraries is not a new concept, but is gaining ground.  The Imerge M-1000, shown above, starts at $8,700 for a basic multi-zone configuration, and goes up from there.

Imerge's S-1000 comes in at a much lower price than its M-1000 counterpart, and offers on-screen display to boot, at $1,500. M&K has the solution for those who can't do as they'd wish with surround channels, the "Column Surround" series, that is quite at home against a wall, behind furniture, with "tri-polar" dispersion.

By multi-platform, they mean multi-media speakers (i.e., for the PC or Mac) that are good enough to use as speakers in any system.  They will be sold factory direct. If you want an M&K S-150THX performance, but don't have the space, consider the SW-150 in-wall loudspeaker, or perhaps even the SW-105.

I've (Colin Miller) been listening to the M&K Xenon LCR-35, LCR-25, Surround-25, and K-10 and K-11 Subwoofers for a while.  The review is almost done, but I'll vouch for them right now.  The combination is a killer.  For those who heard them at the show, it sounds better at my house. RBH speakers are just plain pretty.  The LSE (limited special edition) series, shown above, in the Signature Series line, share the same driver and crossover components as the way primo Status Acoustics line.

The T-1 (by itself) and T-2 combo (with woofer module) are based on a very interesting tactic of averaging lobing effects for best response. Stacey Spears and Brian Florian spoke at length with THX's John Dahl about the new "Ultra 2" program (see the show wrap-up report for details).

At the Dolby press conference, Brent Butterworth unveiled the "5.1 Car" freaturing Dolby Digital and Pro Logic II audio. Everybody's getting into surround sound processors!  Atlantic Technology, previously known as a speaker manufacturer, was showing theirs.

 

 

Secrets Best of 2001 Award presentation to Ed Meitner of EMM Labs for their multi-channel preamplifier recently reviewed. Secrets Best of 2001 Award presentation to Paul McGowan of PS Audio for their P1200 Power Plant.

 

 

Secrets Best of 2001 Award presentation to Dr. Nikhil Balram of Sage for the FLI2200 chip (DCDi). Dynaudio unveiled their new Confidence towers, the new C2 ($12k) on the right, and the C4 ($16k) on the left.

 

Outlaw audio unveiled their new IR1000 internet audio receiver. 1600+ radio stations, Windows Media, and MP3. RealAudio support may be available later. Outlaw's New receiver Model 950. Triple crossover, DST ES, DD EX $899, Crystal DAC, Crystal DSP. The model 770 amplifier (7x200watts) is also in the product pipeline.

 

TACT is offering a new all digital system, with the ability to measure the in room response, and adjust it from the processing DSP. In use, just load the response you want! Theta Digital DAC VIII DSP, 24 bit processing on both the positive and negative portions, yielding 48 bit combined resolution.

 

Wharfdale had a drop dead gorgeous display of their speaker lines. BMW unveiled the new 745i, with a factory lexicon audio system. "I'll review one please!"

 

Tannoy's TD12, with a unique single point source methodology, the tweeter is built into the center of the woofer, with an accompanying super-tweeter on top. Europe's "Speaker of the Year."  Monitor Audio had a huge selection of their speakers on display.

 

CES isn't just for electronics. There were a few manufacturers of wall treatments, cool stuff. One of the sexiest drivers, made by Aura.

 

EAD's 8200 Power Master Multi-Channel Power Amplifier. JM LAB Utopia. Very big. Very Expensive. Very nice!

 

Lexicon MC12. It has 4 Sharc DSP processors.  Linn Speakers

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

DAY-0    DAY-1    DAY-2   DAY-3    DAY-4    Wrap-Up

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© Copyright 2002 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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