CEDIA 2009

As the biggest entry in its premier line of DLP rear projection HDTVs, not to mention that Mitsubishi is the last holdout in this product category, this set has to grab attention. When I was there, however, there were more passers-by than onlookers. A shame; it offers a lot for the money if you want a really big screen and space is not an issue.

AudioQuest showed a desert menu of HDMI cables, though we don't know how gemstones fit into the mix. Now you can have a chocolate mid-brightness region on your HDTV.

The s90i in-ceiling subwoofer from Wisdom contains two 5x7-foot drivers. We trust further comment will be unnecessary.

Proficient is a new brand name in receivers and we look forward trying one of its two surround models. The M60 has 80 watts times seven, four HDMI ins, and SmartEQ for $600. Step up to the M80 and you get all that plus 130 watts times seven, Faroudja DCDi video processing, and XM satellite radio compatibility for $1250. Proficient also showed an eight-channel power amp, the M8, with 35 watts per channel, for $1100.

Why does the cable connecting the Audio Design Associates MPS-502 amp to its external power supply resemble a thick piece of plumbing -- like the pipe under your bathroom sink? Well, it has to carry 100 amps of current, so it can provide five channels with 450 watts each. Introduced in 1992, this was the amplifier on which THX based its amp spec. Throw in the PF-2502 to bring the system up to seven channels. In the present day, ADA is shipping two pre-pros, the Suite 7.1 ($5500) and Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV. You can buy the latter for $4100 but you'd be better off paying $7500 for the version with Trinnov auto setup and room correction. Trinnov will also be built into a separate equalizer product, the TEQ-1. (We are looking forward to trying Trinnov in the long-awaited Sherwood R-972 receiver.)

After blogging about these in-wall speakers before the show, I was eager to hear them for myself. The demo consisted of some CD selections in 2.1 (using the new SCS subwoofer, about which more in the next post), multichannel audio from DVD concert videos, and a clip from <I>Monsters, Inc.</I> shown on a Screen Research ClearPix2 woven, acoustically transparent screen. The system controller provides Audyssey MultEQ XT and several memories for different setups&#151;music, movies, speakers behind a screen or not, etc.&#151;and the result sounded great, with deep, clean bass and excellent imaging.

The demo of Projectiondesign's 3-chip DLP Helios was mighty impressive on a 2.35:1, 11-foot-wide Da-Lite Affinity screen. The clip was from <I>10,000 B.C.</I>, an eminently forgettable movie that was chosen because it was color-graded on a Projectiondesign projector. The dual-lamp Helios was at its minimum lamp and iris settings to accommodate the screen, which means it can easily fill a screen up to 16 feet wide. Like the Kroma, the Helios produced very natural skin tones and razor-sharp detail.