CES 2009

The B&W XT8 is slim and hip, whereas I am merely hip. It replaces the XT4 with the same tweeter-on-top but sports a new midrange, woofer, and crossover. Available for $3500/pair in aluminum or black.

The Panorama is a $2200 bar speaker from Bowers & Wilkins, one of the world's coolest speaker manufacturers. Available in March, it has distinctive curves at the sides which distinguish it from other bar speakers. Behind the metal grille are two 3.5-inch drivers in the middle, handling the center channel; two 4-inch subs that go down to 40Hz, and at the sides, two pair of 3.5-inch full-range drivers. You'd think the latter would split the front and surrounds channels, but no, each driver mixes the two with some DSP magic. Unlike a lot of bar speakers, this one has three digital inputs (both coax and optical) and two analog ins, and onboard decoding for Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic II (but not the new lossless stuff).

Dolby brought a special guest star to its booth. I passed by several times but it never did turn into a new yellow Camaro.

Sound bars are becoming popular for flat panel displays. While we prefer a typical setup with separate left, right, and center speakers arrayed properly across the front (which will always produce a better soundstage than any single enclosure serving all channels), that type of setup doesn't work for everyone. To that end, Definitive Technology demonstrated two new sound bars, or in their words, Mythos Solo Surround Arrays: the SSA42 ($899 for panels from 30" to 46") and SSA50 ($1099, for panels 50" and up).

LG’s signage more clearly explained their demos than that of most other manufacturers. The 75 series, with local dimming for improved blacks, was very impressive. It won’t be available until sometime in the second half of 2008. LG also had some of the best-looking demo material.

Clearly the Simpsons are big on the Blu-ray format.