Audio Video News

Theta Digital
Here's looking at you, Theta Digital; or, more specifically, your new Casablanca III Music and Cinema Controller. (Come on, that joke was just too easy.) The Casablanca III features Theta's Open Architecture, which consists of a motherboard for signal routing and several daughter boards for various function-specific circuitries. The company says that the Casablanca III takes customization to a new level, offering hundreds of crossover options like Linkwitz-Riley and phase-perfect. Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS ES (in both Matrix and Discrete 6.1 versions) are standard. Prices range from $9,000 to $20,000, depending upon configuration. The Casablanca III will definitely have you asking Sam to play it again. (Sorry, we couldn't resist.)
Theta Digital
(818) 597-9195
www.thetadigital.com

Dynaudio
Those of you who think that a pastry is the best thing to come out of Denmark probably haven't experienced Dynaudio's newest special-edition loudspeaker, the Audience 52 SE. According to the company, this newest model is the missing link between the 52 model ($990 per pair) and the Contour S 1.4 ($2,800 per pair). Coming in at a tidy $1,400 per pair, the Audience 52 SE features a new tweeter and crossover, plus a midbass driver from the company's discontinued Contour 1.3 mk II. The driver uses Dynaudio's magnesium silicate polymer one-piece cone, a 3-inch aluminum wire voice coil, and a power magnet system in a rigid die-cast aluminum basket. The Audience 52 SE is available in cherry or maple wood veneer.
Dynaudio
(630) 238-4200
www.dynaudiousa.com