English speaker manufacturer Tannoy made their name with concentric driver arrays, but technology and nostalgia were combined in their Prestige line that pays homage to their past. The Kensingtons ($11,000/pr) are two way speakers in gorgeous wood cabinets. The drivers and cabinets are handmade in England. I rapped on them and they are solid and tight. The side by side vertical slots that run top to bottom along the corners of the speaker (not visible in this shot, unfortunately) are the vents for the bass. Powered with a Manley Amp Stingray integrated tube amp and driven by a Denon CD player, the sound was really quite good, even amongst the aural clutter that is the show floor.
Revel's Kevin Voecks shows off the company's new Ultima2 speakers, including the Salon and the smaller Studio. Other Ultima1 models are described in our day 1 report.
HDMI cables are subject to misbehaving. The longer the run, the bigger the chance that the desired "I" signal pattern is turned into something that looks more like the oscilloscope sine wave that opens classic episodes of "Outer Limits." But you can control the vertical and horizontal, so to speak, with some HDMI extenders. There are several kinds available, from inexpensive inline devices like the UltraLink that worked for Tom (but not for me) and there are more heavily engineered solutions like the Etheral Restorer.
Custom installation speaker manufacturer Speakercraft decided that their dealers should get a little culture while they're in town. Well respected artists have provided works of art for display. Nice touch Speakercraft!
Like I reported on a month ago, Samsung announced at the show the running change and update “fix” for the BD-P1000. Look for it in players and available for download at the end of October.
Following on the success of AudioControl's Maestro M2, the M2e theater processor incorporates AudioControl's Active Balanced Technology, which allows it to output a high-rez component video signal that can extend 1,000 feet over standard Cat-5 wiring.
Digital Projection unveiled a broad line of DLP projectors at both 720p and 1080p resolutions, and in single- and three-chip configurations. Many of its projectors are available with the VIP 2000 outboard processor utilizing Silicon Optix’ vaunted Realta chip set with HQV (Hollywood Quality Video).