LATEST ADDITIONS

Ain't Life Grand?
Fred Manteghian  |  Sep 16, 2006

Sunfire announced their upcoming Theater Grand Receiver 3 (TGR-3) as part of their premium XT series of components. While it isn't rated as powerful as their dedicated multi-channel amps, I don't know anyone who would complain about having 200 watts times seven channels in their receiver. In fact, Sunfire claims the TGR-3 is the world's most power receiver. Sunfire's trademarked Tracking Donwconverter technology allows you move power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip. Oh wait, that's my car. Actually, having used a Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature amplifier as a reference for over 3 years, I can attest to the fact that their technology works as advertised.

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The skull
Steven Stone  |  Sep 16, 2006

The most exciting product at the show with a nautical theme was debatably the "talking Pirate Skull" from Themeaddicts Inc. This patented product was developed for those poor souls who always wanted their own animatronic character (or any other character for that matter.) the skull "wakes up" and verbally provides real-time information about people walking up your driveway, entering your yard, standing at your front door, urinating on your daisies, or anything else your home automation/security system can monitor.

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Gibson
Steven Stone  |  Sep 16, 2006

Gibson introduced a whole new line of accessories bearing the Gibson logo, including USB cards, blank CDR disks, cables, CDR burner, and portable hard drives. No prices, or availability date, or any other information was available at the show. Obviously Gibson thinks that we all need to have the Gibson brand on stuff we can already get from over a dozen sources already. Rock on, Dudes.

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Polk Plays Hide the Sub
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
Would you believe that Polk's THX Ultra2-certified RTS-100 in-wall and RTS-105 in-ceiling models were among the best-sounding speakers of any kind at CEDIA? It's true. Polk also showed off a shrewd sub-concealment strategy that involves hiding the driver beneath a floor grate, shown here in cutaway.
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Audiotrak Receiver Has Front-Panel Touchscreen
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
And that's not the only thing this 78-pound, $3999 receiver has to offer. It comes with four cool brushed-aluminum keypads (supplied, no extra charge) and 140 watts times seven. It can play loud, as the people at the neighboring Verizon booth noted ruefully.
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B&W Exhibits CM Floorstander, Monitor
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
The B&W CM series falls between the higher-end 700 series and lower-end 600 series. New to the line are the floorstanding CM7 ($900/each) and stand-mount CM1 ($450/each). They'll be available in 30 days. Already out is the CMC center ($600). Inside the wood-veneer enclosure is B&W's famous tube-loaded tweeter, which gives the much higher-priced Nautilus line its extraordinarily clean and revealing high frequency extension.
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Limelight Lamps Provide Light and Sound
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
In the base of each of these elegant table lamps is a bottom-firing 6.5-inch woofer. Located just beneath the shade is a silk-dome tweeter, firing into a diffuser. Both leak sound through grilles at top and bottom. The enclosure looks like granite but is an acrylic-like material. Nine years in the making, the Limelight lamp line made its debut at CEDIA but is not yet available. If you're interested, get in touch with inventor Scott Zwolski via limelightaudio.com.
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Meridian Hits the Wall
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
The Meridian P200z in-wall subwoofer fits an eight-inch active driver and eight-inch passive radiator into a three-quarter-inch depth. In a conventional subwoofer, that's not nearly enough space, but the dedicated amp (bottom) uses DSP magic to compensate. The enclosure is a nonresonant wood-metal laminate. Price tentatively pegged between $4000-5000.
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Shoes Compared
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
Frank Göbl of Canton and Steven Stone of our sister publication UltimateAV were the best-shod men on the floor. I think Steven (left) has the advantage here.
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Sonic Integrity Toobs Yr. iPod
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 16, 2006
Next-generation audiophiles-in-the-making are plugging their iPods into tube amps. So building an iPod dock into a tube amp is a logical progression. Sonic Integrity's Tube Pod (shown by System Audio, $1000) includes 13-wpc amp, dock, and speakers. Long live the revolution. For more details: tube-pod.com.
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