Premiere Design

Some people revel in the process of executing every single step in the home theater build process, painstakingly picking out color swatches and test-driving cup holders. And then there are those who have their eye on the prize: kicking back and enjoying their favorite flicks. First Impressions Theme Theatres is in the business of helping the latter group with its complete architectural and interior design-engineering services for dedicated personal cinemas. Its services include end-to-end building, shipping, and installation projects. The company handles all woodwork, upholstery, seating, and special effects packaged into a comprehensive, performance-based contract.

And now for something completely outrageous&#151;a $135,000 Blu-ray player! Leave it to hyper-high-end <A href="http://www.goldmund.com">Goldmund</A> to charge that much for the Eidos Reference Blue, which will be limited to a production run of 50 units. But how can it possibly justify such an astronomical price tag?

Panasonic's 103-inch plasma is nothing new—we first saw it at the 2006 CES—and it's not even the largest plasma in production, an honor that goes to Panasonic's 152-inch behemoth. But last week, the company announced that it is taking pre-orders in Japan for an updated version of the 103-incher that now offers 3D capabilities.

For the last 30 years, Ken Ishiwata has served as European Brand Director for <A href="http://www.marantz.com">Marantz</A> while designing some of the company's best high-end audio products. To celebrate this incredible legacy, Marantz has announced two limited-edition components designed by Ishiwata and dubbed the <A href="http://www.marantz.eu/kipearl/">KI Pearls</A>.

There are power amps, and there are power amps&#151;and then there's the Pivetta Opera One. Standing six feet tall and weighing over half a ton, this monster is designed by Pivetta Andrea (pictured here with his creation), built by the Italian company bearing his given name, and distributed worldwide exclusively by <A href="http://www.higherfi.com">HigherFi</A>.

CES spawns a number of satellite events, including T.H.E. (The Home Entertainment) Show, which focuses on high-end audio. Among the exhibitors this year is <A href="http://audience-av.com/main.php">Audience</A> with its new ClairAudient LSA 4+4 speaker, a mouthful of a name for a product that is said to provide an earful of great sound in a relatively small package measuring 17 x 15 x 12 inches (HxWxD).

As I wrote about the <A href="http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-gear/more_power/">Perreaux &#233;loquence 250i</A>, it claims to be the world's most powerful stereo integrated amp, delivering up to 530 continuous watts/channel into 4&#937;. But that's nothing compared with a new monoblock power amp from <A href="http://www.goldmund.com">Goldmund</A>&#151;the Telos 5000, which delivers up to <I>5000</I> continuous watts into 2&#937; (2500W into 4&#937;, 1250W into 8&#937;).