Alright, let me say up front that I ripped that title from the new guy, David Vaughn. But I share David's opinion that this Tuesday is a very significant day of choice that could bear a surprising impact on the format war. This Tuesday <I>The Matrix</I> trilogy will be released on HD DVD, while the first two <I>Pirates of the Caribbean</I> movies hit Blu-ray (exclusively) just ahead of the third installment in that series hitting theaters.
Pictured here is the Vandersteen Model 5A, which is my reference loudspeaker. This pair is finished in striking carbon fiber. This speaker has bult-in powered subs and an 11-band EQ that allows its response to be tailored for flat response below 20Hz in virtually any room. This also allows you to put the speakers out in the room where they image best without sacrificing bass response as is typical as you move out from the room boundaries.
This morning's Ask the Editors panel was another fun and engaging event full of excellent questions and (hopefully) informative answers. At one point the subject of separate systems optimzed for two-channel audio vs video and surround sound came up, offering me a chance to get my own message out there on this subject, and to admit to you all that I am in fact a card carrying analog druid. I do not have two systems and I sacrifice nothing in performance for either.
OK, first of all, apologies to everyone, and especially our beloved web monkey, who hates stock photos at shows. I couldn't get a decent shot of the Vidabox equipment so I grabbed an image from the web.
Cinepro was here at HE 2007, and had everyone talking about its demo. And talking loudly, because after hearing the Cinepro Mighty surround system odds are you weren't hearing anything else unless you'd brought earplugs too!
OK, I admit I called this the "Stereophile show" in an earlier Blog. George Lucas didn't release another bad prequel to <I>Star Wars</I>, these people were all "on line" for the HDTV 101 seminar hosted by Home Theater's Geoff Morrison, and featuring UAV's Tom Norton and myself. Yeah, home theater enthusiasts, you came out for us! Thanks!
Admittedly, this show is still very much Stereophile oriented, meaning more two-channel and less TVs and surround sound. So, what does a UAV reporter do? He walks around and listens to stereos like this one, loaded with ultra expensive and strangely pretty MBL gear. And yes, this gear has a sound that's as unique as its looks, with massive scale and dynamic swing.
I guess when you've been lauded in the pages of Stereophile you're not intimidated rolling into the HE Show with a network digital media server. You know, the kind of thing that plays the "M" word.
HP was not only here, it brought more than laptops to the booth. On the left are two 1080p LCDs, the 42" LC4276N and the 47" LC4776N. Both have three HDMI inputs, and a bevy of other impressive features. but the prices are total mainstream: the LC4276N is $1,899 with the LC4776N tipping the scales at just $2,499. We've liked what we've seen from HP's plasmas, so you can bet we're going to get a look at one of these LCDs.