Scott Wilkinson

Other than the TH-85PF12U plasma and an extensive 3D demo, Panasonic has been pretty tight-lipped about what it's going to be showing at CEDIA. But late-breaking news from the IFA trade show in Berlin has revealed a new LCD projector, the PT-AE4000. Like it's predecessor, the new model lets you store lens zoom and focus settings for content with different aspect ratios, such as 16:9 and 2.35:1, providing a poor man's anamorphic capability. New to the AE4000 is an aspect-ratio detection function that automatically selects 16:9 or 2.35:1 depending on the incoming signal. The projector should be available in October for less than $4000.

JBL is bringing its A game to CEDIA with a plethora of products, such as the new Performance LS series of speakers, which includes the LS40 bookshelf ($700 each), LS60 and LS80 floorstanders ($1100 and $1500 each, respectively), LS Center ($800), and LS120 subwoofer ($1100 each). All the main speakers feature a 3/4-inch ring-radiator ultrahigh-frequency driver, a horn-loaded titanium compression driver for the highs, and polymer-coated cellulose-fiber, 6.5-inch cone woofers. The 12-inch sub reaches down to 25Hz backed by 400W RMS (700W peak).

Lexicon has entered the growing field of truly universal Blu-ray players with the BD-30, which can read SACD and DVD-Audio in addition to Blu-ray, DVD, and CD as well as all recordable disc formats. It conforms to Profile 2.0, which means it can access BD-Live content online, and it provides a USB port that lets users access A/V material on a USB storage device. Video processing is performed by Anchor Bay's well-regarded VRS chipset, and the player can decode all current audio formats to PCM via HDMI, though the press release seems to imply that it has no multichannel analog output, which is odd considering the $3500 price tag.

When I profiled the <A href="http:// blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-gear/revel_in_luxury/">Revel Ultima2</A> speaker line in my Ultimate Gear blog, there was no matching subwoofer. No longer&#151;CEDIA will witness the introduction of the Ultima Rythm2 powered sub. With 2400W RMS (5400W peak) to power its 18-inch, dual-voice-coil driver, this thing should shake the foundation with vanishing low distortion ad no dynamic compression. I don't know the price yet, but if you have to ask, you can't afford it.