Scott Wilkinson

CEDIA 2010
Velodyne Digital Drive Plus Subwoofers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
Looking like a scene from CSI, Velodyne's booth is emphasizing the goal to "kill the competition" with its new Digital Drive Plus subwoofers, which come with drivers measuring 10 ($3000), 12 ($3500), 15 ($5000), and 18 inches ($6000). These models feature 4.5 to 7dB more output depending on model, new rohacell driver material, redesigned cabinet, and much easier setup with 8-band EQ. Retained from the previous Digital Drive models is the same high-gain servo technology that reduces distortion to a mere 0.5% at 20Hz.
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CEDIA 2010
DreamVision Starlight3 LCoS Projector
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
Last week, I wrote about the DreamVision Starlight3 LCoS projector ($9500), which is available in several finishes, such as the faux carbon-fiber pictured here. Today, I popped in to see a demo of the Starlight2, and it was mighty impressive on a Perfect Vu unity-gain screen (2.35:1, 140 inches diagonal) using a Schneider anamorphic lens ($8000)—great blacks and colors on clips from Avatar and Up.
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CEDIA 2010
Focal Viva Utopia Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
Focal is growing its Utopia line with the Viva, which comes in two varieties—a vertically oriented LCR that is also used for the surrounds and a horizontal center-channel that is otherwise essentially identical. Both incorporate the company's IAL2 beryllium tweeter and third-generation W-cone midranges and woofers for a frequency response from 39Hz to 50kHz (±3dB) and a sensitivity of 92dB/W/m.
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CEDIA 2010
Pathos Adrenalin Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
At $50,000/pair, the Adrenalin monoblock from Pathos is a serious investment. But for all that bread, you get 180W of pure class-A power with a tube input stage and MOSFET output stage. And it looks wicked cool, too!
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CEDIA 2010
SIM2 HDR47E LED-Backlit LCD Monitor
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
Aside from a bunch of projectors, SIM2 was also showing its 47-inch HDR47E LCD monitor, which uses Dolby's high-dynamic range LED-backlight technology in which each of the 2206 LEDs are individually dimmable with 20 bits of resolution, leading to a claimed contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. Normally, I dismiss contrast specs, but I can believe this one—even on the show floor, the blacks were stunning, and bright portions were really bright; according to SIM2, the peak light output is 4000 nits, which is equivalent to 1167 foot-lamberts!

The HDR47E is intended for professional applications, such as automotive and medical imaging, and there are no specific plans to bring anything like it to the consumer market. And $35,000 for a 47-inch LCD is mighty steep. But it sure looked great playing Avatar.

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CEDIA 2010
Krell Evolution 555 Blu-ray Player
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
Krell is finally about to ship its Evolution 555 Blu-ray player ($15,000, November), and a rep was quick to point out that it's not a rebranded Oppo—it was designed and built from the ground up by Krell. It has most of the bells and whistles, including access to Hulu and Netflix, WiFi, UPnP (not DLNA), and an iPad control app; 3D will come in a firmware update next year. Processing is provided by Sigma Designs VXP, and if you connect it to a Krell pre/pro via HDMI, it will jump right to the disc menu, skipping all those pesky trailers and FBI warnings.
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CEDIA 2010
ADA PTM-7150 7-Channel Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
Audio Design Associates (ADA) introduced two versions of a new multichannel power amp at CEDIA—the PTM-7150 (seven channels, $10,000) and PTM-5150 (five channels, $8000). Each one pumps 150Wpc into 8Ω, 250Wpc into 4Ω, and around 600Wpc into 2Ω. It operates in pure class-A mode for the first 50 watts, after which it moves to class-AB, and a patent-pending cooling system uses a high-volume/low-speed fan under the heat sinks to keep the amp cool and quiet.
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CEDIA 2010
RBH SA-500 Monoblock Subwoofer Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
As I was listening to the Trinnov demo in RBH's booth, I was told about the company's brand new subwoofer amp, the SA-500, which provides 500W of class-D power. It's so new that only three exist, which were powering the company's 1010-SXN/R sub and the bass portions of two 8300-SX/Rs at the front left and right, and as I said in the Trinnov post, the sound was excellent with no hint of bloat. The rep didn't have pricing or availability.
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CEDIA 2010
ADA Trinnov Room Correction
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
After several years of prototype demos at trade shows, Audio Design Associates (ADA) is finally releasing a consumer version of its Trinnov room correction technology in three standalone boxes—the TEQ-4 ($10,000), TEQ-8 ($12,000), and TEQ-12 ($15,000); the model number indicates how many audio channels each one supports. The first step is to play test tones and measure several listening positions with the included microphone, which uses four pickups spaced so that the speakers' position—including height—can be measured accurately.
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CEDIA 2010
Epson Reflective Series Projectors
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 24, 2010
Among all the super-expensive projectors at CEDIA, some of the biggest buzz has been about Epson's entry into the LCoS market, which turns out not to be entirely true. In fact, Epson has developed a new but related imaging technology it calls "3LCD Reflective," which is basically liquid crystal on quartz instead of silicon. (Keep in mind that quartz is silicon dioxide, so maybe it's not that different after all.)
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