Tom Norton

Pioneer's new flagship receiver, the SC-09TX is loaded with all the bells and whistles, including a display screen, 10 channels of 140Wpc ICE digital amplification that may be combined for 7 channels at 200W per, HDMI 1.3a, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio decoding, and THX certification. Reportedly four years in development, it won't ship until January 2008, so that will give you time to gather the $7000 you'll need to buy it.

Pioneer also had its new S-3EX speakers on static display. A smaller, $6000/pair variation on the floorstanding S-1EX we reviewed recently, the S-3EX keeps the price down by employing a simpler cabinet, substituting carbon graphite for the tweeter diaphragm instead of the beryllium used in the S-1EX, and using a slightly smaller midrange cone (but still made of magnesium). While the S-3EX should ship soon, you'll have to wait until mid 2008 for the matching center channel and "bookshelf" models.

Infinity's new Classia series speakers are not expected to ship before early next year. It will replace the Beta series. The top of the line is the floor-standing C336.
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KEF had a small booth, but a lot to show. Its updated XQ speaker line was particularly interesting. Gone are the pod-like supertweeters sitting atop the cabinets. Instead the tweeter in the company's UniQ concentric drivers has been re-engineered to handle all the high frequency chores. The XQ 30 floor stander, shown, will run $3400/pair. Not shown are the matching bookshelf model, the XQ 10, at $1400/pair, and the $1200 XQ 50 center.