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Day 3 - Monday, January 8, 2001

 

Below you will find a large table with photos and their descriptions (legends) underneath. The photos will be updated throughout each day, so check back often. At the bottom are links to photos from each of the days at the show. Day 0 is the day when the exhibits are being installed, and the equipment photos are previews. The actual show starts on Saturday, January 6 ("Day 1").

Impact Technologies introduced their new statement loudspeaker, the airfoil.  The planar magnetic driver column is covered by 4 patents, and the system runs from 16 Hz-24 kHz.  It's a statement item at $38,0000. Neuance Technologies demonstrated to great effectiveness their isolation platform, with a good old turntable.  After removing the platform, and replacing with a standard shelf, the sound quality was drastically reduced.  Restoring the platform returned the superb playback quality.

No, your speakers aren't watching you!  This is the Cabasse IO (satellite) atop the Jupiter subwoofer.   You can have a 7.1 setup without giving up your entire room to the speakers. Kochel introduced their Center Channel Speaker, unusual for the fact that it is horn loaded.  Not many horn-loaded center channels exist.  Also on display was their KB-200, all driven by WAVAC electronics.

 

PS Audio showed a late prototype of their Power Frame.  Shown above is the main frame with two stereo modules installed.  A stereo module is pictured below.  The upgrades are field installable by the customer. Bel Canto showed several new products including this EVO 200.4 digital amplifier which is a four channel version of the 200.2.  They also have a six channel version, the 200.6 which weighs about 50 pounds.  In addition, a solid state preamp, the Pre-1 was shown.

Von Schweikert Audio introduced quite a few new products, included the VR 3.5 pictured above.  They also showed the VR-4 Gen III, the VR 3.5 Center Channel and a subwoofer.  None were over $3995. Vaessen (from Belgium) and Perreaux (from New Zealand) demonstrated a system with excellent synergy.  The photo doesn't do justice to the glorious chrome face plates of the Perreaux gear.  Expect to see the Perreaux line being sold again in the US later this year.

RBH showed off their wonderful enclosure real wood veneers. This particular subwoofer ($1,299) is in hickory, and is very spouse friendly. Look for new designs in electrostatic speakers that don't need an AC power supply, so you can place them anywhere. These particular ones, from MZX, are only $3,295/pair and are full range. Usually, full range large panels are much more expensive. Isn't competition great?

Sony's latest spin on their trade name: The Grand Wega, a rear projector using true 16:9 LCD panels and capable of a true 720p display. Yamaha is getting into the display business with their DXP-1 DLP projector.  Not just a re-branded projector, everything is a Yamaha original (except of course for the Texas Instruments DLP chip).

Manufacturers lobbied hard for our attention, as evidenced by these dancers at the Philips booth. DVD movie lovers rejoice, as there were many more 16:9 displays of all sizes and technologies this year. 

We had a close look at a THX certified PC.  More than just audio and video performance standards, it's all about getting the myriad of PC settings correct. Spectron's new Premiere six-channel power amplifier sports 475 watts per channel at 8 ohms, and a feedback speaker cable that senses back EMF so the amplifier can optimize itself. $7,000.

ButtKicker was kicking butt as usual. The shaker is in the oval hole in the back of the platform. Billy Bags makes some great racks that rotate when you want to make some changes to the rear panel of your components. They are made of welded steel, and are built to your specific size requests. This one is $2,200.

Click on links below to go to the photo pages for each day.

DAY-0    DAY-1    DAY-2    DAY-3    DAY-4    Wrap-Up

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© Copyright 2001 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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