LATEST ADDITIONS

<A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/cedia2006/091906soundfield/">Once again</A>, I was treated to a demonstration of Eminent Technology's $12,900 TRW-17 rotary woofer and once again I was baffled by its seeming lack of practicality, while being amazed at its creative approach to producing the lowest notes.

Meridian’s collaboration with Ferrari bore fruit as the F80 CD-Radio. "CD-Radio," by a long shot, is an unworthy designation for such an unusual device. Sure, it is an AM/FM radio of high quality and, yes, it will play CDs and DVDs and do all sorts of other neat things but you can go to www.thef80.com for all that info. What I want to tell you is that this $2999 clock-radio is drop-dead gorgeous and is a serious audio instrument. In a press conference room that I estimate was 25'x50' with 15' ceiling, Meridian's Bob Stuart popped in first one disc and then another to the amazement of the press crew. The f80 really filled that larger-than-domestic and nearly bare room with balanced sound. Now, I am not saying that it will replace a full component system for you or me, but I cannot think of another product that compares with it for size, appearance, or performance.

Just a short note to tell you that the smaller brother of the affordably priced but high-performance Pioneer Elite S-1EX loudspeaker that I enjoyed so much last <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/307piosex/">March</A&gt; has made its way to these shores. The S-3EX is slightly shorter and narrower, with 7" woofers in place of its bigger brother's 8" drivers. Retained are the CST Driver technology, the Aramid/Carbon-composite&ndash;shell woofers, the clean design and construction and, presumably, all the sound except at subwoofer levels. Not retained is about a third of the cost with the S-3EX estimated at $6000/pair instead of $9000.

Panamax's $2000 MAX 7500 PO is billed as "home theater management." Its 720VA isolation transformer is designed to optimize the performance of digital sources and video displays and isolate them from audio circuitry. It also offers extremely sophisticated ground isolation.Voltage regulation and balanced power are also provided.

All of us have excuses for why we cannot acoustically treat our rooms but a lot of the underlying reason is that many are not convinced that they should make the physical or financial effort. I’ve discovered what I think of as training wheels for room acoustics. Tom Gorzelski of mytheater acoustic panel showed me his simple and inexpensive kits; these are enough to get anyone started. The panels are only 1" thick and, with their polyester filling, light enough to hang with a single nail. Don't expect them to work into the bass, therefore, but Tom acknowledges that they are most effective at 1&ndash;2kHz. Also, they come in packages of four 24x40 panels ($120) or two 24x24 panels ($45) because you cannot expect just one to make a difference. Still, hanging a 4pack of the bigger panels should reduce reflections if placed at ear level and, especially, at the first reflection points on the side-walls. It's likely you'll like it enough, perhaps, to do even more.

Furman's Reference line of power conditioners are handsomely packaged and feature packed. The $1499 20A SPR-20i Stable Power Regulator has linear filtering technology, multi-stage power surge suppression, extreme voltage shutdown, a detachable module for telco surge suppression, as well as three pairs of HD ready cable/satellite TVSS isolated F-connectors.