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Onkyo and Takamine Collaborate

Onkyo teamed up with guitar manufacturer Takemine to produce a loudspeaker that sings like a musical instrument. Takemine's acoustic voicing technology, combined with Onkyo's innovation in driver design, made our LAGQ Spin sound vibrantly alive.

Onkyo says the D-TK10's ring-drive tweeter produces flat frequency response out to 100kHz and its AeroAcoustic Drive port duct gives the woofer unusual control for a 10cm driver. Onkyo also credits the A-OMF diaphragm for a significant amount of that bass control, too.

Price tbd.

Onkyo Goes Stereo

Onkyo held a press conference that really made us smile. It was all about stereo.

The $699.99 A-9555 employs Onkyo's vector linear technology to correct the high distortion that plagues most PWM designs. VL technology modulates the signal with an integration circuit rather than a comparator, which, Onkyo says,"cancels" the positive and negative pulses of transient distortion. Onkyo claims this effectively smoothes the analog modulation and "removes" the error.

The A-9555 puts out 100Wpc into an 8 ohm load and 200Wpc into 4 ohms.

And did we mention that it has a phono…

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

David Wilson remarked that he debuted the original Wilson WATT (Wilson Audio Tiny Transducer) almost 20 years ago to the day. Today, he showed us the WATT/Puppy 8 ($27,900/pair). Wilson, as always, a polished presenter, also noted that it was appropriate for him to give the new speaker its premier in a city noted for producing sequels, although he promised that, unlike Hollywood sequels, the WATT/Puppies have gotten better with each new chapter.

For me, the most memorable line of the presentation was Wilson's remark that the original WATT was noted for being unforgiving. "Wilson has…

Not a Dry Eye In the House

The assembled media lost in a musical revery listening to Cantus sing "Shenandoah" at the debut of the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy 8s.

HE2006 Keynote Address

HE2006's official keynote address was delivered by Gary Sasaki, president of DIGDIA, a company that helps companies understand the ways that digital entertainment creates growth opportunities for savvy businesspeople.

Mr. Sasaki explained that mature technologies, such as analog TV, have limited growth potential, but entrenched audiences, whereas emerging technologies frequently offer more potential than genuine growth—that is, until an unanticipated development generates mainstream interest in what had previously seemed an unlikely direction. Take the Web explosion of the last 10…

Belkin's TuneTalk Stereo

There are two tiny omnidirection mics on that sweet little thing — Belkin's TuneTalk Stereo ($69.99) — displayed here by Jackie Romulo. You can record stuff directly onto your iPod and play it back later. So, if you're a student at a sleepy lecture or a hack reporter like me, you have an instant cheat sheet.

Which means you wouldn't have to call Belkin's PR Manager, Melody Chalaban, while you're up in Jon Iverson's room posting entries, to get the model name and price that you forgot to write down.

Good stuff, I say.

Also In the Belkin Room

Also in the Belkin room, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Bruce Edgar who had furnished the room with his Edgarhorn Titan II loudspeakers ($16,000). Dr. Edgar is an experimental physicist. And also a mind reader. I sat beside him, facing the system with its outrageous array of silvery PureAV interconnects and speaker cables jutting out like all sorts of tentacles and arms and legs, thinking: "Any other cables would make this system look ugly," when Dr. Edgar said to me: "Any other cables would make this system look ugly, don't you think?"

"Yes, that's what I was just…

HeadRoom's Headphone Heaven

After experiencing Shure's Push-to-Hear control switch, I was in a headphone kind of mood, so I walked on over to HeadRoom's aptly named Headphone Heaven. I imagine that this heavenly set-up will serve as a much-needed respite for many weary showgoers. I found smiling faces, comfy lounge chairs, happy flowers, and lots of sunshine. Everything in the room begged, "Try Me!"

I was soon greeted by HeadRoom's Tyll Hertsens who led me into a private room where I had my way with his Max balanced amp ($4000) driving two sets of headphones — Sennheiser's HD650s and AKGs very attractive K…

Shure's PTH Control Switch

I've never owned a set of headphones. Is that what they're called? Or should it be pair of headphones? Headphones? Earphones? I don't even know. I've stayed away from headphones for a couple of reasons: I don't like having things on my head or in my ears, and I actually do enjoy hearing the sounds around me — the banjos on the F train, the buses on Madison Avenue, the sirens around the corner, the construction in our hall. Oh, and the birdies chirping, too.

So, I when I heard about Shure's Push-to-Hear (PTH) control switch, which allows you to instantly mute Led Zeppelin…

Mona Lisa Speaks?

Whether or not Matsumi Suzuki has recreated the voice of the woman who sat for the portrait we call the Mona Lisa, he has already been awarded an Ig-Nobel Prize.