CEDIA 2007

Once again, 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.

That's a pretty snazzy new pre-pro from NAD, the T-175 ($1999). It sports four HDMI inputs, lots of analog and digital audio inputs as well as "legacy" video sources. Of special note is the inclusion of Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction, with a custom response curve option developed with PSB's Paul Barton. In addition, this is one of the first of a new generation of AVRs, pre-pros, and processors that are compatible with the potent Audyssey Pro Audio Calibration intended for professional installation. Others capable of Audyssey Pro include NAD's T775 and T785 AVRs, and Denon's AVR-5805CI, '5308CI, '4308CI and '3808CI AVRs. Also on Audyssey's lists are the Denon AVP1HD pre-pro, the Integra DTC-9.8 and OnkyoPro PR-SC885 pre-pros, the Integra DTR-8.8 AVR, the Crestron Adagio Media System, the Phase Technology dARTS system, and, of course, the Audyssey Sound Equalizer.

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 1–2kHz. 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.

Continuing with European speakers, on static exhibit at the Klipsch Group complex was one of the most cleanly and beautifully simple speaker designs I've seen in a while. It was Jamo's S60, the largest in a new "S" line that, so far, includes a tiny bookshelf, a small center channel, and a subwoofer. These looked like many European small designs, almost too small to be effective. But the graceful three-way S60 sports a dome tweeter, a vertically arrayed pair of 4" midrange units, and a side-firing 8" woofer. Everything fit and matched, and the materials and textures just screamed quality. I just had to find out the price. It's only $450/pair! For that money and their graceful appearance, this speaker is a bargain even unheard!

There was a lot to see in the Lenbrook Group rooms and I was pleased to see that the anticipated T-175 multichannel pre-pro was ready for prime-time. However, the unit that caught my eye was a little stereo unit, the T-715. This trim, $499 beauty has a 25Wpc amp, a CD player, an AM-FM tuner, and a subwoofer output in addition to the usual audio line-level inputs and outputs and headphone jack. It also sports a USB input for playback of MP3s or of anything streaming off the Internet. It's just about the size of a shoebox. Add a pair of small speakers, like PSB's $279/pair Alpha B1s, and you have an ideal and compact second system.