Steinway and Danish Hi-End Manufacturer Join Forces – Steinway & Sons pianos and cost-no-object audio expert Peter Lyngdorf have collaborated to produce fully-integrated digital sound and AV systems for the home. Their first two systems are even named after Steinway pianos – Model D and Model C. Model D, a two-channel system designed to eliminate all artifacts from the equipment and from the environment in which it is situated, has a SRP of $150,000.
Model D’s central equipment cabinet (like the speakers finished in black piano lacquer just as the pianos) contains the CD player and RoomPerfect DSP room EQ components. The two speakers are seven-foot towers of heavy aluminum with four 12-inch woofers, two five-inch midrange drivers and a Heil ribbon tweeter. Each speaker is powered by two 400W digital amps and an active digital crossover. The CD signal is upconverted to 192K/24bit, linked to a master clock. Installation of the system is included along with measurement of the room and adjusting the EQ. It is designed to sound good wherever in the room one sits.
HD Radio Capability Part of More Home Entertainment Systems – Reception of the digital IBOC signals has been included in over 20 different HT receivers and processors shown at this year’s CEDIA show in Denver. Some models also include iTunes tagging. HD Radio technology has been included by such manufacturers as Denon, Marantz, Niles Audio, Integra, McIntosh Labs, Yamaha, Onkyo and Polk.
LG Introduces Blu-ray Player with Netflix Movie Streaming – The new BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player from LG, introduced at CEDIA, is the world’s first Blu-ray player to instantly stream movies bought by subscription from Netflix, using its Ethernet port. Other AV products introduced by LG were a 1.8-inch-thin LCD flat screen line, a plasma HDTV series with THX Display Certification, and an LED-backlit LCD with ultrahigh contrast ratio. Four core technologies are offered in the LG line: AV Mode, which optimizes both picture and sound; Clear Voice, which automatically enhances dialog when background noise increases; Invisible Speakers, which are integrated into the displays and increase the sweet spot; and Expert Mode, which provides more than 25 fine adjustment points of the image based on lighting conditions or the type of event.
SIM2 and Entertainment Experience Join Forces to Provide “Better Than Blu” HT System – Italy’s maker of very-high-end HD HT projectors, has partnered with Entertainment Experience LLC, a U.S. firm, to create a hardware & software content solution delivering better-than-HD digital video performance to HT buffs. Their Digital Entertainment Solution was demonstrated at CEDIA. Already active in the commercial digital-cinema world, the two companies want to migrate their technologies – which produce archival-quality film content – to the discerning home theater market. Their package uses SIM2’s most elegant three-chip DLP projector, which images at up to 1920x1080p, together with removable hard disk data storage to accommodate DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) motion picture titles ready for immediate playback. The system uses color standards recently adopted by most Hollywood studios and distributors. The system’s sophisticated 10-bit video digital signal processing allows the integration of current digital media such as HDTV, Blu-ray, DVDs, and even Xbox systems. Digital Entertainment says that the DCI content will ultimately encompass over 4000 major movie titles which will be delivered directly to consumers via swappable hard drives. Each movie takes 40-50GB storage space due to data rates 3 times that of conventional HD. The result is eye-popping clarity and color fidelity.
