CEDIA

Tributaries unveiled the new Series 8 Reference Series of interconnect cables at the recent CEDIA 2011 trade show. Replacing the Series 7 and Series 9, the new cables boast a level of performance even greater than previous models, thanks to changes in the construction and an improved grade of copper.

Series 8 models are made with Long-Crystal OFHC copper, which is drawn to reduce the amount of crystals in the copper conductor. By lowering the crystal count, distortion is reduced and signal transfer is improved--resulting in an audio and video cable that delivers a high degree of fidelity and an extremely low noise floor.

"We are thrilled with the performance of the Series 8 cables," said Joe Perfito, President of Tributaries Cable. "The use of new materials and updated construction push the Series 8 to surpass the performance of our previous top performer. We're also proud to say these products are made in the USA, allowing us to offer a superior level of quality control."Read more

Big news for HARMAN – the company's Lexicon DD-8 multi-room power amplifier was honored with not one, but three awards - Best Power Amplifier Resi Award from Residential Systems, CEDIA Manufacturers' Excellence Awards for Best New Product and Sustainable Lifestyle Product Innovation.

Lexicon was the only manufacturer to receive three industry awards for a single product at CEDIA 2011 and the sole winner of the Sustainable Lifestyle Innovation, recognizing the environmental friendly element of the product.

The Lexicon DD-8 Multi-Room Amplifier is an eight-channel amplifier that delivers a whopping 1,000 watts of power (125 watts into each of its eight channels) from a design that measures just 1.7" H (one rack space) x 17.3" W x 14.9" D and weighs only 9.2lbs. All that power from such a small chassis is made possible by Harman's new DriveCore amplifier IC chip (co-developed with Texas Instruments) which incorporates an unprecedented level of component integration into an IC that is smaller than a postage stamp.Read more

TiVo announced a new set-top box at CEDIA last week – the company's most advanced to date – with the ability to record four different shows at once while watching a fifth recorded program, thanks to its FOUR tuners. Dubbed the TiVo Premiere Elite, the new box has a huge two-terabyte hard drive capable of holding 300 hours of HD programming, and is THX certified.

The TiVo Premiere Elite features TiVo's easy to use interface and provides access to Web entertainment from Netflix, Pandora, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, and more.

It is compatible with most popular home automation controllers such as Crestron, Control4, and RTI, along with the TiVo Slide remote with a QWERTY keyboard and TiVo's apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

The TiVo Premiere Elite is for use with digital cable systems only and does not work with analog cable or satellite. It will be available by the end of the year Pending FCC approval, through tivo.com, authorized home theater installers and Best Buy's Magnolia stores.

What makes the perfect tailgating party? Burgers, chips, some adult beverages…sounds good, right? Make it even better by adding live satellite TV with the new Tailgater by DISH Network.

Easy to use, the Tailgater connects to a small DISH Network set-top box and TV. Once connected, simply follow the on-screen instructions and it will automatically locate the satellite positions for you – in just minutes you'll be viewing your favorite channels in high definition from the back of your truck. When you're done, simply power down the Tailgater and receiver, disconnect the cables, and take your system with you.

The Tailgater weighs only 10 pounds and is one of the lowest-priced portable satellite antennas on the market. It costs $350 and works with DISH Network's ViP 211k (MSRP: $149) single-tuner HD receiver. A variety of programming packages are available and DISH even offers month-to-month programming – allowing you to only pay for the months you use. Current DISH Network customers can even use their existing account to service the Tailgater system (an additional outlet fee may apply). Read more

LG Electronics USA just announced its NANO FULL LED CINEMA 3D HDTV, model 55LW9800, the latest 3D new gadgets from LG. The 55-inch LW9800 is the world's first passive 3D TV to achieve THX 3D Display Certification, and was exhibited last week at CEDIA in the THX booth.

Some of the fantastic features of this new gadget includes a NANO FULL LED display, which employs a thin film incorporating a full array of LEDs, giving it more uniform light distribution and detailed local dimming from over two hundred addressable sectors. Then NANO technology also allows for an incredibly narrow bezel and thin depth of just 1.08 inches.

LG's TruMotion 480Hz refresh rate provides a smooth, sharp and realistic picture, and the 3D Display Certification confirms the 55LW9800 meets THX's qualifications for having the correct gamma, luminance and color temperature, resulting in superior 3D picture quality and performance.Read more

Can you imagine a picture that has four times the resolution of an HDTV? That's exactly what Sony's new home theater projector, the VPL-VW1000ES, delivers. Announced this week at CEDIA, the VPL-VW1000ES is the world's first 4K projector. It features 2,000 lumens of brightness – that's nearly twice the output of Sony's previous home theater projectors – making it suitable for screen sizes up to 200 inches.

The VPL-VW1000ES uses a new SXRD 4K panel which produces deep blacks, and when combined with Sony's Iris3 technology, can achieve an 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast. The projector also features an exclusive Super Resolution 4K "upscaler" that enhances 2D and 3D 1080p content, allowing viewers to get the absolute best picture possible from their existing Blu-ray libraries. In addition, it has a built-in transmitter, along with picture position memory which memorizes the position of the zoom lens, and it supports 2D and 3D anamorphic films.

Sony's new VPL-VW1000ES 4K home theater front projector will be available in January for approximately $25,000. Read more

On display at CEDIA this week are two of Onkyo's newest hi-fi components - the A-9070 Integrated Stereo Amplifier and C-7070 CD player. In typical Onkyo fashion, both offer state-of-the-art design, rugged engineering, a variety of connectivity options, and sound pure enough to please discerning audiophiles.

Onkyo's A-9070 Integrated Stereo Amplifier has four discrete modes—integrated amp, poweramp, pre-amp, and split power/pre-amp—offering flexibility when incorporating other components into your hi-fi system. Alone, it provides ample power with a parallel push-pull amplification design, three-stage inverted Darlington circuitry, dedicated Wolfson 192 kHz/24-bit DACs for symmetrically designed L/R channels, and four large 15,000 µF capacitors.

In addition, the unit features DIDRC (Dynamic Intermodulation Distortion Reduction Circuitry), along with closed ground-loop circuits and vibration-damping construction combine for clear sound across a wide dynamic range. The A-9070 also has an independent headphone amplifier, a phonograph equalizer, and gold-plated audio terminals/speaker posts.Read more

If you visit BestStuff.com very often, you know we are fans of Epson's gear. So you can imagine our delight when we heard about the company's first line of 2D and 3D Full HD 1080p home theater projectors. Announced today at CEDIA, the PowerLite Pro Cinema 6010, Home Cinema 5010/5010e and Home Cinema 3010/3010e were built with features to please both home cinema enthusiasts and custom installers. And one of the best things about these projectors? They start in price at under $1,600.

Epson's new projectors feature full HD 1080p resolution, active shutter 3D, and Bright 3D Drive Technology for incredible 3D viewing at home. They offer up to 2,400 lumens of color and white light output, wireless installation options, and have a split screen mode for viewing two pictures at once or watching TV and using the Internet at the same time.

The top-of-the-line PowerLite Pro Cinema 6010 delivers both 2D and 3D and features 1080p native resolution, a contrast ratio of up to 200,000:1, and brightness of up to 2,400 lumens. This 3LCD projector comes packed with state-of-the-art features including virtual 480 Hz drive technology for enhanced light output in 3D mode, cinema filter for improved color fidelity, THX certification, and the new Spilt Screen mode for watching two sources at once. The Pro Cinema 6010 also comes with an extra lamp, a ceiling mount and a cable cover. Read more