CEDIA 2011 Coverage - Piero Gabucci

CEDIA has not been traditionally a great venue for critical audio listening. Unlike video demonstrations, audio needs some sense of quiet in a decent acoustic room. And with the proverbial back room talkers, the awful ambient noise, and worse the base-heavy neighboring music, I give those willing to try a lot of credit.

Definitive Technology
I was very impressed with the new StudioMonitor series Def Tech introduced at this show which includes three sizes in the SM65, the SM55 and the SM45. Although they all share the same aluminum dome tweeter and similar drivers, the two larger models include top-mounted racetrack bass radiators.

Definitive Technology also introduced a new subwoofer pair in the SuperCube 6000 and 4000. Powered by a new Class HD digital amplifier,1500 and 1200 watts respectively, each sub includes a remote control and front illuminated display that allows fine tuning from your seat.

 

Paradigm/Anthem

Our friends at Anthem have created some show buzz introducing the new 1,000 watt (into 8 ohms) monoblock class D amplifier called the M1. with an internal heat pipe cooling system, the M1 can be stacked and rack-mounted. Look for a new preamplifier sometime in the future to control this/these bad boys!

 

You can see the copper tube cooling line with the cover off.

 

Paradigm showed off the new Monitor Series 7 which includes; floorstanding speakers, monitors, along with 2 center channels and surrounds.

 

GoldenEar Technology

Storming into the picture over the last couple of years, long-time admired and respected audiophile and speaker designer Sandy Gross keeps weaving some audio magic.  Adding to the current line of Triton floorstanding speakers, GoldenEar introduced the Aon bookshelf monitors. Two models, the Aon 2 and 3 boast the same High-Velocity Folded Ribbon Tweeter (HVFR) and bass/midrange drivers and passive radiators. The Aon will give you remarkable bass down to 38/42 Hz. The angled shape (sort of pyramidal) is not only interesting design-wise, but increases performance due to the non-parallel walls.  I Think these should be a big hit for them especially at modest prices of $399/$499 each..well done!

 

 

Totem Acoustics

I’ve never hidden my admiration for the work Vince and Nico Bruzzese have done at Totem Acoustics. The Elements line truly may be one of the best sounding speakers I’ve heard here. Four Elements make up the line from the large floorstanding Metal at $12,000, the slightly smaller Earth at $9,000, Fire monitors at $6,000 per pair and the Wood center channel speaker at $4,500.

The Earth look spectacular in white!

 

KEF 

KEF has been working on concept Blade for some time and shipping are these stunningly designed beauties, (again in white, seems to be the hot color these days) but at $30,000 for the pair might be kept exclusive. The speaker cabinet is extremely stiff from the complex design. Powered by the Parasound Halo JC-1 monoblocks and JC-2 preamp, the speakers flew..!

On hand KEF also had the new R Series which couldn’t be more opposite the Blade concept. Simple, rectangular and of course affordable, the R Series uses some of trickle down technology from Blade as in the Uni-Q driver arrays.

 

psb

Leave it to renowned Paul Barton, founder of psb speakers to enter the iPod dock market with the VISO1 Music system. Charge your iPod or connect an iPad or TV, this stylish unit will satisfy your music needs. At $700, it sounded typically wonderful coming from psb.

 

Harman

Ever sit behind the wheel of a $400,000+ Ferrari and listen to an amazing high end audio system? I have, you may see the finger grips still present when they wrenched my fists away from the FF on display. Harmon demonstrated the QuantumLogic Surround system customized for the high performance 2+2 horse. I didn’t get to hear the room demo of the QuantumLogic, but this leather seat was just fine.

 

Solus/Clemens

H-pas was one of the most talked about technologies at the show audio-wise. Although Peter Tribeman may have received more attention at Atlantic Technologies demonstration of the remarkable H-pas soundbar, much of the credit goes to the inventor, Philip Clements, who is partnered with Peter Tribeman. H-PAS or High Pressure Acceleration System you’ve all read about allows the use of very small drivers to achieve stunning deep bass output. For his own on-wall and amazing sounding bookshelves, Philip’s demonstration was the surprising attention grabber for me, I wanted to hear more.

Here he shows the 5.25B’s at about $800 each. Note the square opening at the bottom is not just any port!

 

Wharfedale

High-end British speaker manufacturer Wharfedale didn’t seem out of place at all despite the audio demonstration was from a turntable.  Although forgive me for the poor image, they introduced the 7-speaker lineup, Jade Series which ranges from $1,200 to $4,200 per pair.

Here the image shows the Merrill Williams turntable powered by Quad amplifiers and CD player..

TRIAD

Triad, the Portland Oregon based speaker manufacturer known for customization here introduced an on-wall which I appreciated for its simplicity and straightforwardness. Although the mounting system seemed quite cool too.

 

Onkyo

Onkyo reaches back into its roots a bit with the introduction of the $1,299 A-9070 Integrated Stereo Amplifier and $799 C-7070 CD player. I’d like to get my hands on the pair when they come out in November. The 9070 features a pair of Wolfson® 192 kHz/24-bit DACs and parallel push-pull amplification design.

The analog meter readout on the $2,499 M-5000R amplifier seduced me too. Said to deliver a conservative 80 wpc into 8 ohms, it features high current capabilities and twin toroidal transformers.

 

Wisdom Audio

The Wisdom Series LS4 is almost surreal to call an on-wall speaker. It’s beautifully made and requires an outboard LC-1 crossover controller. Built in modules about 24 inches high, it takes planar magnetic design to a whole new level including a low 80 Hz output.  Price? If you have to ask….

 

Shown also with the Wisdom amplifiers.

 

Conclusion 

Finally, the end..CEDIA for me promised some excitement I hadn’t seen or heard in the last few years and the steady crowds and enthusiastic Exhibitors convinced me so. Plenty of competition and some hard working people brought us products like H-Pas that could change the way we think about speaker output. I saw and heard a remarkable number of stand-mounted speakers like those from Paul DiComo of Definitive Technology. Thumbs up back at yah Paul!

 

Polk’s LSiM series blew me away without hearing them.

I can’t forget the work going into subwoofers as well, like the room correction wireless subs from Klipsch.

 

So stop holding your breath, the audio world is good. Just ask these three ;). Let's grab a pa-pa-pizza and keep it coming, yup keep it coming!!