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Coverage of HI-FI '99 from Chicago, USA -- May 12-16, 1999
Greg Weaver holds up the latest in tweaked CDs. The Audio Desk Systeme (on the table in front of Greg) sells for $495 and is a lathe of sorts that "trues" a disc by shaving its edge at a 30-degree vertical angle. The process is said to reduce mechanical vibration while the CD spins. The Audio Desk Systeme is being sold in the US by The Cable Company.
Coincident Speaker Technology's new Super Eclipse loudspeakers ($4995/pair) had those sitting head-on wondering how the speakers delivered such deep and powerful bass with just 4" drivers.
The Marantz SR-18 Dolby Digital/DTS/THX Ultra receiver ($2699 in black, $2999 in gold) has 24-bit/96kHZ DACs and offers 140 watts for five channels. It has component video switching, which is unique for a receiver, and a Gyro-Touch tuning wheel for AM/FM.
Rob Douglas of Sennheiser models the Surrounder ($299), which is billed as a personal four-channel surround-sound system, and includes volume and bass controls. Doug Blackburn was surprised by its ability to cast an image in front of the user, but wasn't keen on wearing it for this picture.
Polk Audio introduced the RM Digital Solution-1 complete home-theater system ($2699), which includes a Dolby Digital preamp with tuner (shown left), four small satellite speakers (one shown center), subwoofer (which houses the system's amplifier), center-channel speaker, 650 watts of power spread over six channels, and terminated cables. Although Greg Weaver and Marc Mickelson disagreed on the overall quality of the film-and-music performance of the system, both agreed that Matthew Polk is as photogenic as ever.
The Atma-Sphere MA-60 Mk II monoblocks, $4195/ pair, flank the new S-30 stereo amp, which is priced at a very reasonable $2450.
Prototype Echostar HDTV receiver for DISH Network programming. The company will be shipping in the fall adapters that allow the reception of HDTV and Dolby Digital using a HDTV digital tuner and existing Echostar 5000-series units. The best part about the adapter? It will cost under $300.
NAD's new $1499 S500 CD player in a matte-silver finish made an impressive debut.
Philips 64PP9901 full-resolution HDTV rear-projection TV set with integrated tuner. It has 9" CRTs, will display a full 1080i x 1920 and includes VGA digital component, RF, S-video, and analog component inputs. Retail price is $9990.
Philips Pronto touch-sreeen remote control ($399), which is fully programmable and customizable via your PC. |
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