ISE 2007 : Guided Tour Part 2

February 02, 2007 — Article

Let’s round up our tour of the ISE 2007 with a review of the Home Theater specialists stands.

Russound, prime mover in integration solutions, had some of its audio video products on display with special focus on multi-room devices. We noticed several new ones : an iBridge iPod dock, a Smart Tuner ST2 and a Smart MEDIA Server SMS3.

Creston presented its Adagio line that we covered during CEDIA UK 2006 with media servers, multi-zone amps, tuners and the convincing remotes/computer integrated to a portable flat screen.

Waterfall, famous for its glass speakers, had two Hi-Fi models on show : Victoria and Iguasçu.

Marantz had several amps and players on show such as the DVD6001, CD5001, ZR6001 SP (integrated Home Theater amp) and the media server DH9300.

The Scandinavian company Primare displayed a rack containing CD players, pre-amps, power blocks…

Planar not only exposed its professional projection equipment but also had its two newly born PD7060 and PD1750 projectors. They’re both 720p and sport a DarkChip2 matrix.

Christie still doesn’t have a range of general consumer goods in its catalogue as it caters essentially for professional projection. Their high-end projectors are very impressive indeed with the Roadie 30K that gives out 30,000 lumens, boasts a 2K (2048 x 1080) resolution and is made of two components one of which is the power supply for the Xenon lamp. According to the designer it remains “light and portable”, *130 kilos… and that’s only the projection part. Otherworldly!

Oray is finalizing its Orion prototype. It’s a screen that can be entirely customized, motorized and easy to set up (one person can do it). It should be available in the next three months.

Screen Research was here with its new ScreenPix, available in any wanted configuration, still or motorised, with or without masks.

Genelec equips a great deal of recording studios such as Lucas Art with professional speakers but these are also used and bought for private use.

Sony had a big stand with lots of professional products as well as a small Home Theater section with the 1080p Tri-SXRD projector Pearl on demonstration.

Only few consumer goods and not that many innovations since the CES show only took place a few weeks ago… Nevertheless, the common measure was no doubt quality and we were glad to see that domotics, multimedia and multiroom solutions presented by professional experts are now ready to answer a wide range of requirements and configurations.




All about ...

Christie
Crestron
Genelec
Marantz
Oray
Planar
Primare
Russound
Screen Research
Sony
Waterfall