Manchester Home Entertainment Show 2010 Highlights Part 2
October 20, 2010 — Article
More from the biggest hi-fi and AV show in the north as we continue our report from the Manchester Home Entertainment Show 2010
Denon CEOL
Denon’s latest music system in a box is the CEOL (pronounced ‘kole’, and Gaelic for music, apparently). It packs in a CD player, iPod dock, FM/AM tuner, internet radio and Wi-Fi. It also has DNLA pug n play networking capability and a USB port for playback from other digital devices. There’s a 65W per channel amp on board as well as support for FLAC 96kHz/24-bit audio files and internet streaming services Napster and Last.fm. It goes on sale this month for £529 for the box alone, or £599 with accompanying speakers.
Denon AVR-311 with AirPlay
The Manchester Show marked the first UK demo of Apple’s new AirPlay streaming technology, which has been incorporated into the AVR-311 AV receiver. The system allows your iTunes set-up on your computer, including artwork, to be displayed on a TV via network connection. Used with the free Apple Remote app you can control the music directly from your iPhone. It will be available as a downloadable upgrade for the receiver from November for €49 (probably about £40 though UK pricing hasn’t been officially confirmed). Though it will be available as a download, it won’t be backwards compatible with previous Denon receivers such as the AVR-310.
Elipson Planet L
These unusual looking spherical speakers from France feature a fibreglass cabinet containing a two-way coaxial speaker with 6.5in coated paper cone mid-bass driver surrounding a 1in fabric dome tweeter. They’re available in black, white or red with dedicated floor stands or a plastic ring which allows them to balance on a shelf. They’re on sale now for £600 a pair.
T+A K2M
T+A’s K2 CD receiver has been upgraded to the K2M, which now adds wireless streaming to its long list of abilities. It can play CD and DVD discs and is powered by a 3.1 150W amplifier (the extra channel allows you to add a centre speaker for film soundtracks). It also has an FM tuner and can feed two zones (stereo only for the second zone though). Streaming is via Wi-Fi or Ethernet and it’s UPnP DNLA compatible. Yet another version planned for next year will be able to handle Blu-ray and deliver either 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. The current version retails for £3,300.
Rega RP1
Brit turntable specialist Rega arranged a full own-branded system to display its new RP1 turntable (£225). It includes a manual speed change system (cheaper than a mechanical one) with the money saved spent on a new hand-assembled RB101 tonearm, precision main bearing, phenolic resin platter and a low vibration motor. Backing it up were Rega’s Brio 3 amplifier (£228) and a brace of Rega’s RS3 floorstanding loudspeakers (£698).
Monitor Audio SoundFrame
Monitor Audio’s SoundFrame speakers are designed to be wall-mounted and masquerade as artwork, with specially printed screens which can feature plain colours or a selection of about 100 different photo and design prints. Plans are in the works for a bespoke service that will allow you to upload your own photos to the web which can then be printed onto screens for an additional £150 per pair.
The three-way units include a dual concentric mid/bass and tweeter plus a separate bass driver and use a handy front-loading cable system which allows cables to be fed through the back but connect on the front behind the screen for easy connection.
The SoundFrame 1 is intended for stereo or surround satellite use, and there’s also a wider SoundFrame 2 intended as a centre channel. The SoundFrame 1 is available now for £450 per pair, SoundFrame 2 is £450 on its own.
Monitor Audio Bronze BX2
The follow-up to MA’s BR2 marks the fourth generation of the brand’s budget loudspeaker range. Its metal cone C-CAM (Ceramic-Coated Aluminium/Magnesium) driver appears in the Bronze range for the first time – previously it appeared in the company’s more expensive speaker ranges. The BX2 bookshelf (£250) features a 6.5in bass/mid driver and a 1in gold C-CAM dome tweeter plus MA’s HiVE II port technology, designed to help the air move more efficiently resulting in more dynamic bass.
Arcam rCube
Arcam’s compact iPod/iPhone dock offers easy-to-carry battery or mains-powered sounds on the go. It also offers wireless streaming using Kleer Audio technology to connect it to an iPod or computer (though you’ll need additional dongles costing £70 or £80 respectively). The 20cm3 cube includes an integrated carry handle behind the dock and it can deliver 90W of power through its twin bass/mid drivers and tweeters. It comes with a built-in rechargeable battery and a remote control for £500.
Arcam rDAC
Arcam’s rDAC (£300) has been out for a couple of months but there was news of a wireless version to be called the rDAC KW. It will do the rDAC’s sonic upgrade work but also include Kleer Audio wireless streaming technology so it can be connected to source devices which are fitted with a suitable Kleer dongle. The rDAC KW should make its arrival at the beginning of November for £375.
Rotel RCX-1500
Rotel’s do-it-all box offers a CD player with internet radio, FM and DAB plus there’s a front-mounted USB port for digital connection of an iPod or other MP3 player. There’s support for streaming services such as Pandora and SirriusXM too. Inside there’s a Wolfson DAC with 24 bit/192kHz decoding and a Class D amplifier offering 100 watts per channel. Internet connection can be via either Ethernet or Wi-Fi and it’s UPnP compliant for connection to a home network. It should go on sale at the end of the month for £1,200.
B&W CM8
Bowers & Wilkins’ latest floorstander replaces the old CM7 and offers a slimmer profile to the slightly larger CM9 at 96cm tall and just 16.5cm wide (a similar footprint to the CM1 bookshelf speaker, apparently). It’s a three-way design with a single 13cm woven Kevlar FST midrange driver, a pair of 13cm paper/Kevlar cone bass units and a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter.
The B&W CM8 is due to go on sale in mid-November in a choice of four finishes (gloss white or black, rosenut or wenge) for £1,250.
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