August 12, 2008

Surround Sound Supreme

The Krell Evolution 707 may represent the first truly high-end product designed to meet the technical demands of the dazzling new Blu-ray movie discs. The $30,000 Evolution 707 surround-sound processor serves as the “brain” of an elite home theater audio system. It can decode all of Blu-ray’s advanced surround-sound formats, including Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. It also upconverts all incoming video signals to 1080p resolution and outputs them through its HDMI 1.3 digital video circuitry to ensure that all of the movies, TV shows, and even home videos you watch will look their best. Although any audio amplifiers can be used with the Evolution 707, it is best mated with Krell’s own Evolution amps. The processor can be linked to the amps through Krell’s proprietary Current Audio Signal Transmission (CAST) technology, which the company says eliminates signal degradation caused by cabling. (203.298.4000, www.krellonline.com)

—Brent Butterworth

July 29, 2008

A Miniature Media Library

Wall-mounted flat-panel TVs look so sleek, it seems a shame to sully them with additional components. Kaleidescape seems to have had the flat-panel TV aesthetic in mind when it designed the Kaleidescape 1080p Mini Player. Like the other players in Kaleidescape’s line, the $2,995 Mini Player can access any movie or album stored on a Kaleidescape Server through one of the friendliest and most dazzling on-screen interfaces ever seen on a home entertainment device. Yet it is small enough to attach to the back of most wall-mounted flat-panel TVs, or to be tucked out of sight behind books or bric-a-brac. It also upgrades video from DVDs so that the picture looks crisp on a high-definition TV set. With your entire media library available at a touch from a nearly invisible component, you may not want to bother with cable or satellite. (888.352.5343, www.kaleidescape.com)

July 15, 2008

Tube Top

Although vacuum tubes fell out of favor with most audio manufacturers decades ago, enthusiasts still praise them for their warm, natural sound. McIntosh Labs’ MC2301 amplifier is surely the most impressive tube amplifier ever crafted by this storied audio company—and it may be the most impressive tube amp ever period. The MC2301 is one of only a few tube amplifiers ever made with a fully balanced design, which essentially uses two amplifier circuits per channel: one for the positive half of the audio signal, the other for the negative half. The result is faster response and lower noise. Each MC2301 delivers 300 watts, a tremendous amount of power for any amplifier, much more so for a tube amplifier. The MC2301’s monophonic design means one amp is needed for each speaker, so a stereo system will require two, and a home theater system will require five or seven. Talk about a wall of sound. (800.538.6576, www.mcintoshlabs.com)

—Brent Butterworth

July 1, 2008

Mobile Couture

Christian Dior entered the cell phone market not to lend the brand’s name to a gadget, but to bring a couture approach to an everyday device. The Diorphone is sold with a miniature version of same phone that can be clipped to a woman’s purse or worn on a pendant, making digging through a handbag to find a phone a thing of the past. A deluxe edition of the phone―studded with 640 diamonds and sold with an accompanying alligator sheath―is $27,000; the standard version is $5,100. The phones, created by the same team that designed the Christal watch with John Galliano, debuted in Dior boutiques worldwide in June. (www.dior.com)

—Alexandra Foster  

June 10, 2008

Vertu Answers the Call

It is at the Plaza New York and the Wynn Las Vegas, Vertu’s two newest Stateside boutiques, that the British luxury mobile phone brand reveals the unique components that set its products apart from mere communication devices. Among them are crystal sapphire screens, the same material used for high-end watch dials; genuine ruby bearings that are placed beneath the number keys to add strength and durability; and Liquidmetal, which Vertu says is twice as hard as stainless steel, which forms a protective casing around the phone. An added bonus: Every Vertu phone connects directly to a Vertu Concierge, available 24 hours a day to offer advice on travel, accommodations, restaurants, and entertainment. Prices start at $6,300. (www.vertu.com)

―Alexandra Foster

May 27, 2008

Compact Home Control

For years, Crestron has been engineering automation products that allow control of an entire home’s light, climate-control, home-entertainment, security, and other systems from a single panel. Seldom, though, has it done so as discreetly and gracefully as with the new Isys TPS-6L Wall Mount Touchpanel. For $2,400 plus installation and programming fees, the TPS-6L provides all of the control functions of Crestron’s larger screens, but it mounts inconspicuously in approximately the same space occupied by three conventional light switches. In addition to providing complete home control, the 5.7-inch screen can display video from security cameras or home- entertainment systems. The look of the screen can be customized as you wish and can even include family photos. Six buttons on each side of the screen may be added for those who are more comfortable with somewhat less modern controls. (800.237.2041, www.crestron.com)

May 13, 2008

Contrasting Statement

Although home-theater enthusiasts have always loved video projectors for the generously large images they create, many of today’s compact projectors produce insufficient contrast to deliver realistic, film-quality images. Parts of a picture that are intended to be black instead look gray, which takes the scare out of Hostel and wrecks the special effects in sci-fi movies. This problem should not trouble owners of JVC’s DLA-RS1X projector, which boasts a contrast ratio of 15,000 to 1—or twice the range typical projectors deliver—without resorting to optical or electronic trickery that can degrade images. The $5,995 DLA-RS1X features a lens that can be shifted to compensate for off-center mounting and zoomed to accommodate screens as large as 16 feet across. Resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels assures you see every detail of high-resolution TV broadcasts and Blu-ray discs. (973.317.5000, www.pro.jvc.com)

—Brent Butterworth

April 29, 2008

Blu-ray Rising

Now that the Blu-ray high-definition video disc format has vanquished rival HD-DVD, elite manufacturers are beginning to launch high-end Blu-ray players suited for the world’s finest home theaters. The first of these players to emerge is the Goldmund Eidos 20 BD player, which benefits from the same Swiss manufacture and precision engineering that makes the company’s other products such a privilege to use. The $16,900 player boasts a proprietary AC power-supply circuit; mechanical grounding technology that Goldmund says isolates the player’s drive mechanism from floor-borne vibration; and a magnetic damper the company claims reduces data errors. Goldmund cautions, though, that while the Eidos 20 BD does play DVDs and CDs, its conventional DVD/CD players deliver superior performance with those legacy formats. (888.GOLD.001, www.goldmund.com)

—Brent Butterworth

April 15, 2008

Slim Possibilities

No one wants to accessorize a sleek new TV with a portly audio system. So as flat-panel TVs get thinner, speaker manufacturers struggle to trim inches from their products too. At least one contestant seems to have won this battle of the bulge: Leon Speakers’ 414-LCR-X-A. This “sound bar”-style speaker fits beneath a flat-panel TV, and measures only 3 1/4 inches deep—not as willowy as 2008’s thinnest TVs but slimmer than most. Despite its inconspicuous presence, it manages to incorporate speakers for the front left, center, and right channels of a surround-sound system. Each $2,495 414-LCR-X-A is bespoke―sized and finished to match your flat-panel TV. Audiophiles may wonder how Leon Speakers’ engineers managed to squeeze three tweeters and six woofers into such a slim box. The rest of us can simply enjoy the enveloping sound they produce. (888.213.5015, www.leonspeakers.com)

—Brent Butterworth

April 1, 2008

Media Master

Many technophiles now center their home entertainment activities on their computers, but monitors and speakers still cannot deliver a rich entertainment experience for an entire family. Thus, the media center was born—a computer designed to interface easily with large TVs and surround-sound systems, with software focused on home-entertainment functions. One of the most graceful designs in this category is the Maingear Axess HD, which incorporates a DVD or Blu-ray player, a digital high-definition TV tuner with TiVo-like functions, iPod-like music-server capability, and display of your favorite photos into an elegant, minimalist chassis. With as much as two terabytes of internal data storage available, practically any CD and photo collections can be stored, along with hundreds of hours of HD TV programming. All of it can be accessed through an ordinary-looking remote control. Prices start at $1,395; a fully loaded model commands about twice that. (888.MAINGEAR, www.maingear.com)

February 12, 2008

Delicious Dell

Considering the state of conventional desktop computer styling―a fashionable PC generally means one in which the ubiquitous metal box is silver rather than beige or trimmed with enough flashing neon lights to inspire adolescent envy―Dell’s XPS One is something of a revelation. Although available in three variants ranging from $1,500 to $2,400, all XPS One models share the same elegant all-in-one design. That means the CPU, optical disc reader, and other key components are housed in a slim cabinet fronted by a 20-inch glass-face high-definition display surreptitiously suspended from a shapely aluminum stand perched on a smoked-glass base. Motion sensing technology softly illuminates sapphire blue accent lights in the XPS One’s slot-load drive and keyboard when a user’s hand draws near. Integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity help eliminate unsightly connecting wires and enable the XPS One to operate with a single power cord. All of which help shatter the preconception that styling and desktop PCs go together about as well as a hot fudge sundae and low-carb diet. (800.999.3355, www. dell.com)

―Scott Wasser

January 29, 2008

Sparkling Sound

Interest in Thomas Heyerdahl Jeweller’s diamond-draped iDiamond iPod shuffle reportedly is so keen that the Oslo jeweler felt compelled to perform an encore. Hence, Heyerdahl has announced the iDiamond ear, a pair of ear buds crafted by Diaro Digital Design in 18-karat white and rose gold, etched by lasers, and encrusted with 204 diamonds totaling 1.65 carats. Heyerdahl says only 1,000 pair of the $6,400 iDiamond ear will be made. But that is mass production compared to the unique iDiamond shuffle, the sole example of which is scheduled to be auctioned for charity in March. (+47 22552525, www.heyerdahl.no)

―Scott Wasser

January 15, 2008

Turning the Page on a New Era

Few luxuries are as simple as curling up with a good book or flipping through the morning paper over breakfast. Perhaps this is the reason electronic books have been slow to gain popularity: They complicate the reading experience. In an effort to reverse this sentiment, Amazon has just introduced the Kindle, a device that may very well revolutionize the way we read. The sleek, handheld device can download books, magazines, and newspapers anywhere with cell phone reception. It plays audiobooks, provides access to blogs, and allows the user to upload personal documents.  The Kindle, $399, is lightweight and sits easily in the hands. Instead of a backlight display that a computer uses, the Kindle uses high-resolution “electronic ink” that makes the text as easy and comfortable to read as print. What makes this device truly remarkable, though, is that it brings all these features together in a single, easy-to-use package that retains much of the readability of a real book.  (www.amazonkindle.com)

―Daniel Curtis

January 2, 2008

Blu Moves

Weary of sitting on the fence waiting to see which format emerges victorious from the high-definition video-disc war? Or perhaps you’ve simply tired of trying to decipher whether a disc goes in the Blu-ray or HD DVD player. Either way, LG Electronics’ new Super Blu Player can put an end to your indecision. LG’s second-generation dual-format player, the BH200, trumps its predecessor by fully supporting the latest interactive features for both formats, such as Blu-ray’s picture-in-picture function and HD DVD’s Web-based supplemental content. The $999 Super Blu Player features HDMI 1.3 connectivity and decodes advanced audio formats such as DTS-HD and Dolby Digital Plus. It also upscales conventional DVDs to 1080p and supports 24-, 30-, and 60-frames-per-second playback. (800.243.0000, www.LGusa.com/superblu)

―Scott Wasser

December 18, 2007

Techno Style

Sleek. Fast. Powerful. These descriptors are often used to portray exotic sports cars such as Lamborghini’s Gallardo or Murcielago but seldom applied to something as mundane as a computer. Until now. If ever a PC deserved to be described with the awe and reverence reserved for a super car, the Asus-Lamborghini VX2 notebook imminently qualifies. An offspring of the marriage between Italian carmaker Automobili Lamborghini SpA and Taiwanese technology firm Asus, this notebook has clearly inherited both parents’ genes. Its lacquer yellow or faux-carbon-fiber finish, mag-wheel-style fan vent, leather palm rest with raised stitching, and prominent charging bull logo reflect inimitable Lamborghini style and panache. Its Asus DNA, meanwhile, is apparent in the VX2’s integrated fingerprint reader, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, 160GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and the computing horsepower of an Intel Core2 Duo T7400 processor and NVidia GeForce Go7700 video processing chip. Its 0-to-60-mph time is undetermined, but this $2,699 laptop is sure to make all Lambo connoisseurs’ hearts race. (888-678-3688, www.asus.com)

—Scott Wasser

December 4, 2007

A Racy Proposition

An immersive view, enveloping sound, and road rumble felt in the seat of your pants makes the VRX Mach 4 race simulator as close as you can get to driving a race car without ever leaving your home. The $25,000 Mach 4 is even built like a racing machine with a polished chrome steel chassis, powder-coated wheel and pedal mounts, and custom CNC billet aluminum “dashboard” (where the trio of 37-inch, 1080p Sharp Aquos HDTVs are mounted). Even the seat is a genuine Italian Sparco Monza racing model. Horsepower for this simulator is provided by four Xbox 360s, a 150-watt Harman/Kardon surround-sound receiver, and a 1,500-watt tactile feedback device that sends simulated jolts and bumps through the specially suspended seat. Racing realism is further enhanced by a Bose Acoustimass 5.1 speaker system, Microsoft force-feedback steering wheel, seven-inch LCD display serving as a rearview mirror, and a pair of virtual-speed-synced wind-in-the-face fans. About the only thing missing from the VRX Mach 4 racing experience, it seems, is a constraining four-point safety harness and “helmet hair.” (888.654.0452, www.virtualracerx.com)

—Scott Wasser

November 20, 2007

Allure of Aluminum

The mere fact that KEF Audio’s MUON loudspeakers made their debut at the renowned Milan Design Week suggests that the offspring of a marriage between KEF’s engineers and industrial designer Ross Lovegrove might be as tant