The ISE Show, held from January 30th and February 1st, is where you’ll find the latest devices in professional electronics and integrated equipment. Products on show are highly specialized and aimed at home theater installations, movie theaters, hotels, stores and recording studios.
The “integration” boom has led brands to put part of their consumer goods catalogue on show. Among them were names like Halcro Logic, Jamo, KEF, Highland Audio, Carat, KEF, ViewSonic, Sim2,…
ViewSonic had two products on display: the Viewdock and the WPG-150. The former is a computer monitor Made for iPod that’s a handy solution for viewing your favorite videos and pictures straight from your iPod. It’s equipped with map viewer, a USB hub and compact speakers. The latter is the Presentation Gateway that lets you wirelessly connect your notebook or desktop PC to any projector or monitor. The WPG-150 supports resolutions up to 1024×768 for your presentations and 640×480 for near DVD-quality full-motion video so they are displayed in crisp, clear detail. You connect it to a screen equipped with a DVI input or to a computer via WIFI.
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ViewSonic WPG-150 and Viewdock
Halcro Logic had most of their amps, pre-amps and processors on display with the ever so famous mono block DM88. Also there on the stand was the 7 channel MC70 amp with the entire family in 5, 3 and 2 channels (MC50, MC30 and MC20). The amazing SSP 100 pre-amp/processor now features a new version of its internal program. Halcro Logic is about to expand its range with a DVD player, the ES800. We’ll definitely keep you posted on that one.
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Halcro Logic Stand
Chief, wall-fitting specialist for flat screens, surprised us with its new Decorative Frame. Designed to be mounted on a plasma or LCD, these decorative frames act as mirrors when the screen is off. But as soon as you switch it on, the frame becomes totally transparent!
Decorative Frame by Chief
Jamo dressed up a sophisticated lounge with R 909 speakers, a black laquered compact stereo and a striking wall-mount speaker.
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Jamo Stand
Besides the “pro” devices, Sim2 exposed its Home Theater projectors with the high-end Tri-DLP 1080p HT5000 starring the show. You also had the 720p version, two versions of the *C3X (1080p mono-DLP and 720p tri-DLP) as well as the more affordable *D80H ( 8,000€). We were highly impressed with a the image and sound quality during the demonstarion featuring the DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player by Panasonic and the HD-A1 HD-DVD by Toshiba with McIntosh amplification and KEF speakers.
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McIntosh was all audiophile with tube amps and pre-amps with powerful transistors on display.
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McIntosh Stand
Algolith displayed some very impressive video processors. The tiny device called Flea rids you from any noise specific to video such as compression artefacts, mosquito noise…) and two more devices named Mosquito and DragonFly carry out the same task with greater quality and profile support.
Algolith Mosquito and DragonFly in action
KEF essentially focused on its Custom Installation (CI) models and showed off several equipped with the Uni-Q tweeter. As for the consumer goods department, the KHT speakers and the recently unveiled and already praised _five_*two* Model 11 and Model 7 were on show.
More discretely placed was the KEF Wireless which we reviewed for you during CES earlier this year. Sound can be sent to two speakers each equipped with a 35 Watts amp. Available separately or as an option for the KHT 5000.
KEF Wireless
KEF _five_*two*
Canton, the speaker manufacturer, showed off a great deal of Home Theater and Hi-Fi products. The Karat line with the 702, 707 and 703 DC, the GLE series (401, 4020 and 407), Vento (807, 802) Ergo and the 5 channel packs Movie CD 205, CD 201 and CD 151.
Canton Stand and Movie line
Highland Audio was there of course with its ORAN and AINGEL speakers as well as the brand new SEIS and DORD woofers. These affordable products have an incredible finish (piano black, wengé,…) and surprisingly good audio performance.
Highland Audio Seis and Oran
The new brand Carat displayed its T57 tuner, its A57 amp and C57 CD player. Very reasonable prices when you measure both the technological performance and design. Available in Febuary at a retail price of 899€ for the A57, 699€ for the C57 and 399€ for the T57.
Carat range
NorStone Design introduces new line, available at very competitive prices including the Eker 5 and Epur 3. It’s actually a former series that’s been revamped: simple and very effective! The Più AV and other Century are still around.
NorStone Design Eker 4
Audyssey started off the Mult-EQ technology that you can find in several Home Theater products nowadays such as those made by Denon. A special kind of microphone optimizes the audio performances of the device according to the listening environment.
The Audyssey correction is now available as a separate device suitable for any kind of equipment. It’s intended for integrators for an installation that doesn’t require works on the actual room.
Audyssey Sound Processor