Divergent Technologies has announced that they are the exclusive North American distributors of the King Audio KS-010 "current smoothing" device. The KS-010 is a product that Divergent Technologies and King Audio developed together. According to Divergent Technologies's press release: "A complex array of rearranged wiring circuit in the transmission line is employed to cancel noise and electrical interference. KS-010 provides excellent electrical isolation and stable A/C power without transient delays, phase errors or current limiting. KS-010 delivers unhindered A/C power to large power amplifiers. The unit is equipped with six isolated A/C outlets as well as cryogenically treated, high purity (99.999%) OCC copper A/C cable and perfect-contact real copper A/C plugs. The heavy-gauge A/C power cable is double shielded against RF or EMF noise."
In use, the KS-010 is said to "improve image stability, contrast and picture clarity" of video components connected to it. Audio components connected are said to have "better refined sound, better defined spatial images, finer detail and well-controlled bass." The KS-010, which retails for $595 CDN, measures 17"L x 4.5"W x 2"H and weighs 6 pounds.
Emotiva Audio Corporation has announced the release of three new power amplifiers in vastly different price ranges. The flagship XPR-5 five-channel reference power amplifier (shown right) delivers 400Wpc into 8 ohms, 600Wpc at 4 ohms. "The XPR-5 was designed for those systems where 200Wpc simply isn’t enough, whether due to room size, or difficult-to-drive speakers," says Dan Laufman, president of Emotiva. "There’s no denying that this amplifier is a beast -- and a beautiful beast at that. I defy anyone to find another five-channel amp that delivers this much clean, efficient, reliable, and pristine power at anywhere near this price point."
The XPR-5 boasts five high-efficiency class-AB power amplifier modules powered by a massive 3.3kVA Optimized Class H toroidal power supply with generous power reserves. All of the internal electronics are controlled, monitored, and protected by an advanced ARM-7 microprocessor with a custom operating system for absolute reliability.
The XPR-5 features a faceplate constructed of 25mm of solid-billet aluminum: tooled, machined, engraved, and finished like fine jewelry. The XPR-5 has a high-performance metering system consisting of 60 dimmable dual-color LEDs hidden behind a smoked polycarbonate window, along with variable-intensity accent lighting. The XPR-5 carries a price tag of $1999 USD.
At the other end of the economic scale are the UPA-200 and UPA-500. Though they are priced quite competitively as entry-level equipment, Emotiva assures that they have been made with the same care that goes into the XPR-5. The UPA-500 is a five-channel amp able to deliver 80Wpc into 8 ohms, 120Wpc into 4 ohms. The UPA-500 is a two-channel stereo unit with a power specification of 125Wpc into 8 ohms, 200 into 4 ohms. Both amplifiers have gold-plated RCA input terminals and gold-plated five-way binding posts. The UPA-200 and UPA-500 carry list prices of $349 and $399, respectively.
The XPR-5, UPA-200, and UPA-500 are sold exclusively through the Emotiva website and are available now.
Since 1980, Axiom Audio has been making award-winning speakers in the beautiful, lake-filled Muskoka region of Canada. On July 20, 2012, the SoundStage! Network team toured Axiom Audio's facility, which includes a state-of-the-art anechoic chamber for speaker testing and a new R&D facility for amplifier design. The tour also coincided with some major Axiom product releases: the innovative, DSP-controlled LFR1100 loudspeaker and the new ADA-series line of amplifiers (21 models to choose from). The entire tour can be found online now on SoundStage! Global, the SoundStage! Network's special site designed specifically for event coverage and factory tours.
MartinLogan of Lawrence, Kansas, USA, announced the release of their first-ever earphones: the Mikros 70. MartinLogan was established in 1983 and is best known for their electrostatic loudspeaker designs. According to the company's July 16 press release: "Inspired by the sonic clarity and detail of our legendary electrostatic speakers and designed by MartinLogan’s in-house team, the Mikros 70 reference in-ear headphones deliver realism, richness, and purity of sound that MartinLogan’s discerning customers have come to expect. With superb ambient noise isolation preserving the subtle nuances of recorded sound, listening through the Mikros 70 is like having your own private MartinLogan listening room wherever you go."
The Mikros 70's body is constructed from black-anodized solid aluminum, which gives these earphones a durable feel. The earphones include an inline microphone and remote that controls volume, play, pause, and track-selection, and voice-control functions on Apple portable devices, and they come with three sizes of bulb tips and two size of flange tips to ensure a comfortable fit. The Mikros 70 has a suggested retail price of $149.95 and will begin shipping at the end of July.
Season 1 of the television series Game of Thrones will be available for the first time on Blu-ray with HBO Select (Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy in one box set) this fall with the release of Game of Thrones -- The Complete First Season Collector's Edition. The collector's box set is designed with the sigils of the four main houses and comes with a premium dragon-egg paperweight, a Blu-ray bonus disc featuring the first episode from the second season, as well as all of the bonus materials and interactive features from the original DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases. The limited-edition set is being priced at $99.97 USD.
Based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling series A Song of Ice and Fire, the sweeping fantasy saga has become one of the network's biggest hits and the fastest-selling TV-on-Blu-ray title of all time. The Emmy-award-winning show, which has been called "tantalizing" (Los Angeles Times) and an "HBO Triumph" (Boston Globe), follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and noblemen as they vie for power in a land where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime. As two powerful families engage in a deadly cat-and-mouse game for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, betrayal, lust, intrigue, and supernatural forces shake the four corners of the kingdoms and the bloody struggle for the Iron Throne will have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences.
The new Meitner Audio MA-2 Integrated Playback System combines EMM Labs' current DAC technology with "a no compromise CD playback system for demanding audiophiles who desire to play CDs and also use it with a server or computer." The MA-2 is equipped with multiple digital inputs including USB, AES/EBU, TosLink and coax, all supporting up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution. Like their award-winning MA-1 DAC, the MA-2 also supports DSD streaming over USB.
According to the company's July 5 press release, key features of the Meitner MA-2 include: "MFAST asynchronous technology to completely get rid of source jitter; 2xDSD (5.6MHz) upsampling DSP, which preserves phase, frequency and dynamic integrity of waveforms; MCLK sub-picosecond high-purity master clock that establishes new benchmarks in jitter performance; the standard-setting proprietary MDAC dual-differential discrete 5.6MHz digital-to-analog converters; completely new CD playback system with built-in custom stabilizers that are accurate, responsive and quiet; updated power system with additional filtering and isolation for the CD-playback systems; supports sampling rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192kHz at word lengths up to 24 bits on all digital inputs; USB Audio supports DSD streaming via DoP 1.0."
The USB input works with Windows, OSX and Linux operating systems and complies with the USB Class 2 audio interface standard.
The Meitner Audio MA-2 Integrated Playback System is currently shipping and has a suggested retail price of $11,000 USD.
Definitive Technology of the USA announced the release of the SoloCinema XTR sound-bar solution consisting of the main bar, a wireless subwoofer, and a remote control. The self-powered main sound bar has a built-in processor (Dolby Surround, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby PLII, DTS, DTS-HD, Dolby Volume, Definitive Spatial Array, SRS TruSurround are supported) and is configured with six aluminum-dome midrange drivers and three aluminum-dome tweeters. Operation is through the supplied remote control. Completing the SoloCinema XTR system is a wireless 250W subwoofer with an 8" driver.
According to Definitive Technology's press release: "The appeal of this product goes far beyond power and sound, which is why the SoloCinema XTR is marketed as 'High Performance…Simplified.' Its sleek design -- 43-inches wide and just 2-3/8-inches deep -- makes it a favorite among those who desire a clean appearance to complement fashionable home interiors.
"Other than power cords, minimal wires are required: just connectors from the sound bar to the TV and DVD/Blu-ray player. The subwoofer is linked to the surround bar wirelessly with no pairing procedures required.
"Definitive Technology provides hardware (feet and brackets) so the surround bar can be placed in one of three places: on a shelf under the flat screen angled upward, raised above a protruding TV table stand, or mounted on a wall.
"The wireless subwoofer carries an equally slim design; just 6 inches deep vs. the standard 14" to 18" cubed box. It’s so slim that it’s easy to slide under or behind most furniture."
The SoloCinema XTR has a suggested retail price of $1999 USD and will be available in stores in August.
Netgear, Inc. announced the Netgear NeoTV Pro HD Streaming Player (NTV200S), the latest addition to the Netgear NeoTV streaming player family of products. NeoTV Pro offers high-quality streaming content from a wide variety of online channels and is the world's first streaming player to offer wireless display capability using Intel Wireless Display (WiDi).
With the NeoTV Pro users can choose from a large selection of streaming movies, TV shows and music from streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, YouTube, Pandora and many others, and instantly stream it to their TVs in up to full 1080p HD and surround sound. For customers who want the World Wide Web on the big screen, the NeoTV Pro enables consumers to wirelessly display virtually any type of content from an Intel WiDi laptop to a TV, including sports broadcasts that are only online, movies, music, photos and any Internet site.
Netgear NeoTV Pro easily connects to the Internet via built-in high-speed 300Mbps Wi-Fi, which can deliver smooth streaming at 1080p HD video resolution, or wired through an Ethernet cable. Netgear notes that navigation is simple with the NeoTV Streaming Player remote control app, which turns an Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android smartphone or tablet into a high-end touchscreen remote control. For those without a smartphone, the NeoTV Pro Streaming Player comes with a regular remote control.
The Netgear NeoTV Pro Streaming Player (NTV200S) is available now in the United States at $69.99 USD and can be purchased at major retail stores.