CEDIA 2011 - Indianapolis, USA

Canada's Bryston has finished work and is ready to release the SP 3 preamplifier-processor, a product that we introduced the world to last month in our tour of the company's facilities. The SP 3's retail price is $9500 and is targeted toward discriminating videophiles and audiophiles who want state-of-the-art performance for movies and music. [www.bryston.com]

Bryston also introduced the new BIT-series powerline conditioners. BIT stands for Bryston Isolation Transformer, and the three models in the line are the BIT 5 (top left, $1500), BIT 15 (bottom left, $2220), and BIT 20 (right, $3000), which are rated for 5, 15, and 20 amps, respectively. [www.bryston.com]

You can plug up to ten components into the backside of a BIT 20.

Canada's Anthem showed the new Statement M1 monoblock amplifier that's only 1.75" high, but will deliver a whopping 1000W into 8 ohms or 2000W into 4 ohms. The M1 is a class-D design that will deliver maximum power from a 240V line, but it also works with a 120V power source. The M1 retails for $3500. [www.anthemav.com]

Paradigm Loudspeakers showed their new Monitor Series 7 line, which comprises two bookshelf speakers (Atom Monitor and Mini Monitor, priced at $199/each and $299/each, respectively), three floorstanding speakers (Monitor 7, Monitor 9, and Monitor 11, priced at $449/each, $599/each, and $799/each), two center-channels (Center 1 and Center 3, priced at $379 and $599), two surround speakers (Surround 1 and Surround 3, priced at $279/each and $399/each), and three subwoofers (Sub 8, Sub 10, and Sub 12, priced at $649, $799, and $999). The SoundStage! Network has an exclusive review of the Atom Monitor that will appear on SoundStage! Hi-Fi on September 15. [www.paradigm.com]

Paradigm also introduced their first-ever earphones, which they'll release to the public in October under the new ParadigmShift brand name. The e1 earphones will have a retail price of $49, while . . .

. . . the e2m (which has a built-in microphone) will sell for $99, and . . .

. . . the e3m (also with a built-in microphone) will sell for $129. According to the folks at Paradigm, all three earphones are voiced slightly differently. [www.paradigm.com/shift]

PSB is also getting into the 'phone craze with their new M4U 2 headphones, which feature built-in amplification as well as active noise cancellation. The M4U 2s run actively off batteries, but with no batteries they will still operate passively (amplification and noise cancellation won't work). The M4U 2s are rather special because . . .

. . . they're the design work of the company's founder, Paul Barton, who's considered one of the very best loudspeaker designers in the world. The M4U 2 headphones will have a retail price of $400 and will be available "by Christmas." [www.psbspeakers.com]

PSB is serious about headphones, but the company's focus has been and always will be loudspeakers. The company didn't have any new home loudspeaker models at CEDIA, but they displayed samples of all the finishes their Imagine-series speakers come in (clockwise from top left): Gloss White, Black Ash, Walnut, Gloss Black, and Dark Cherry. [www.psbspeakers.com]

Polk Audio showed their new LSiM line of speakers at CES 2011 in January, which is where we first covered them, but now they've started shipping.

Canada's Totem Acoustic has added the new Wood center-channel speaker to their Element speaker line. The two-way Wood comes in Ice (high-gloss white) and Dusk (high-gloss black) finishes and retails for $4500.

Britain's Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) announced the new Prestige Monitor 1 (PM-1) loudspeaker in June and showed it for the first time at CEDIA. The tweeter in the PM-1 is said to use carbon fiber to push its primary breakup mode past 40kHz. The PM-1 is priced in the US at $2800/pair, and there are stands specifically designed for it priced at $550/pair.

KEF, which is also in the UK, unveiled the new R-series speakers, comprised of three floorstanders (R500, R700, and R800, priced at $1299.99/each, $1799.99, and $2499.99, respectively) and two bookshelf-type designs (R100 and R300, priced at $1199.99/pair and $1799.99/pair). The R speakers use technology derived from the Blade loudspeaker that KEF released in May at Munich's High End event.

Remember Energy, the brand that was once part of the Canadian-based company called Audio Products International (API)? They released the impressive Connoisseur and Veritas speakers, among others, which were products that audiophiles loved. Times have changed, API is no more, and the brand has changed hands a couple of times. The "new" Energy showed their new Power Series products comprising a couple powered sound bars and this, the EM-2.1, a 2.1-channel multimedia system that sells for $99. It's hard to imagine audiophiles swooning over this the way they did over products way back when.