BenQ W1500 wireless projector

At the coming KL International AV Show 2013 this July 5-7, BENQ will be fielding a series of home entertainment projectors that will include its top of the range W1500 single chip DLP projector.

Big screen movie buffs who abhor long running cables but crave high performance, high def pictures will welcome the W1500 for it’s one of the handful of home theatre projectors that offers wireless HDMI connections. In short the W1500, claims BENQ, offers all the benefits of a full HD 1080p picture without the HDMI cables required to attain them.

Presumably, the wireless HDMI feature would involve the use of a transmitter box and the programme source such as a BluRay player or satellite receiver is connected to it. That box would then wirelessly transmit the signals to a HDMI wireless receiver built in the projector. Voila, no wires ! And if your projector has to be positioned some distance from the programme source, you can imagine the savings in cable cost.

Featuring a 1080p full HD native resolution, the W1500 is a single chip DLP device that is also 3D capable. Other key highlights include a bright 2200 Lumens light output and a 10,000.1 contrast ratio.

Reflecting its high performance video pedigree, the W1500 also offers ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) certification. Strangely enough though, as far as serious videophiles are concerned, the W1500 comes with a built-in 10 watts sound system.

It is hard, nay, impossible to imagine any videophile watching a big epic movie on his projection system and not have the sound routed to an external AV sound system. Unless of course, the big picture videophile is also an avid traveler who must lug his projector with him each time he hits the road ! With a projector of this caliber the money spent on the built-in speakers would have been better used on, say, improving the optics. The W1500 retails for RM8,499.

Also on display jwill be the W1080ST. According to Henry Wong, Business Development Manager of 3Wired, the main retail outlet for BENQ home theatre projectors, the W1080 ST, as its last initials suggest, is an extremely short throw projector.

“ This projector, while designed to perform admirably in a conventional home theatre set-up will truly come alive when used in a room of modest dimensions where its 1.2:1 short throw lens is capable of projecting an image of up 120” diagonal at a distance of only 6 ft. So, if you are a gamer with a penchant for the big picture but confined to a compact room the WT1080ST is the projector for you”, says Wong. The W1080ST retails for RM5,499.

For further details contact : 3Wired Sdn Bhd  Tel: 03 78038716

The new PMC Reference Monitor SE Series

PMC's IB2 SE. 4

Any audiophile worth his salt would have heard of or perhaps if he is lucky, own a pair of PMC’s critically acclaimed and much sought-after Reference Monitor Series, the 1B2, MB2, BB5 and the dual tiered MB2XBD.

Considered by many to be one of the finest series of monitor speakers ever made, it was thought impossible to better what these speaker have to offer. But the impossible has been to known to happen and in this instance PMC recently announced the release of the SE edition of its reference monitors.

According to PMC the reference monitor series now incorporates even more rigid cabinets with new internal bracing, computer modeled driver surrounds for improved dispersion, custom crafted stands that are tuned to work in perfect tandem with the speakers and a choice of finish in either Rose or Rich Macassar veneers.
Yet another unique feature of the new SE series is the application of a new soft feel Nextel coating on the flange of the drive units. PMC says this touch provides a luxuries and homogeneous finish to the aesthetics of the speakers.

Other aspects of the SE Series includes stout British made binding posts milled from high purity metal and large spun precision spikes.

The new PMC Reference Monitor SE Series will be on display at the KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07 at JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
For further information, contact: Audio Visual Designs Sdn Bhd; Tel : 03-21712828

TODD GARFINKLE, MAKER OF AUDIOPHILE RECORDINGS

Todd Garfinkle - gifted musician, producer and ardent audiophile poses in front of what appears to be a pair of Martin Logan electrostatic speakers 


Visitors to the coming KL International AV Show 2013 who are interested in purist audiophile recordings will have the chance to meet MA Recordings” founder, Todd Garfinkle , who will be fielding a wide selection of his custom miked audiophile CDs and LPs in its booth at the Starhill Conference Centre exhibit space at level 4 of the J.W. Marriott.

Garfinkle said MA Recordings was founded some 25 years ago in Japan in order to offer newly-recorded creative acoustic music to avid music lovers and audiophiles.

Garfinkle, who is an engineer and pianist by training and a music producer by profession, says: “MA Recordings was formed play casino using the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character “MA” which means space or intervals”. “It is in this spirit of MA that all our recordings are produced in elegant sounding spaces such as concert halls and churches.”

Some titles from MA Recordings

In practically all of its recordings only one pair of very high performance, high-end unidirectional microphones are used.

Garfinkle adds, “From the outset MA Recordings has strived to maintain sonic excellence by using very high quality microphones, cables and recording equipment, most of which are either custom made or extensively modified to meet our stringent standards.”

Audiophiles will be pleased to know that all MA Recodings are DSD files recorded at the ultra high sampling rate of 5.6Mhz.

WHARFEDALE MAKES A RETURN TO THE SCENE

Wharfedale - S8

Are you a ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ music lover who has just come across some new-found happiness in movies? Imagine this scenario – you have been able to land the big digital display HDTV, even managed to select a Bluray disc player that sounds good not only on movie soundtrack but music too.

But you are only geared up for two channel sound with two speakers. Enter Wharfedale.

This stalwart British speaker company appears to have a handy solution on hand with their WH speaker series which comprises dedicated surround speakers, a centre channel unit and a selection of active subwoofers. Whafedale says the WH Series speakers are designed to provide an easy match to just about any existing stereo system allowing multichannel surround performance without having to change the main speakers.

The WH Series surround speakers comprise the models WJ-SR1 and the WH-SR2 dipole speakers.

According to Wharfedale, while there are many school of thoughts regarding the ideal surround speakers it believe that dipoles, which utilize two sets of drive units to disperse sound on two different directions is the best option.

The dipoles, says Wharfedale, while capable of a clear sound also propagate sound from the side and rear walls thus creating a very open sound space of a fuller, more immersive audio experience.

The side firing WH-SR1 features a 28mm dome tweeter and a 100mm bass midrange unit while the front and back firing WH-SR2 comes with two each of the same.

Taking up centre channel duty is the WH-C which measures 150 x 390 x 135mm. It features two 100mm bass/mid drive units flanking as 28mm dome tweeter.

As no multichannel home theatre system is complete without a subwoofer the WH Series offers a selection of two, the 8″ WH-58 and the 10″ WH-S10. Choice will largely depend on room dimensions; suffice it to say that the larger the room the larger the subwoofer needs to be.

The Wharfedale centre speaker

Wharfedale WH-S10 sub-woofer

The more compact WH-S8 features a reflex-loaded woofer driver by a 70-watt power amplifier while the larger WH-S10 is enclosed in a sealed infinite baffle box driven by a substantially more powerful 215-watt amplification system.

Depending on choice of subwoofer and surround speaker, the model price will range between RM2,197 and RM2,877
The active Wharfedale speaker range can be auditioned at the coming KL International AV Show 2013 on 5 – 7 July, at the JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur .
For further information, contact Double GT Resources Sdn Bhd, Tel: 03-80750625