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

GATO AUDIO FM-6 SPEAKER SYSTEM

Though a relatively young newcomer to the high end segment of the audio market Gato Audio is formed by a group of dedicated Danish audio engineers with decades of experience between themselves.

Among their achievements are names such as Holfi, Thule, GamuT and Avance.

Founded some four years ago Gato Audio today offers a selective range of audio electronics, speakers and cables.

The subject of this product news write-up is the FM6, the high end version  of a two model Gato Audio speaker line-up.

Described as a 2½ way floorstanding speaker system the FM6 is impressive looking, measuring 1020mm high, 370mm deep and 300mm wide and weighing in excess of 30 kg.  Designed to operate optimally at a 2.5 degree tilt the FM-6 is available in high gloss finish of white, black and walnut.

Drive units compliment comprises dual 180mm woofers, one for dedicated bass reproduction  and one for upper bass/midrange duty.  High frequencies are handled by a 30mm ring radiator tweeter.

An unusual feature of the FM-6 is the presence of an extended  aluminium spine located at the rear of the speaker.

According to Gato Audio the primary function of the aluminium spine is to provide critical damping of resonances and improve dynamics.  Shaped from extremely strong MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) the teardrop shaped enclosure of the FM-6 is further braced structurally from the inside.

Rated to match amplifiers with output of between 50-300 watts the FM-6 has a fairly sensitive 90db into 4 ohms efficiency.

Features include WBT style connectors, bi-wirable capability,  aesthetics matching aluminium trim rings around the drive units and separate crossover  PCB boards.

The FM-6 retails for RM50,000 per pair.

The FM-6 and other Gato Audio range will be on display/demo at the coming KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07, JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

For further information contact : Acoustic Arts Sdn Bhd

                                                   Tel:  03 80235708

BOSTON ACOUSTICS ASW250 SUBWOOFER

Home cinema fans looking to augment or improve the level of bass coming from their current home theatre  set-up will do well  to prowl the five floors of the coming KL International AV Show 2013.  Subwoofers aplenty will be on offer and you might specifically want to give  Boston Acoustics' mid-sized wonder, the ASW250 a serious going over.

Part of the current Boston Acoustics A Series the ASW250 is an active bass plumber  featuring a downward firing 10" ceramic glass fibre woofer in  an enclosure measuring 372 x 357 x 415mm.  It is also fairly heavy, weighing in at about 15kg. Retail price is RM1,750.00

Providing the drive is a built-in 100 watts RMS power amplifier that Boston Acoustics claim is able to take low bass reproduction capability of the ASW250 down to 35hertz. 

Pundits should note that Boston Acoustics also offer another 10" active sub in the A Series  inventory - the higher end ASW650 which retails for RM2,250.  The difference?  Apart from a similar looking and similarly sized enclosure the ASW650 comes with a much more potent 300 watts RMS power amplifier but unlike the ASW250 features  a  forward firing driver.   Possibly because of its more powerful built-in amplifier Boston Acoustics is able to claim a more extended bass response of down to 28 hertz for the ASW650 . 

My personal thoughts is that there will undoubtedly be some cause for confusion and  hesitation among purchasers especially when it involves a RM500 difference.

The ASW650 would have been better served had it offered a similar quality 12" woofer instead of the 10" it comes with.  At least  the difference between it and the ASW250 would have been that much more palpable and distinct !

In use the ASW250 is  simple enough to set up.  Connections at the rear is rudimentary for a sub but adequate.  In addition to a power on/off switch and  the controls for volume, crossover frequencies and phase, a  trio of phono type sockets allows connection from an AV receiver /processor .  One of the inputs is marked LFE which when used disables  the crossover network in the ASW250.  Crossover frequency selection in this case is achieved in the AVR/processor.

One of the greatest effects on  bass performance is placement , so be sure to experiment to achieve the optimum bass slam, control and extension.  Optimum performance of the  ASW250 in my system  is at  the inner side of my main left speaker approximately a foot from the  rear wall and  2½ feet from the side.  Room dimensions are 13' x 25'.

At this position the ASW250 delivered a well controlled and tight bass slam.  It was able to deliver not only a good perceived bass extension but was able to go fairly  loud though not quite as near the prodigious level that my reference SVS is capable of.  That's understandable  for the SVS PB12 Plus is an entirely different animal. It is simply bigger and better and yes, it also cost much more.

The Boston Acoustics ASW250 is targeted at a slightly different market sector where decent performance is pre requisite of a given  cost.

In this respect,  in  AV systems of entre and mid level cost the ASW250  performed  admirably.

The more costly ASW650 may, at least on paper, offer certain performance advantages but its price may be a mitigating factor.  My recommendation would be to opt for two ASW250.  It will of course jack up the final cost but the advantage of improved volume,  a flexible and more accurate bass loading and extension  would be significant  and worth the extra cash outlay.

Boston Acoustics products  will be on display/demo at the coming KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07, JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

For further information  contact :  Woo Kee Hong Trading Sdn Bhd

                                                      Tel: 03 79548088

SONY VPL HW50ES 3D HOME THEATRE PROJECTOR

Inspite of its successful foray into the rarefied air of 4k projection last year with its superb but expensive VPL-VW1000, the main Sony home theatre projector range is still spearheaded by its capable and established 1920 x 1080p resolution line.

The latest of these 1080p full HD 3D projector which will be on display/demo at the coming KL International AV Show 2013 is the VPL-HW50ES.

As with all of Sony's home theatre projectors the VPL-HW50ES is based on the company's proprietary SXRD (Silicon X-Tel Reflection Display) imaging system.  A variation of the LCD format,the SXRD device is said to offer an almost perfect alignment of the separate red, green and blue imaging chips.   It is also said to minimise the gaps between the pixels for a more artefact free image.

Looking almost identical to the VPL-HW30 which it augments, the VPL-HW50 offers a higher light output at 1700 lumens (compared to the HW30's 1300 lumens).

Claimed contrast ratio is also improved at 100,000.1 which is about 30% higher then that of the VPL-HW30.  As such the VPL HW50 can be expected to provide fairly significant improvements in black level reproduction as well as in producing a brighter punchier picture.

According to Sony the VPL- HW50 excels in this two critical area of high picture reproduction not only in 2D but also in active 3D, where maintaining an adequate level of brightness has always presented a big challenge to all active 3D projector manufacturers.

Yet another important feature found in the VPL-HW50 is Reality Creation a video enhancement algorithm first found in the VPL-HW1000.

Sony claims that Reality Creation is able to  improve sharpness and visual detail without increasing video noise and other inherent artefacts. 

Other important videophile features include an aspect ratio stretch mode for use with an external anamorphic lens on a constant height 2.35.1 screen for screening CinemaScope type movies without the top and bottom black bars and without lost of resolution.

There is also a multiple setting Advanced Iris control for optimising black level performance, 9 video pre-set selection, a 144 point panel alignment control and two HDMI 1.4 inputs.

The VPL-HW50 retails for RM15,999 and can be viewed with other Sony AV products at the coming KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07, JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

For further information contact :

SONY (M) SDN BHD

Tel: 03 22950310