One of the best things about a show like AXPONA NYC ("Audio Expo North America") that blew through town like a sirocco last week is the power it has to bring together, if only for a brief while (although it likely takes months of planning beforehand), manufacturers from across the industry, across the world even, sharing with consumers and press alike a glimpse of how amazing the highest of high-end home theater can be. Faced with a virtually unrestricted "What if...?" of entertainment technology--from source components to display hardware and accessories to earth-shaking audio and more--the results can be downright mind-blowing when the elite all bring their A-game.
Such was the case for our first stop, The Amsterdam Room at The Affiinia Manhattan hotel in midtown, for what the manufacturer consortium had humbly deemed "The Ultimate Home Theater Experience!" (Their exclamation point, not mine.) The first thing my eye was drawn to as I entered the room was the eleven-foot-wide Stewart Filmscreen CineCurve with a Microperfed StudioTek 130 screen. This was paired with a Digital Projection International (DPI) Titan Reference 1080p 3D projector. (A secondary system also matched a 46-inch diagonal Stewart StarGlas 60 rear-projection screen with a DPI M-Vision Cine 260.)
Amplification, processing and switching duties were ably managed by a collection of Audio Design Associates (ADA) gear, starting with the Rhapsody Mark 4 preamp/processor, then on to the eight-channel PTM8150 amplifier, aided and abetted by the TEQ-12 Room Optimizer. Totem Acoustic provided the loudspeakers, and there were quite a few. Front left and right were the "Wind" design columns, with the "Tribe V" at front center. Side and rear surround chores were handled by the "Tribe III" while not one but two Tribe in-room subwoofers shook the joint. Totem Tress single-strand speaker cables were used on all channels, while Totem Sinew interconnects were also employed throughout.
Then again, those twin subs weren't the only thing moving lucky viewers that day: Four D-BOX seats by Design NS were installed and synched with the equipment. For those not familiar with D-BOX's wares, these elaborate, powered chairs work off of custom-coded data prepared by the company to work with more than 10,000 different Blu-ray and DVD titles, interacting with the on-screen action for an extra level of immersion. It really is a lot like a theme park ride right in your living room, but with no lines... and a pause button.
For our demos we were treated to scenes from Avatar in 3D, followed by the TRON: Legacy Blu-ray 3D Disc. Avatar was to my recollection every bit as enjoyable as the Real-D passive 3D presentation I saw during the movie's initial run at a top AMC theater in NJ, maintaining all of James Cameron's exquisite subtlety. TRON: Legacy too looked downright pristine, with special effects that looked like they could be real, and no distracting imperfections of any kind. Audio for both were as good or better than anything I heard at the entire show, effortless and yet consummately powerful. And truly feeling the action, on top of seeing and hearing it, was the cherry on this ultimate sundae.
And it wasn't even the weekend yet.
Pricing of this system is in the "If you have to ask" category (the projector alone sells for $84,995), but as they say, you get what you pay for.
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