HE2003 -- The HT Beat
I took advantage of JetBlue's use of the Oakland airport to
drop by Runco's press tour of their facility in nearby Union City. Runco HQ is a huge,
hanger-like building set in an industrial park that's home to businesses like PUMP (which
is not a gym but a manufacturer of inflatable adult "novelties"). What's most
impressive about the Runco facility is how much of it is given over to R&D, quality
control, and industrial design -- there isn't an assembly line in sight.
Part of that, of course, is because Runco has certain
subassemblies -- such as the less-critical circuit boards -- put together by
subcontractors and brought in with JIT scheduling. But it also turns out that video
projectors involve a lot more hand assembly than you (I, at least) might assume.
And everything is burned-in for at least a full day before being shipped out.
I was struck by what appeared to be a graveyard of old
Runco gear. It turned out that it wasn't a museum, but the area where Runco
"refurbs" its older products for consumers. They take the job very
seriously -- which is worth thinking about when it comes time to buy any equipment as
expensive as a projector.
Actually Runco is doing something about that expense, too.
The company purchased Vidikron, and is now introducing the first Vidikron products to
spring from that collaboration: two new DLP projectors, the Vision Series Model 40 and
Model 20 (both available in extended-throw [ET] versions). Both projectors use TI's latest
HD-2 DLP chip, which is native 16:9, and both put out a lot of light (the Model 20
delivers 850 ANSI lumens at a contrast ratio of 1500:1; the Model 40 outputs 950 ANSI
lumens at 1600:1). This is made possible by Runco's "cat’s eye" lens
aperture, which enhances contrast while optimizing black-level performance. Both
projectors are designed for "smaller" screens (up to 8'). The Vision Model 40
will retail for $8999 (the 40ET will be $9995); the Vision Model 20 will cost $5495 (20ET,
$6495).
There were some impressive projectors in attendance at the
show, too. Foremost among them was Sony's SXRD (silicon-crystal reflective device --
Sony's play on LCoS or liquid crystal on silicon). The SXRD is not a real product -- yet.
Perhaps it never will be; Sony was surprisingly tight-lipped when it came to any
projections concerning the technology, although Stereophile's Barry Willis says he
got one rep to mutter something about "autumn delivery." I won't hold my breath.
But it was the best video image I've ever seen, possessing
unbelievable brightness (2000:1 contrast ratio!) and color, with no artifacts I
could determine. If it ever comes to market, I'll sure be the first in line,
drooling.
Faroudja's new FDP-DILA2 projector was also a stunner. Its
1000-ANSI-lumens projected image was made crystal clear by a custom-made lens delivering
1365 x 1024 pixels. Faroudja also insured that full pixel count with its NRS-DSC and
NRS-DVI digital video processors, which employ the DVI interface. Faroudja shared the room
with MartinLogan and Parasound, and the sound matched the picture quality. MartinLogan's
Theater i center-channel was beautiful and brawny, and the Parasound JC-1s
were the most buzzed-about amps of the whole show. Megabuck performance at real-world
prices sounds like a winning formula to me.
Wilson-Benesch was the other demonstration with drop-dead
shock'n'awwww sound. WB's $20,000/pair Chimera Odyssey Series Reference
loudspeakers handled the FL and FR chores, driven by Naim's NAC 552 preamplifier ($22,400)
and a full complement of NAP 500 power amplifiers ($21,950 each). The room featured a
large, but not massive, flat-panel video display showing Diana Krall's Live in Paris
DVD, and it was completely musical and totally absorbing. What it didn't seem like
at all was an HT demonstration -- it was a musical performance that just happened to
include visuals. And what visuals! The DVD was obviously filmed (and cut) by folks with
musical sensibilities -- it's heavy on performers reacting to one another and it almost
always focuses on what you'd be looking at if you'd been lucky enough to have been at the
event.
Granted that there aren't a lot of videos, even concert
videos, that match Krall's Paris outing, but there must be a few, and it baffles me that
so few exhibitors put as much thought into their demo material as Naim and Wilson-Benesch
did. Few people can afford the system they demonstrated, but I imagine that everybody who
experienced that system had at least a bit of lust for it -- I sure did, and very few
other demos inspired that sensation in my all-too-ready-to-lust heart.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhometheater.com
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