DAY 2

Here are highlights of the second day of CES 2003...

January 10, 2003

The Aquos C Series brings Avante Garde styling to Sharp's full line of LCD TVs. Speakers are located below the screen with stylish curves.

The Sharp Aquos E Series features compact styling in a full line of LCD TVs. The speakers are positioned in the very thin strip below the screen.

Lexicon introduced the MC8, a new surround processor to replace their MC1. It has all of the same processing as their top-of-the-line MC12, except that it has 8 inputs instead of 12, and 2 zones instead of 3. The new MC8 is priced at $6000.

Here is the back panel view of the Lexicon MC8 showing the 8 inputs (as opposed to the MC12's 12 inputs). Starting in March, Lexicon will offer a trade-in program for their older processors toward this new one.

McIntosh is introducing 2 new column-type loudspeakers -- the XR27 and the XRT28. The XR27 can go in the wall, on a stand, or be mounted on a wall surface. The XRT28 is a smaller version of the McIntosh XRT30 2-piece system that uses a separate woofer enclosure (see past CEDIA photos).

Like other McIntosh loudspeakers, the new XR27 and XRT28 combine great sound with high power handling capability. The XR27 is expected to cost about $5000 each, while the XRT28 will be about $10000 each.