Bang & Olufsen, renowned for their design, introduces the BeoLab 11 subwoofer. The BeoLab 11 introduces an entirely new look into the subwoofer category. Looking more like a sculture than a subwoofer, it has a discreet presence which maintains a design-conscious appeal.

The unique acoustic design of BeoLab 11 allows it to be placed on the floor, in a corner, or mounted on the wall. Due to its minimal vibrations, it is one of the very few subwoofers in the world that can be mounted on a wall. With its unique design, B&O believe that customers would rather display this subwoofer than hide it.

The small stature of the CMX5.1 betrays its acoustic capabilities. The diminuitive Cerwin-Vega CMX 5.1 holds true to its heritage of power, uniqueness, and bass output. Designed to fill a room with stunning music or home theatre excitement while blending seamlessly into the décor, the CMX 5.1 is heard, but not seen.

Nuvo Technologies new Renovia Whole Home Audio System uses the home’s existing power lines to distribute audio to up to 8 zones. Each Renovia system is comprised of a Source Hub and an unobtrusive in-wall Zone Amplifier for each intended zone. The Source Hub, complete with a built-in dual AM/FM/SIRIUS-Ready tuner, centralizes the system’s six audio sources and can be easily stored out of sight.

The system works seamlessly with an extensive selection of sources, including legacy devices and NuVo’s Music Port for access to a whole range of music, as well as Renovia’s own NuVoDock for iPod. The system is easily managed from any of NuVo’s attractive control options.

Sharp has developed the world's first four-primary-colour 3D LCD featuring the industry's highest brightness with extremely low crosstalk (undesirable doublecontour "ghost" images). By wearing special 3D glasses, viewers can enjoy impressive 3D images with an exceptionally realistic sense of depth.

Called Room Euphony, the purpose of this set up is to promote the awareness of high quality audio and video to the visitors (pretty much exactly the same goal of CANADA HiFi).  What a fantastic idea -  I would love see one of these in a Canadian public library!

Anthem just has officially announced its expansion into a new category in consumer electronics with the world wide launch of their new AV receiver line. At this year’s CEA Line Show in New York, Anthem will display the first two of four brand new A/V receivers, launching in June.

Axiom Audio has announced an attractive new series of décor-friendly on-wall speakers that hang on the wall, freeing up floor space. Axiom draws upon 30 years of loudspeakers and home theater surround-sound systems in engineering this new series.

The On-Wall M0, M2, M3, and M22 attach to Axiom's dedicated Power Bracket, an easy-to-use mounting system that uses sliding guides to maneouver speakers into place, eliminating the need to deal with wires. The Power Bracket carriers power & signal to the speaker as well as provides the physical support.

If you’re looking for a world class turntable you may want to check out this new model from TTWeights.  This turntable was conceived, designed, manufactured and assembled at the Aerospace Plant LJT Manufacturing and Consulting in Newmarket (Ontario, Canada).

Updating their latest offerings to HDMI v1.4, Yamaha launched five home theater in a box (HTIB) receiver/speaker packages and three A/V receivers.

While they are v1.4, they'll need a future firmware upgrade to support 3D video. The firmware upgrade will support the Side-by-Side (Half) and Top-and-Bottom formats that broadcasters are adopting as well as the formats used for current 3D Blu-ray content.

Marketnews reports that Bell has just confirmed that the satellite TV provider will offer some 3D content before the end of this year.  Apparently the first 3D content will be Pay-Per-Vu! movies, which will likely consist of the movies that appeared in 3D at the movie theatres.  Unfortunately this is the only 3D content that has been announced so far, although more is expected to be announced this year.

Shaw Cable will be the first Canadian content provider to broadcast a 3D event – the 2010 Master Tournament.  Fans will be able to witness Tiger Woods return to golf in full 3D glory.  The event will take place from April 7 to 11, 2010.  Although not the entire tournament will be in 3D, viewers will be able to enjoy two hours of commercial-free programming from the back nine each afternoon on channel 318.

Integra is now shipping a new nine-channel home theater power amplifier that is rated at 150W per channel. It is believed to be the first high-performance nine-channel home theater power amplifier. The Integra DTA-70.1 holds the top-level THX Ultra2 certification, indicating its ability to drive all of the speakers in a modern nine-channel home theater system to full THX output levels and beyond.

Canadian distributor Audio Basics Inc. was showcasing Crystal Cable speakers and cables, Tenro amplifiers, Siltech cables and Oppo disc players among other products.  The company also offered a great selection of music software for sale including Eagle Rock Entertainment music Blu-rays, CDs, SACDs and records. 

Sony has finally announced the release dates and prices for its 3D HDTV offerings.

Consumers can now pre-order Sony's LX900 series and HX800 series 3D-capable HDTVs at Sony Style and Future Shop stores across Canada, or by calling Sony at 1-888-289-7669. Pre-orders will be accepted online at http://www.sonystyle.ca/ and http://www.futureshop.ca/ later this month.

To entice the early-adopters, for a limited time, consumers who pre-order a 3D HDTV will receive a bonus BDP-S470 stand-alone Blu-ray 3D-ready player.

Distributor Dimexs showcased its products in two different rooms this year.  One room contained all Naim components and focused on introducing Naim’s new Ovator loudspeakers ($13,000).  This speaker will be the middle model in a five model line-up (the other four models will be released during the next two years).  What makes the design of this speaker very unique is Naim’s application of de-coupling and isolation of the various components.  The Ovator uses three Naim designed and manufactured drivers. 

Plurison, Canadian distributor for Cambridge Audio, Focal JMlab, Rega, YBA and Mordaunt-Short among other brands, prominently displayed a new addition to their brand portfolio at this year’s show called Micromega.  The Micromega component line-up consists of integrated amps, CD players, preamps, power amps and a wireless DAC.  All components are designed and manufactured in

Today the 2010 edition of Salon Son & Image opened its doors to consumers.  The show actually began yesterday but was open to the industry only.  As always, the show takes place in downtown Montreal, Quebec. 

Panasonic Canada has unveiled the latest offerings to both their LCD and plasma TV lines. To boost production, Panasonic is opening an LCD factory in Japan in 2010 July.

D2 Series

This new series features 120Hz edge-lit LED backlighting and comes in two sizes: 37" (L37D2) and 42" (L42D2) sizes, both support 24p 1080p. They utilize IPS panels to enhance viewing angles, contrast and reduce power consumption.

Definitive Technology announces the world's thinnest high-performance, on-wall home theater loudspeaker: the 1.5-inch-thick Mythos XTR-50.

Definitive developed the Mythos XTR-50 to look perfect on a wall or shelf next to an ultra-thin television, with no sacrifice in sound quality. It offers the audio definition, detail, bass and dynamic range performance of traditional larger speakers.

This is just a reminder that the 2010 Salon Son & Image show runs from Friday to Sunday (Mar. 26 to 28) in downtown Montreal.  CANADA HiFi will be at the show handing out magazines and covering the show, along with tons of other audio video exhibitors.  I encourage every audio video enthusiast to visit the show!  For complete show info, check out www.salonsonimage.com.