Parasound at CES 2010

**David Meek** · 09 January 2010, 04:50 Saturday

Originally posted by Chris D

I'm actually at the very tip of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska right now.

Chris, that wouldn't be lovely Shemya island would it? Brrrrr. :thud:

**Le Caribou** · 09 January 2010, 11:26 Saturday

Can i hope a Blu-ray player in new classic version?

**Chris D** · 09 January 2010, 16:57 Saturday

Originally posted by David Meek

Chris, that wouldn't be lovely Shemya island would it? Brrrrr. :thud:

You got it! That's me, in the bottom left corner, on Shemya.

**Chris D** · 09 January 2010, 16:58 Saturday

Originally posted by Le Caribou

Can i hope a Blu-ray player in new classic version?

I wouldn't count on it, this time. Costly to make duplicates of every model you make, in both Halo and New Classic forms. I'm looking forward to the B3!

**Le Caribou** · 10 January 2010, 06:13 Sunday

So if I want a processor, an amp and a player in the same form, it remains for me to sell my new Classics amp and preamp...Great!
too bad, my future Focal electra 1028 work better with Halo...

**Chris D** · 11 January 2010, 00:43 Monday

Well, to be fair, to really keep all your equipment in a system fully matching from the same brand and model line, you usually have to go down to an average-ish consumer-grade line like Sony or Denon. And even then, it often can't be done--you're always going to want a quality piece of equipment from another manufacturer.

Heck... just for the heck of it, I just went to my equipment room rack, and counted 15 different model lines, from 12 different manufacturers. And that doesn't count cables, racking, speakers, video equipment, or network gear.

**Chris D** · 16 January 2010, 02:09 Saturday

This was posted today by Andrew Robinson of the Home Theater Review. Still not much info coming out from CES.

2010 CES Show Report- Andrew Robinson - HomeTheaterReview

http://hometheaterreview.com/2010-ces-show-report--andrew-robinson/

HomeTheaterReview.com's reporter Andrew Robinson gives his impressions of the mood on the floor at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and finds a lot of people expressing cautious optimism after surviving the hardships of 2009.

Parasound / Atlantic Technology
Parasound was showing with Atlantic Technology this year and the pairing, especially with Atlantic Technology's new H-PAS based speakers was impressive. The bass and resolution the speakers were producing was jaw dropping, especially considering their suggested retail price is $2,000 when they go on sale later in the year.

Parasound was also showing, albeit on static display, the latest addition to their JC or John Curl series of Halo products, the JC3 Phono Preamplifier. Parasound says the JC3 will be available soon and should retail somewhere around $2,000.

**Peter Nielsen** · 17 January 2010, 10:01 Sunday

Let's hope the B3 is a rebadged Oppo-BDP83SE enhanced with balanced outputs... Any info?

**MikeyH** · 17 January 2010, 13:33 Sunday

Parasound C3?

Any news on the C3?

Mike

**Chris D** · 17 January 2010, 18:58 Sunday

Interestingly enough, there's another thread going on here in the Guide about Lexicon's new BD player being a rebadged Oppo, with some nasty comments:

http://htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?p=487742

Parasound's previous D3 to me looked an awful lot like the Denon DVD-3910 I replaced it with, and it's very common for manufacturers to use the "guts" of another manufacturer's player. So we don't know yet what the B3 will be, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's based on a Denon or Oppo. Wish I could have poked around the model they had there at CES.

Mike, as far as the C3, the word from CES is that Parasound has run into challenges implementing HDMI 1.3 (Note: *NOT* HDMI 1.4) and they've just been getting the performance quality up to Parasound standards. Most recent estimate was Mar - May 2010.

**Peter Nielsen** · 17 January 2010, 20:51 Sunday

Originally posted by Chris D

Interestingly enough, there's another thread going on here in the Guide about Lexicon's new BD player being a rebadged Oppo, with some nasty comments

Yeah, that's because Lexicon just threw the BDP83 w/ serial port ($589 from Oppo direct) in an outer chassis and is charging $3,500 for an unit that performs exactly the same...

Parasound says that their unit will have balanced outputs (not available on a regular Oppo), so even if it's based on the Oppo it's not going to be a ripoff like the Lex.

Then again, I was considering paying the $2,911 premium for the Lex just to get a Blu-ray in silver. However, I eventually decided to just get the regular Oppo and live with the black color until a more reasonably priced rebadged version in silver comes out. Who knows, maybe Oppo will have a silver version out by then...

**Chris D** · 18 January 2010, 09:13 Monday

I guess this story is making the rounds of the internet. More on it here:

Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray Player (Oppo BDP-83 Clone) Review

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/lexicon-bd-30-blu-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

We discovered the Lexicon BD-30 is an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Player with a $3k premium. We prove this with pictures, measurements and an official response from THX. Lexicon no longer sells this product.

I certainly would NOT expect Parasound to do anything close to what Lexicon did. But to mention it, I wouldn't have expected a high-flying industry player like Lexicon to do that.

Peter, looks like you're fortunate you didn't go with the Lex.

**Chris D** · 19 January 2010, 08:14 Tuesday

Oh, and I can't remember if we've discussed it here, but to add to the previous news that the guys had troubles and couldn't put Audyssey into the new processor/receivers, one RUMOR is that they're continuing to work on it, and might even be able to implement it in a future firmware update. Not sure if that'd even be possible, but conceptually I would imagine that could be done, since the capability is really built into the DSP chips themselves.

**Peter Nielsen** · 19 January 2010, 11:57 Tuesday

Originally posted by Chris D

Peter, looks like you're fortunate you didn't go with the Lex.

When I considered it, I already knew perfectly well that it's just a regular Oppo in a silver box...

What made me reconsider is that I will probably want an upgraded version in ~3 years, so spending $2911 to get a silver box for something that I expect to replace soon does not make sense...

**Kal Rubinson** · 19 January 2010, 13:16 Tuesday

Originally posted by Peter Nielsen

When I considered it, I already knew perfectly well that it's just a regular Oppo in a silver box...

What made me reconsider is that I will probably want an upgraded version in ~3 years, so spending $2911 to get a silver box for something that I expect to replace soon does not make sense...

Keep the box and get a new refill from Oppo! :T

**Peter Nielsen** · 19 January 2010, 16:10 Tuesday

Originally posted by Kal Rubinson

Keep the box and get a new refill from Oppo! :T

It would probably not fit, and I think Lex could have done a better work on the front panel...

Also, it would probably cost less to have the existing black Oppo panels custom refinished...

**Blindamood** · 08 March 2010, 12:48 Monday

Any more word on new processors?

When the NewClassic HDP-70 was first mentioned, I was definitely interested. It's been so long since that happened that I was forced to go with an alternative that fit my immediate needs. However, I am still definitely interested in this processor when it is released. Has there been any further word on when this might happen?

**Chris D** · 08 March 2010, 22:13 Monday

Latest rumor is that they may go into production in May. :T

**Blindamood** · 09 March 2010, 10:11 Tuesday

Originally posted by Chris D

Latest rumor is that they may go into production in May. :T

Thanks, Chris. I'll keep my eyes open...

**Hirogen** · 09 March 2010, 12:52 Tuesday

Originally posted by Chris D

Mike, as far as the C3, the word from CES is that Parasound has run into challenges implementing HDMI 1.3 (Note: *NOT* HDMI 1.4) and they've just been getting the performance quality up to Parasound standards. Most recent estimate was Mar - May 2010.

So you're saying Parasound will *NOT* implement HDMI 1.4 in the new C3?

Why are they not doing that? 3D features like HDMI 1.4 (in- and output) is hot at the moment, Pioneer and Onkyo have already announced such models and later this year we can already expect 3D TVs. Hopefully they will announce such a model rather sooner than later this time, not after 2 years from now when the rest of the market has already moved on again.

Do you know if Parasound is planning or working on a C3+ or C4 that will have HDMI 1.4? And what about an Ethernet port and an iPod port? Any news about that as well? Thanks.

**Chris D** · 10 March 2010, 02:30 Wednesday

I can't say for sure, because there has not yet been official statements from Parasound on these things. However, in discussions, the information has been:

- The new processors will have HDMI 1.3. There have been NO indications of supporting HDMI 1.4 features. (again, this is not a huge loss or limitation of current capabilities--refer to the thread I made here in HTGuide on HDMI 1.4 basics back in September 2009) Note that, with Parasound's perfection of models before their release, how long it's taking to release these processors with HDMI 1.3, incorporating a few technologies that have come out since initial notification like DPLIIz. I'm not very hopeful of HDMI 1.4 incorporation without further delays.

- All indications are NO Ethernet port. (I personally believe this would be a shortcoming. In today's industry, network connetivity is becoming more and more essential)

- No, the iPod port has been dropped for a couple reasons, mostly stuff like Apple licensing

I keep hoping for the best with the new processors! I don't think we're going to get EVERYTHING we want though. You never know!

**Le Caribou** · 10 March 2010, 13:17 Wednesday

In my mind, lot of Blu-ray player Will have 2 Hdmi Output... so a big processor with HDMI 1.3 will not be a problem.

**jazznsoccer** · 22 March 2010, 22:09 Monday

Needs ethernet port

I agree with Chris on the need for an ethernet port. Processors should be able to play files from the home network or internet radio. Networking will be key.

**Blindamood** · 23 March 2010, 07:31 Tuesday

Originally posted by jazznsoccer

I agree with Chris on the need for an ethernet port. Processors should be able to play files from the home network or internet radio. Networking will be key.

Not to mention ease of firmware updates, which have become much more common lately.

**Peter Nielsen** · 23 March 2010, 09:16 Tuesday

Originally posted by jazznsoccer

I agree with Chris on the need for an ethernet port. Processors should be able to play files from the home network or internet radio. Networking will be key.

I don't think a "player" function belongs in the processor! High-end processors are way too complex already (especially if you have a processor that lets you configure crossovers and room correction).

However, I do agree that Ethernet should be mandatory. It makes integration much easier and eliminates the need for RS-232.

Parasound at CES 2010

Parasound at CES 2010

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