CES 2019 sees LG continue its collaboration with Meridian Audio with the launch of 3 soundbars, all offering Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support-- the SL10YG, SL9YG and SL8YG, featuring the promise to go "far beyond far-tuning or adopting new feature-sets."
The soundbars carry a pair of Meridian audio-enhancing technologies, namely Bass & Space (improves the soundstage for "rich, uncompromising sound and strong bass") and Image Elevation (boosts the sense of immersion for the listener) to deliver powerful surround sound. Meanwhile Upmix technology upmixes 2-channel audio to distinct channels without generating distortion while maintaining tonal balance.
The Alva TT is styled after the Edge hifi separate range from the British company, if with the addition of a a Bluetooth transmitter for the beaming of LP audio to compatible headphones or speakers. Designed and built in-house, it carries a direct drive design with a built-in phono stage, single piece tonearm and a high output moving coil cartridge.
The 200 Pre has an adjustable 12-140Hz high-pass crossover and offers inputs for just about any source, including phono MM/MC, x2 line inputs, theatre bypass for L, R and 2 subs, digital USB, coax and optical. The front panel has an aux line level input with an automatic 12dB gain increase to improve sound quality for portable devices. The DAC is a Burr-Brown number found in the recently discontinued Halo P5 preamp.
First announced at Google I/O 2018 before a showing at CES 2019, the JBL Link Bar doubles as an Android TV box and features a built-in Chromecast, providing an array of media sources for customers. A Privacy Switch feature allows one to disable the microphones in case they do not need the virtual assistant, and they can also use Google Assistant while the TV is off.
The Three with Google Assistant retains the same mid-century modern design as the original, together with award-winning acoustics and robust connectivity. Google Assistant adds further functionality, such as the ability to ask questions and get information, stream music, hear the news, weather and traffic, add to shopping lists, control smart home devices and make phone calls.
According to the company, the AiRadio is a first-of-a-kind product, being a voice-controlled radio bringing together premium components and luxury stylings in a high-fidelity streaming audio product. CES 2019 will see the showcase of 3 AiRadio models, the vertically oriented AiRadio Poco (VR-60) and the horizontally-oriented AiRadio Uno and Duo. The Poco and Uno are mono units with an output for an optional second speaker (VR-62 and VR-72 respectively), while the Duo is a stereo device with two speakers and a 2-channel amp.
Built in Heilbronn, Germany, the AK T5p 2nd Gen are built using premium materials such as sheepskin earpads and braided silver and copper cables. They are tuned for the audiophile-grade Astell & Kern portable music player range, and carry the same Tesla transducers found in other Beyerdynamic headphones paired with Test Technology drivers promising extremely balanced and dynamic sound.
