Extreme E-Gear

All it takes is a Powerball super jackpot or a flip through a luxury magazine to get your champagne tastes in a row. After all, you’re as capable as the next guy when it comes to spending fantasy millions. But what would you really do if your yacht came in? You might not have the time to do all the research so we took the liberty of spending some of the windfall for you. Got a few extra bucks? Here are our picks for the ultimate e-gear.

Be a Player
If you wanted just any DVD player, you could drop $39 for one at the local Walgreens. But you’re going for top of the line and feature-rich. Look no further than the Classe Audio CDP-502 ($8,500) which packs all the bleeding-edge video guns of Classe’s CDP-300 DVD player with audiophile-grade music performance to boot. Sophisticated video processing scales content to any HDTV format, including 1080p via HDMI, and eliminates mosquito noise inherent in HD technology. On the audio side, the universal CDP-502 spins CDs, DVD-Audio hi-res recordings, MP3, WMA and AAC-encoded discs, while passing through a balanced audio output on two XLR jacks. The player will accept Video CD, S-VCD and JPEG discs for photos, too. A front-panel color touchscreen puts intuitive control at your fingertips.
www.classeaudio.com

Sound Decision
Let’s see…Do you allocate your $27,900 to a 2007 Nissan 350Z 6MT Coupe with a factory sound system or invest in a pair of stay-at-home Wilson Audio WATT Puppy loudspeakers? If you’ve been lucky enough to hear Ladysmith Black Mozambo through a pair of Puppies, there’s no contest between a road tour and what feels like a live concert. The comparison to a sporty performance car isn’t so far-fetched. Like the finest automobiles, each Wilson speaker cabinet passes through a 12-stage paint process from primer through color and finally clear coat before being packed up and shipped. The WATT/Puppy System 8 comes standard in Mercedes Silver, black or titanium. Another $1,000 gets you an upgrade to Porsche Violet, Sebring Blue, Ferrari Red or Ferrari Fly Yellow. Go custom all the way for a $2,000 premium and supply your own swatch. Wilson will store your custom blend on-site for 5 years. The 8th edition carries on the Puppy line dating back to 1988.
www.wilsonaudio.com

Premium Server
You can’t argue with the convenience of digital music, but you can complain all you want about the lousy sound quality of 128-bit compression. Niveus Media and MusicGiants are doing something about it. Niveus, known for powerhouse Media Center systems, is partnering with MusicGiants, provider of HD music downloads, to deliver high-def 2.0 stereo and 5.1-channel surround-sound music on Niveus’ 2007 Windows Vista-based Media Centers.
The Denali Media Center ($6,999) packs Intel’s Viiv technology, Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors, HD DVD playback and an HDMI output. Four TV tuners include two ATSC and two NTSC cards complemented by a terabyte of storage, 4 gigs of memory and eight-channel audio out. A serial RS-232 connection links the box to a whole-house audio or control system.
MusicGiants downloads offer full-resolution playback at up to 1100 kbps in a WMA format, four times the quality of standard download services. Its Super HD downloads, available in 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo, are remastered DVD Audio and SACD (Super Audio CD) recordings that sample at up to 11,000 kbps. Downloads are $1.29 each and $15.29 per single album.
www.niveusmedia.com

Goin’ Mobile
These days you don’t settle for just a cell phone. You want a multimedia mobile that can replace all the other gadgets in your pocket. Until now, a jack-of-all-trades cell phone fell far short on the multimedia side. After all, what’s the point of having a camera phone if it takes crummy pictures? Not so with Nokia’s N95 smartphone ($749), whose 5-megapixel sensor and Carl Zeiss optics can stand up to anything sold at the camera counter. MPEG4 video delivers 30-frame-per-second videos of homegrown movies or shows recorded from TV. And when Mobile TV is here, you’ll be able to watch favorite programs live on your phone on the roomy 2.6-inch QVGA display. You can leave the iPod at home, too, thanks to a built-in MP3 player. Buff up library space with 2 gigs of storage from a microSD card. Bundled GPS takes you from here to there with navi software that zooms to street level. Oh yeah, and on the phone side, you get speaker independent dialing by name, voice commands, voice recorder, talking ring tone, speakerphone and Nokia push-to-talk features.
www.nokia.com

Chill Factor
First it was the Internet refrigerator, then came the TV-in-the-fridge. But why should you have to commit to one technology for the refrigerator door? After all, whichever gizmo you choose will be way obsolete by the time the fridge goes on the fritz. That’s the logic behind Whirlpool’s Central Park ($1,999) refrigerator, set to hit Best Buy stores this fall. Whirlpool provides the technology pod and tech companies can build products to fit the slot. Ceiva is planning a digital photo frame that will slide into the Central Park dock, which will serve as a holster and a charging dock for all compatible electronics. At the recent Kitchen & Bath Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft demonstrated a working tablet PC parked inside the Whirlpool dock. The PC acted as an Internet browser, e-mail appliance, calendar and communications center for the family. A peek behind the cabinet doors showed other concept plug-and-play products including, of course, the new take on the kitchen TV.
www.whirlpool.com

Control Freak
Monitoring and controlling your McMansion’s temperature, lighting, security system, music, pool pumps, video cameras and outdoor misters is a full-time job. You don’t need a facilities staff to keep the electronic subsystems in your home running. You need a NetLinx NI-4100 system ($3,500 without programming) from AMX to handle 31 of your favorite subsystems. Control anything electronic—from the home theater to the motorized blinds and front gate—with glitzy wall- or tabletop touchscreen remote controls. Your Modero touchscreen controllers ($4,200 for the 7-inch and $6,300 for the 10-inch) are your interface to the system. View feeds from security cameras or watch TV when you’re not lowering the lights or powering up the spa from inside the house. Set a vacation mode when you’re on holiday to mimic your lifestyle patterns and give the home a lived-in look when you’re away. The controllers even double as intercoms. Talk from room to room over VoIP or check on the baby. If you just want to corral the commands of your home theater, try the AMX NI-700 ($900), which operates nine devices including blackout shades, lifts, lights and all A/V gear.
www.amx.com

Image Is Everything
It’s the projector Charles Foster Kane would have installed if he were transported to the 21st century, and it will render your Citizen Kane DVD virtually cinematic. Runco’s quarter-mil DLP Signature Cinema SC-1 is the ultimate home theater video machine for those with an infinitely elastic budget. Your $250K investment gets you a house call from a Runco engineer who personally calibrates every SC-1 installed. Under the hood you’ll find Runco’s CineStep Process pre-processing, decoding and optimizing system which sets the bar for black level, contrast and detail, while erasing RGB characteristics that compromise digital projection quality. Resolution is a whopping 2048 x 1080. You get seven lens choices including anamorphic and Runco’s own CineWide with AutoScope option that eliminates black bars from CinemaScope movies shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Your screen can be from a mere 6 to 40 feet wide.

Can’t afford to devote your retirement fund to TV? For a mere $70,000, you can pick up the largest flat-panel TV available: Panasonic’s TH-103PF9UK. This plasma doesn’t just hang on the wall; it becomes the wall.
www.runco.com
www.panasonic.com

Easy Rider
Spend a few hours in traffic each week? Then your ride should be stocked with all the latest gadgets to keep you entertained, informed and pointed in the right direction. Alpine’s IVA-W205 DVD/CD/MP3/WMA AV head unit ($1,000) is a powerful building block for a full-blown mobile entertainment system. The 6.5-inch QVGA touchscreen monitor provides fingertip control of either XM or Sirius satellite radio, HD Radio, iPods and Microsoft USB-based MP3 players via optional add-on adapters, tuner boxes and service subscriptions. The IVA-W205 also serves as the docking station for Alpine’s second-generation PMD-B200 Blackbird portable navigation device which slips inside a designated slot behind the head unit faceplate. Bluetooth connectivity offers hands-free control of compatible cellular phones and streaming audio from Bluetooth A2DP-enabled portable devices. The display offers plenty of screen space for viewing digital media tags including artist, album, song and playlist. Built-in high-res 24-bit digital audio converters and optical outputs provide high-quality audio playback when paired with compatible add-on source components. The receiver also offers full processor control and multi-channel playback capabilities for Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro-Logic II and DTS-encoded material when connected to the appropriate video playback components.
www.alpine.com

Master Bath
Why take a plain steam shower when you can enjoy music and a light show too? Kohler has upgraded its DTV hydrotherapy system with marine-grade Polk Audio speakers and LED light modules. At the heart of the DTV II steam bath is a digital valve, interface and media module that controls audio, light and steam while you’re lathering with the loofah. The 4 x 4-inch high-fidelity SoundTile shower speakers match the shape, profile and finish of the Kohler WaterTile bodysprays and showerheads included in the DTV system. The 21 x 21-inch LED light panel in the shower ceiling can display individual colors, cycle through a spectrum of color or create an effect such as sunny day with clouds or sunset. You control the steam, aromatherapy, music and lights via the DTV II media module, a separate device mounted behind the wall that can be programmed to play your personalized settings for spray intensity, steam, music and light at a flip of the dial. Tapping off your wired or wireless home network, the media module streams in music and internet radio from a PC. Or make it more personal and direct-connect your MP3 player.
www.kohler.com