The Perfect Vision Toasts 2002 Products of The Year at CEDIA; This Year's Awards ... (1 Viewer)

[Steve__nJ]

09/26/2002
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 2002, Business Wire)
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2002--The Perfect Vision, the leading home theater information resource magazine, today announced the winners of its prestigious "2002 Product of The Year Awards," representing the most exciting new multimedia components at the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) Expo 2002 in Minneapolis, Minn.
The competition for the 2002 Product of the Year Awards was open to all home theater products tested and evaluated over the past year by the veteran editorial staff at The Perfect Vision.
"This year, our goal was to identify Products of the Year in every product category -- speakers (compact and large), subwoofers (budget and full-priced), controllers, audio separates, DVD players, displays of all kinds, scalers, screens, and accessories," said Robert Harley, Editor-in-Chief of The Perfect Vision and The Absolute Sound.
The 2002 Products of The Year include:
A/V RECEIVER OF THE YEAR - Denon AVR-4802 ($2499)
-- Finalist - Marantz SR8200 ($1699)
DIRECT-VIEW TV OF THE YEAR - Loewe Aconda 38 ($5000-$5500,
depending on finish)
-- Finalist - Toshiba 36HFX72 ($2199)
COMPACT SPEAKER OF THE YEAR - Snell Acoustics K.5mk2 ($3900)
-- Finalist - Definitive Technology Power Monitor 700 ($4146)
SPEAKER OF THE YEAR - Paradigm Reference Studio Series
($4800-$5550, depending on finish)
-- Finalist - Magnepan MGMC1 and MGMCC2, with 2 Velodyne
SPL-800 subwoofers and the Outlaw Audio ICBM
bass-management controller ($4525, total system)
BUDGET SUBWOOFER OF THE YEAR - Definitive Technology SuperCube 1
($1199)
-- Finalist - Paradigm PDR-12 ($419)
SUBWOOFER OF THE YEAR - Wilson Audio WATCH Dog ($10,000)
-- Finalist - MartinLogan Descent ($2700)
REAR-PROJECTION TV OF THE YEAR - Mitsubishi WS5571 ($5999)
-- Finalist - Hitachi 57SWX20B ($3499)
DVD PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Arcam FMJ DV27 ($2599)
-- Finalist - Sony DVP-S9000ES ($1199)
PROJECTOR OF THE YEAR - SIM2 Seleco HT300 ($15,000)
-- Finalist - Marantz VP-12S1 ($12,499)
A/V CONTROLLER OF THE YEAR - Theta Casablanca II with "Xtreme" DAC
upgrade ($9250-$17,500, depending on configuration)
-- Finalist - Naim AV 2 ($3900)
MULTICHANNEL AMPLIFIER OF THE YEAR - Sherbourn Technologies
5/1500A ($1999)
-- Finalist - Anthem PVA 7 ($1499)
PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL OF THE YEAR - Hitachi 42HDT20 ($8999)
-- Finalist - Pioneer PDP-4330HD ($9999)
VIDEO SCALER OF THE YEAR - Faroudja DCS ($9995)
-- Finalist - Silicon Image iScan Pro ($899)
PROJECTION SCREEN OF THE YEAR - Stewart FireHawk ($1000-$5000,
depending on size and configuration)
ACCESSORY OF THE YEAR - Zenith DTV1080 Set-Top Box ($800)
-- Finalist - Replay TV 4000 Personal Video Recorder
($699-$1999, depending on recording capacity)
TPV'S HOME-THEATER PRODUCT OF THE YEAR - Reference Imaging CinePro
9x Elite CRT Projector ($64,500)
About Absolute Multimedia and The Perfect Vision:
Absolute Multimedia is a leading publisher of magazines and Web sites covering high-performance home electronics and entertainment software. The Absolute Sound magazine covers home audio, audio technology and music. The Perfect Vision magazine covers home theater products, convergence products, film and multimedia. A related Web site, www.AVguide.com provides news from the home theater and audio field, an archive of reviews from The Absolute Sound and The Perfect Vision, and the Internet's most comprehensive listing of buyer's guide information for home theater and audio equipment.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

Can anyone here actually afford this stuff?

 

[Chas_T]

Thanks for the list Steve.

It surprises me the Paradigm Studio's and the Sherbourn won their categories.

I was fortunate to add both of these components to my system this year. However, I would think considering there are other brands that cost much more and perform at a higher level, they would have won the award.

Maybe I am missing something here.

 

[Steve__nJ]

I just found it interesting that the Paradigm PDR-12 was named a finalist in the budget subwoofer. Has anyone had any experience with this sub (not much talk about it)?
Also it was nice to see Def Tech,Denon and Outlaw making the list.
Budget is such a demeaning word.
:alien:

 

[DanaA]

Not bashing their winners, but we have to remember that they only test a small fragment of what's out there.

 

[BruZZi]

PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL OF THE YEAR - Hitachi 42HDT20

 

[Arron H]

The competition for the 2002 Product of the Year Awards was open to all home theater products tested and evaluated over the past year by the veteran editorial staff at The Perfect Vision.

To me, this sounds like quite a limiting factor and a very real source of bias in the ratings. Do they test any online alternatives for subs such as SVS, Adire, HSU? How many of the award winners are advertisers as well? These awards should be taken with a grain of salt as should similar "awards" (kickbacks?) from Sound & Vision, etc.

 

[Karl Englebright]

To me, this sounds like quite a limiting factor and a very real source of bias in the ratings. Do they test any online alternatives for subs such as SVS, Adire, HSU? How many of the award winners are advertisers as well? These awards should be taken with a grain of salt as should similar "awards" (kickbacks?) from Sound & Vision, etc.

This could be said of any publication(or online site) that accepts advertisement. But if you decide to mistrust magazines because of advertising bias, then you need to mistrust EVERYBODY that has to make a living from this. I decided long ago that I would stop worrying about this and really dig into the reviews and read "between the lines". Only when I have agreed with what a certain reviewer has said in the past repeatedly will I start trusting what he/she is saying.

 

[Adil M]

Glauco:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL OF THE YEAR - Hitachi 42HDT20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I did a doubletake on this. I thought it looked pretty crappy and I see it every other day. Tha Panasonic 5000 dollar 42 inch looks better, but maybe it's me.

 

[Hyun K]

I rarely take the Perfect Vision recommendation seriously.

First off, like people have already said, they have such a small sample of what's out there. Their recommended list should say "2002 best of what we reviewed" which is really a FRACTION of what's available.

Second, it seems like TPV has a recommended list every other issue... I've seen it over and over with different products on the list or products moving up and down. With that much variability in their rankings, it decreases their credibility.

Third, their recommended list is basically in order of price. You can write one too... just pick a bunch of products and order them in price. (Okay... this may not be TPV's exact method of recommending but you get my point)

Anyways... you can see I'm not too fond of TPV. I even wrote Robert Harley concerning how there were so many better bang for your products that would out do the very expensive products TPV publishes with examples... and I just got back a cheesy letter stating, thank you for making us aware of these products.... like he didn't know.

Rags in general are okay.... but you have to take them for what they're worth, read between the lines, and with a grain of salt.

 

[Bolivar G]

Cool, I own the Denon 4802
I find it hard to belive it would beat out a 5803 or 49tx
But I'm happy my reciever is mentioned, makes me feel my money was well spent...lol

 

[BobRoulier]

Bolivar, I don't think they meant that the 4802 beat out the 5803 or 49tx in a side by side comparison, they are saying the 4802 is in their opinion the best cost/performance receiver(bang for the buck) you should be pleased its a great receiver but not in the same league as the flagships
Bob

 

[Tom Brennan]

TPV has gone SO far downhill from what it was years ago. Once it was a simple magazine filled with tons of information on how video and movies worked. They had VERY long articles on things like Technicolor, Cinerama and movie restoration. It never urged one to go out and spend money.

Now it's just another glossy rag full of advertisements and "product announcements". It shills for the industry and drums up support for it. No longer content to observe the scene they now want to be part of it. When a magazine seeks to be part of the industry it covers, rather than dispassionately observing it, objectivity and honesty goes to Hell. The only reason I buy it is for the movie reviews which are still pretty good.

 

[BruZZi]

Adil M
What I meant was:
" PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL OF THE YEAR - Hitachi 42HDT20 "
WHAT A JOKE !!!
The Panny PT-42PD3(SD),PT-42PHD4-P(HD) and even their second place PIO PDP-4330HD are much better(IMO)than Hitachi.

 

[Adil M]

I knew what you meant. I just wrote my reply poorly.

 

[Dan Ponze]

I did a doubletake on this. I thought it looked pretty crappy and I see it every other day. Tha Panasonic 5000 dollar 42 inch looks better, but maybe it's me.

You and I both. I have to say the Panasonic HD 42 inch is better and I stare at both of them 5 days a week at work. Hitachi is nicer than the Philips and certainly better than the Sampo but plasma of the year?