All prices are in US dollars.

Sony introduced a number of new audio and home-theater products at their Thursday-night press conference. The most interesting of these for audiophiles are the new SCD-C333ES five-disc SACD changer ($1200)...

...and DVP-S9000ES DVD player ($1500), which is Sony's new "reference-standard DVD player," with its 12-bit/54MHz video D/A converter and progressive-scan capability. But the DVP-S9000ES can also play SACDs. Both of these Sony ES products come with five-year warranties. Availability is set for November 2000, and Sony has promised the release of more SACD music titles too.

Making their debut at CEDIA 2000 are the Arcam DV88 DVD player (top, $1499) and AVR100 surround-sound receiver ($1199), both a part of Arcam's new DiVA (Digitally integrated Video and Audio) line. The AVR100 offers 75W of power over five channels, 90Wpc in stereo mode, in which case it can also be used in a bi-amp configuration with an Arcam power amp. It does Dolby Digital, Dolby ProLogic and DTS decoding. The DV88 features all-Arcam electronic circuitry and will be upgradeable to DVD-Audio. It will be available in an Arcam FMJ, or "Full Metal Jacket," version too.

The Acoustic Energy Aego powered speaker system ($599 for subwoofer and two satellite speakers) sounded very good driven by a Sony Walkman CD player. When the source was switched to an Arcam CD player, the difference was not subtle, proving again that a simple sub-sat system can make some resolving music.