CEDIA 2014

SIM2 Multimedia celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In its demo, the small, LED-lit Nero 2 projector ($14,000) was putting out more than enough light on a huge, nearly 12-foot wide screen. The picture was gorgeous, if just slightly soft, likely due to to the very large screen. The projector's light output is rated at 1400 lumens, which is generous for an LED projector.

Sonance showed a massive redo of its amplifier line-up, reducing offerings from 29 amp models down to a lean-and-mean five! At the same time, the company made significant improvements throughout the line, making significant feature upgrades and going from a traditional inefficient, heat producing, analog design to new digital models.

In a keynote speech that marked the beginning of CEDIA’s 25th anniversary celebration this week in Denver, Sony Electronics President and COO Mike Fasulo touted an “Install Innovation” theme and took attendees through a variety of new and growing profit opportunities that Sony, along with industry partners who joined Fasulo on stage, is presenting to today’s integrators.

Based on the Stealth Acoustics’ LRG invisible speaker technology, the new Image III speakers have no grilles, ports, or other openings and are only 2.5-inches thick. The flat front face of the speaker is made from a solid, fiberglass-like material (Stealth Acoustics calls it, Glass Fidelty); and it can be painted “without concern for blocking sound or damaging the speaker components. Using “advanced vinyl graphic materials and high-resolution, UV protected printing” Stealth Acoustics is able to “wrap” the speaker with any image of their customers’ choosing. The speakers can be installed in pairs or side-by-side with Stealth Acoustics’ CoverArt “retractable art flat screen covering solution” to create “a unique ‘Trilogy’ of images panning across speakers and screen allowing technology when not in use to become an integral part of interior design.”

The Image III speakers have an MSRP of $1, 000/ pair - plus applicable art work fees.

Bulgaria’s Everything But The Box (gotta love that name) previewed a series of high style cast-aluminum speakers, available in a wide range of high-gloss and metallic finishes.

I have always been impressed by the look and feel of Salamander Designs’ cabinets and furniture. As with most quality furnishings, however, the price tag has always been commensurate with the quality of the furniture. There are a variety of factors for this, most especially the fact that the majority of what Salamander Design makes is highly customizable and built-to-order in Hartford, CT. Sal Carrabba, founder of Salamander Designs, explained that the company’s AV Basics products are “focused on providing simplicity by offering a carefully curated product line that is in stock and ready to ship.” In addition to adding more cabinets to the AV Basics line, Salamander Designs unveiled the new AV Basics theater seat, the Model TC3, at CEDIA.

The TC3 is upholstered in black bonded leather, which Salamander Designs says is...

You might suspect the top-firing driver in Sonus Faber's Lilium tower ($70,000/pair) makes it a Dolby Atmos enabled speaker. But you'd be wrong. That's a bass driver, not a height driver, and it's complemented by a bottom-firing passive radiator. The 3.5-way system is triwired and, as you'd expect from the luxury-minded Italian manufacturer, dressed to kill. Price: $70,000/pair.