CEDIA 2010

SIM2 has expanded its Mico line of LED-illuminated DLP projectors with the Mico 40 ($16,000) and Mico 60ST ($24,000), which is designed for short-throw rear-projection applications.

As I was walking back from the Runco press conference, I passed a huge room occupied by chip maker Analog Devices, so I stopped in to see what it had cooking. I'm glad I did—among the demos was a new audio processor intended to give soundbars the ability to reproduce a true 3D soundfield, and it worked shockingly well.

Also at the Runco press conference was a new line of thin plasmas called Vistage. Interestingly, the rep avoided using the word "plasma," instead calling it a flat panel based on "emissive cell structure." C'mon, it's a plasma! Granted, it has a number of refinements, including optical precision glass and an outboard DHD processor, and it did look quite good in the demo. Three sizes will be available—50, 58, and 63 inches for $6000, $8000, and $10,000, respectively.

The background stories of most trade shows typically involve too much walking, too much drinking, and too much hyping. And there’s plenty of that to go around here at CEDIA. But one of the good parts of being in the custom installation industry is that, for the most part, the people involved are usually decent, good people. It didn’t take long for me to discover that sometimes forgotten fact on Thursday when I reached down to find my phone not snuggled close to my hip in its holster. After a brief period of panic during which several people heard me cry for my mommy, I ran into friend and past HT Mag contributor, David Birch Jones, who explained that there was such a thing as calling your own phone to see if anyone who might have found it would answer. (I was dumbfounded at the concept!) It didn’t take more than two rings before CEDIA Samaritan, Andrew Bransby of MD Central Vacuums (www.builtinvacuum.com), answered to say that he had indeed found it and was holding it safe at the MD Central Vacuums booth (right across from LG). Thanks, Andrew, you’re a lifesaver!

The memories of reviewing Arcam's AVR600 and AVR500 receivers are still golden so we were more than pleased to see a third model join the line, the AVR400. It's got HDMI 1.4, Dolby Volume, and seven times 90 watts -- and yeah, we can just hear you saying $2500 for a 90-watt receiver? Based on our experiences with the two previous models, the power spec is honest, and we expect nothing less than stupendous sound when it comes in for review, soon we hope. Ships in December.

Jon Herron was kind enough to pose next to Wisdom Audio's STS sub, with dual 15-inch woofers in a fridge-size cabinet that can vent through front or side. It is up to 101dB sensitive, make that 130dB at 20Hz, and don't try that at home. Price $10,000, shipping end of month. See item by Tom Norton.