CEDIA 2015

Despite all the hoopla over the new immersive surround-sound formats, stereo is still very much in the mix at Pioneer’s CEDIA exhibit, where the company is spotlighting a limited-edition reference-grade headphone, portable digital audio player, and stereo receiver with networking and high-resolution playback capabilities.

In-wall speaker pioneer SpeakerCraft stole the show at the Core Brands press event at CEDIA when it demonstrated the first Atmos-enabled in-wall speaker module we’ve seen.

Klipsch is expanding its recently introduced Reference Premiere speaker line by adding new wireless powered models, based on the WiSA wireless standard, and piecing them together into full systems.

The Denon HEOS Drive and new AVRs were among the highlights at the D+M booth.

I finally was able to make it by the Rosewater Energy Hub booth on the EXPO floor earlier today. RoseWater says the Energy Hub is “the first all-in-one residential and light commercial power solution to integrate three capabilities into one platform to serve the entire needs of one premises. The Hub protects all home and office electronics by delivering clean and conditioned power and offers seamless and total system integration using a dual inverter system. With everything integrated into the Hub, prewired and tested upon delivery, the potential for installation and set-up problems are greatly reduced.” While that’s a mouthful, the Energy Hub is essentially a surge suppressor, power conditioner, and UPS backup power supply for your entire house. It can also serve as a power manager by integrating alternative sources of power, such as solar and wind, into your home along with traditional AC from the power grid. This tower of power is more sophisticated than that simple description, however; and a peek inside the rack reveals designs and parts suitable for long-term industrial use. You have to have money to get all this power, though. The two-rack system on display with its included advanced lead-acid batteries runs approximately $80,000. RoseWater Energy Hubs are available for order and shipping now. It seems expensive—oh, what the hell am I saying? It is expensive. Really, really, really expensive. All it takes, however, is a few days of suffering through a major power outage or incurring a serious loss from a lightning strike to become aware of how valuable electricity is. The RoseWater Energy Hub is certainly worth the money. I just wish I could afford it.

The paired active and passive drivers on GoldenEar Technology's new SuperSub XXL are "inertially balanced both horizontally and vertically," Sandy Gross told showgoers.