CEDIA 2017

Longer cable runs between a source and display, the latter usually a projector, are a hot topic in the custom install business and in DIY installs as well. HDMI can’t usually handle much over 25 feet of UHD over HDMI, and even that’s iffy.

Typical whole-house audio systems require “home-running” all of the speaker and control wiring to a central location which then connects to a stack of electronics – sources, distribution switches, amplifiers, control system – that normally resides in a large rack. While there is nothing wrong with systems designed in this manner, they are typically best installed during construction when extensive prewiring can be done, and can be difficult to add onto. Many also feature pre-configured source and zone amounts, such as 6 source to 6 zone, meaning it can be difficult (ie: expensive) to add a single additional zone to a system. Russound showed some real out-of-box thinking at CEDIA by introducing the company’s new MBX-AMP, a completely scalable Wifi streaming audio amplifier that can be placed anywhere in the home yet link-up to become part of a system supporting as many as 32 audio zones!

Control4 is reaffirming its commitment to high-performance audio distribution by launching the new Triad Multi-Room Audio line-up at CEDIA. This new line-up features two audio matrix switches, a high-resolution multi-channel amplifier, and the new single zone Triad One, all designed from the ground up to deliver high-performance, high-resolution audio throughout the home.

According to the company, over 65 percent of system owners enjoy multi-room audio, and Control4 demonstrated its seriousness about delivering a high performance solution when the company introduced its EA series of controllers which made 192/24 high-resolution audio available to every Control4 owner and added native support for Tidal music streaming. In a further move to provide a high-performance, end-to-end audio solution from “source to speaker,” the company acquired Triad in February of this year, a company with a 30 year heritage in performance audio.

Automation and control leader, Control4, released the latest version of its operating system this week, OS 2.10. This release expands performance and delivers a host of new features and upgrades that will be immediately available for free to dealers and customers. Much of the new update focuses on interoperability, peace of mind, personalization and audio improvements for both existing and new systems, all designed to improve customer happiness and satisfaction.

I’m always on the lookout for new ways to use room treatments. With its Beosound Shape, Bang & Olufsen combines room absorption with on-wall speakers in a geometric shape that produces an optical illusion that it’s protruding from the wall more than it actually is...

Digital Projection impressed with three of its premier models for home theater buyers with deep pockets. The Insight 4K Laser, a 3-chip DLP, was shown on a screen big enough to be used in a modest multipex.

Harman went all out again this year with its Synthesis electronics and more JBL speakers than would fit in any domestic space sort of a McMansion.