Darryl Wilkinson

CEDIA 2015

New DSP Presets for Sonance Amps and iPort Systems Get Glassy

Darryl Wilkinson | Oct 15, 2015

At Sonance’s press conference this morning, Jack Hill, the company’s Director of Marketing, detailed the expanded capabilities of Sonance’s DSP amplifiers with built-in SONARC (Sonance Advanced Room Correction). Sonance currently offers over 600 specifically designed DSP presets already preloaded. The DSP amps also include a built-in 10-band parametric EQ that allows for additional, optional DSP customization. The three amps in the series—DSP 2-150, DSP 8-130, and DSP 2-750—sell for $900, $2,750, and $1,500, respectively.

Esteemed members of the press (even me) were given a hands-on demo of the new Surface Mount from Sonance’s sister company, iPort. Surface Mount is a special mounting system that allows for...

CEDIA 2015

84 Inches of 4K UHD Outdoor TV From SunBriteTV

Darryl Wilkinson | Oct 14, 2015 | Published: Oct 15, 2015

Before EXPO, the folks at SunBriteTV told me that they would have a BIG announcement at CEDIA. Often when a company says that, it means they’ll have some sort of incremental upgrade that really doesn’t mean diddly squat for most people. SunBriteTV’s big announcement is indeed big. It’s two big announcements, actually. First of all, SunBriteTV announced two new outdoor TV models that are “among the first 4K-enabled weatherproof televisions available on the market.” The 55-inch diagonal SB-5574UHD is part of SunBriteTV’s very slim Signature Series and has a maximum depth of only 3.5 inches. The other announcement is that the 2nd 4K UHD from SunBriteTV—the SB-8418UHD—will be part of the Pro Series and will feature an 84-inch diagonal screen. Although a working prototype of the 84-inch TV (shown above) was on display, pricing and availability dates have not been announced.

CEDIA 2015

Why CEDIA Matters

Darryl Wilkinson | Oct 14, 2015

Because CEDIA was close enough to home (9 hours), I was able to drive to Dallas rather than suffer the indignities of flying through DFW—and it was cheaper than flying, too. Since I’m cheap, I stayed at a cheap hotel in Oklahoma last night on my way here. I don’t expect much out of a hotel. A bed. Running water. Maybe a toilet, too. This particular hotel included, of all things, a DVD player and a flat-panel TV! (Bonus, right?) It also included one of the most horrendous installs of electronic equipment I’ve ever run across in a public place...

CEDIA 2015

Origin Acoustics Continues to Be Original

Darryl Wilkinson | Oct 14, 2015

Jeremy Burkhardt took the stage today on the eve of CEDIA Expo to introduce multiple new products for the already massive Origin Acoustics architectural speaker product line. Notable among the bunch are two in-ceiling subwoofers that use a flexible “bass tube” to port bass from a separate enclosure containing dual-voice-coil 6” or 8” long throw subwoofers...

Remotely Possible CEDIA 2015

CEDIA EXPO 2015 Is Here!

Darryl Wilkinson | Oct 13, 2015

Our Coverage Begins Wednesday, October 14

Better late than never. CEDIA EXPO 2015—“the global showcase of the future home experience”—officially begins this week on Wednesday, October 14, with the Tradeshow portion of EXPO opening at 9:00 AM on Thursday. Normally, EXPO takes place in September; but due to scheduling conflicts, the custom install event of the year takes place a month later. Another change this year is that rather than happening in the smaller, cozier confines of Indianapolis or Denver, EXPO is returning to a city that saw some of the earliest CEDIA conventions—Dallas, Texas. We’re sending a bevy (yes, a bevy) of editors and contributors to Big D to cover the newest, the best, the most interesting, and even the most ridiculous things that’ll be announced or on display at this year’s EXPO. Starting Wednesday, make sure you check out our CEDIA EXPO 2015 blog.

If you’re not familiar with CEDIA EXPO, it’s a fascinating custom installapalooza chockablock with all sorts of vendors involved in one way or another with custom installation (CI) tools, products, devices, and systems. Although this is ostensibly a show aimed at professional installers and designers, there are usually a number of DIY systems on display, as well. Here’s a sampling of some of the more interesting things we’ll be on the lookout for...

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New Sonos Trueplay Tuning Tech and PLAY:5 Are Stunning

Darryl Wilkinson | Sep 29, 2015

Sonos is already the king of the hill when it comes to “filling your home with music” (a.k.a., wired and/or wireless multi-room streaming audio systems that are convenient, easy-to-use, and sound great). But later this year, when the company rolls out the “all-new” new PLAY:5 and the absolutely stunning room-acoustic-tuning technology, called Trueplay, Sonos is likely to become—like Kleenex®, BAND-AID®, and Xerox®—synonymous with the entire product category it helped create.

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On the Bleeding Edge: New Smart Home Headaches

Darryl Wilkinson | Sep 08, 2015

When it comes to digital technology, being an early adopter is almost always painful. There’s the time and energy required during the initial learning curve, the (sometimes ridiculous) expense of the gear, and the discovery of bugs that inevitably need to be squashed. Of course, there are plenty of benefits to being on the cutting edge...

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Logitech Harmony Adds Even More Smart Home Integration

Darryl Wilkinson | Aug 17, 2015

If you’re an AV aficionado, enthusiast, geek, or however you think of yourself, Logitech’s Harmony is most likely the first—and maybe only—name that comes to mind when you hear the term “universal remote control.” Although none of the company’s remote controls are perfect (the perfect universal remote control only exists in that magical fantasy world inhabited by unicorns and hard drives that never crash), Harmony’s remotes have been good enough to pretty much crush the competition in the $30 to $350 range. Despite their king-of-the-hill position, Logitech nearly sold off the Harmony division in 2013. It’s a good thing they didn’t, because since then the company has embraced home automation in many of its universal remote controls—and recently Harmony has turned that embrace into a giant bear hug.

Speaker Buying Tips Speaker Setup Speaker Tech Home Movie Theaters

The Ultimate Test: Dolby Atmos vs. Dolby Atmos

Darryl Wilkinson | Aug 06, 2015

Dolby Atmos, for you members of the unwashed and uninformed masses (yeah, you know who you are), enables film sound designers to treat individual sonic elements as virtual “objects” that can be placed and moved almost anywhere within the three-dimensional space of a movie theater. Two things are important about its adaptation for home theater. First, the soundfield—in its original, discretely encoded version, not an extrapolated one—is no longer limited to a two-dimensional plane circling around your ears.

Dolby Atmos Speaker Reviews Surround Sound System Reviews Bookshelf Speaker Reviews Subwoofer Reviews

Triad Atmos-Enabled InRoom Bronze LR-H Speaker System Review

Darryl Wilkinson | Aug 06, 2015

InRoom Bronze LR-H Speaker System
Performance
Build Quality
Value

InWall Bronze/4 SlimSub
Performance
Build Quality
Value

PRICE $11,050

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Dolby Atmos enabled
Natural, open character
Superb match with InWall Bronze/4 SlimSub
Minus
Atmos operation limits use in cabinets or behind a screen

THE VERDICT
Awesome for Atmos and awesome at most everything else.

Nine out of 11.4 people (approximately) reading this report are thinking, “Who the hell is Triad?” (Hopefully, fewer folks are asking, “What the hell is Atmos?” If you’re one of them, hang in there. I’ll get to Atmos in a bit.) To answer the original question, Triad is a Swiss Army Knife-like manufacturer of custom-installed speakers. That is, regardless of the particular application, Triad has a blade—er, speaker—designed and built for it (in the U.S. of A., by the way). You need in-room, in-ceiling, or in-wall speakers? Check. Invisible in-wall speakers? Ditto. OK, what kind of subwoofer do you want? The standard in-room or an in-wall design? Yes and yes. (Yawn.) Why not try something a little less common, like one of Triad’s on-wall, in-cabinet, or in-ceiling subwoofers? Then there’s Triad’s esoteric and rather sinister-looking FlexSub, which includes an expandable, flexible tube that channels the bass output from the hidden subwoofer cabinet to a remotely located grate or grille.

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