Darryl Wilkinson

If you’re having trouble with routers and multiple access points in your home Wi-Fi network (as I am), Luxul Wireless says they have a solution for you with the company’s whole-home Wi-Fi network installation products. Luxul’s Pro-WAV products can increase the coverage area of 802.11b/g Wi-Fi gear by an astounding 400 percent; and Luxul says they can provide coverage for 10,000 square feet of home (or more) with a single access point. That means you’ll have seamless roaming of iPods/iPads, fewer wireless access points, and expanded usage of Wi-Fi throughout the home – all from products that can be mounted in a closet or attic.

The five small satellites in Phase Technology’s new $930 CineMicro One 5.1-channel speaker system use all-wood “acoustically neutral” curved enclosures, Absolute Phase crossover networks, and long-throw woofers. The sub that’s included in the package incorporates an eight-inch down-firing woofer in a rear slotted-port design and a built-in 100-watt amp.

Surge protection and power conditioning often seem like an industry filled with smoke and mirrors – and full of dubious, hard-to-verify claims of protection. SurgeX brought some heavy duty surge-generating equipment to demonstrate how other types of surge protection devices react under real-world electrically stressful situations. The brand-obscured surge suppressor being used here would have left some home theater owner heading to the repair shop had a real component been hooked up to the outlet when a bad surge came down the line. SurgeX claims their devices are designed to resist surges at much higher levels than the competition can handle without self-destructing – and they can do it repeatedly (like well over 30,000 times).

FOSI wants you to see stars in your home theater – and not just on your big screen. The company’s star ceiling panels – like this 8-foot x 12 foot version – contain thousands of individual fiber optic cables that take light from three central light sources (either halogen or LED-based lamps) and create astronomically correct reproductions of the night sky on your theater (or other) room’s ceiling. Panels can be ordered in flat black or cloud-sky painted models. This particular setup included over 5,000 fiber optic runs to create a September night sky that included a comet, several shooting stars, and the ability to erupt into a brilliant fireworks display. Without the fireworks lighting, the DIY version – in which you get the fiber optic cables and a complete, full-size template for where to drill the holes for the cables in your own panel – starts at around $2,000. As far as a professionally installed, fully tricked out version with fireworks and a night sky that’s exactly the way you want it from a certain date in history (your wedding night or the evening the Normans invaded England, for example, either of which could be considered the start of epic battles) can cost, well, the sky’s the limit.