Darryl Wilkinson

CEDIA 2013
Make Room for Roomie Remote on Your iPhone
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
How would you like to have an instant home theater/home automation system just by downloading an app? That’s essentially the situation with Roomie Remote, an iOS app (with an iOS7 update coming in the next couple of days) that, according to the company is “the last remote you’ll ever need.”

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CEDIA 2013
Epic Sky Technology Puts Epic Skies on Your Ceiling
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for a good star ceiling, so it’s not surprising that I had to stop at the Epic Sky Technology booth for a quick chat. Epic Sky Technology specializes in lighting control systems with proprietary controllers that can integrate lights – and especially the company’s pre-built and DIY star ceiling panels – with music or soundtracks. On demo was a star ceiling panel programmed to turn various LEDs in the panel on and off in conjunction with an audio recording of a thunderstorm. An LED strip behind the panel also flashed in time with the sound of thunder. Pricing varies by panel size and number of LEDs installed.
CEDIA 2013
Outdoor Light and Sound
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
I spent some time in the Coastal Source booth getting the scoop on the Florida-based company’s interesting assortment of landscape lighting products, as well as its Turtle Audio System. The system starts with a rectangular fiberglass shell that holds a down-firing 10” JL Audio marine-grade woofer, a 500-watt marine-grade amp with a built-in electronic crossover, plus an Apple AirPort Express. By adding one, two, or three 150W DC power supplies, the internal amplifier in the sub enclosure can power from two to 16 satellite speakers.

Multi-satellite systems with the Turtle sub start around $5,000.

CEDIA 2013
Qmotion’s Shades Roll On
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
Qmotion came to CEDIA in a big way this year, showing off an elaborate booth of the companies various shading solutions. Prime among the products on display was the range of wireless, battery-operated roller shades with several unique design features, including easy battery replacement without needing to remove the shade from the brackets, a claimed battery life of “up to five years”, and a snap-on spline attached to the fabric that allows for easy cleaning or replacement of the fabric.
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CEDIA 2013
DISH’s Hopper and Control4 Get Twice as Good Together
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
DISH announced today that the company plans to integrate Control4 home automation technology with the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR system. This means that Control4 systems will soon be able to fully take advantage of all the capabilities of the Hopper and DISH’s satellite/streaming services.

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CEDIA 2013
BitWise Offers a Bit of Wise Control – From Anywhere
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
Automation controller company BitWise Controls came to CEDIA to celebrate the company’s fourth birthday and announce the upcoming availability of the BitWise Access Anywhere subscription service. BitWise’s AccessAnywhere will enable homeowners to access and control their BitWise home automation system from anywhere the homeowner has internet access, anywhere in the world, via a smartphone or tablet.
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CEDIA 2013
The 1500
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2013  |  Published: Sep 26, 2013  |  0 comments
“This…is…Lutron!”

They could have started out the press conference that way, and it would have been so cool if they had. Of course, then they would have had to have thrown someone from a competing lighting/shading company down a huge hole; and that probably would not have been acceptable behavior at a CEDIA press conference.

But, in essence, Lutron did throw the gauntlet – and a very fancy gauntlet, at that – down as far as other shading and control companies go...

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CEDIA 2013
NEARly New Outdoor Speakers
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2013  |  0 comments
No, they’re not stylized Daleks from Dr. Who or PVC termite mounds. The objects pictured above are actually a couple of pretty impressive all-weather speakers from NEAR. There are a couple of things that are newsworthy about these speakers, not the least of which is that they are the first environmental speakers designed by NEAR specifically for the consumer/custom installation market in about a decade and a half. In fact, it’s been exactly 14 years since NEAR last had a booth or display at a CEDIA EXPO.
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CEDIA 2013
Custom Installapalooza 2013
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 23, 2013  |  1 comments
Coverage Begins Wednesday, September 25

This year’s Custom Installapalooza, officially known as CEDIA EXPO 2013, starts Wednesday, September 25th and runs through Saturday, September 28th at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. (Thankfully for the Expo, the nearest of the devastating flooding that parts of Colorado have endured recently was more than 20 miles from Denver. While that’s good news for the CEDIA Expo and attendees, a lot of Coloradoans were affected. CEDIA suggests that if you’d like to help support those folks, please visit HelpColoradoNow.com.) Wednesday should be a rather leisurely day with a few scattered press conferences, a CEDIA Media Preview Event (kind of like speed dating for PR people and journalists), and quite a few continuing education courses for dealers and installers. The real fun begins on Thursday when the Expo floor opens up and thousands of technical questions start being asked…and answered.

Almost all of the Sound & Vision crew will be on hand, blogging like madmen (and a madwoman) from amidst the Expo floor—and, who knows, probably during a dinner or two if John Sciacca stays true to form. I’ll be there, too, just in case John needs someone to bail him out of jail...

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In-Wall Speaker Reviews
Wisdom Audio Insight P4i In-Wall Speaker System
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 20, 2013  |  0 comments

Performance
Build Quality
Value
Price $9,250 (updated 3/10/15)

At a Glance

Plus
Planar magnetic thin-film drivers
Solid Uni-grip mounting clamps
Thin magnetically attached grilles available in custom lengths
Truly outstanding sound quality

Minus
Horizontal center channel use requires stud modifications
Definitely not the cheapest in-wall system you can buy

The Verdict
It might bust your budget on the front end, but the Wisdom Insight delivers a near-electrostatic, audiophile listening experience in a disappearing, in-wall package.

If you’re intimately familiar with Wisdom Audio, then you’re more dialed into this industry than I am. Sure, I’ve breezed by the company’s booth at past CEDIA Expos, but when I hear that name it always brings to mind the image of a of an old guy in a flowing robe with a long, white beard (and maybe a Harry Potter–esque wizard’s hat) sitting in an overstuffed chair in front of an audio system, his beard and hat being blown back à la the old Memorex advertising campaign.

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