LATEST ADDITIONS

CEDIA 2014
QMotion Cues Up Motorized Curtains
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 13, 2014
Motorized window treatments (shades, curtains, and other window coverings) are always super cool to watch as they magically open or close in front of a window. For some reason, I’m never able to resist pushing the button on the remote that makes a shade go up and down or a curtain open and close. It’s just so cool - and can keep your house very cool, too. QMotion Shades new motorized drapery rod is one of the coolest of all the motorized window treatment mechanisms at CEDIA to watch. QMotion says the company’s new mechanized device is “the industry’s first - and only - trackless motorized drapery rod.” The new wireless drapery rod requires no external motors or wires and is extremely quiet when in operation. Rods come in two sizes: 1.5-inches (diameter) that uses C-cell batteries; and 2-inches in diameter that uses D-cell batteries. QMotion estimates that users can expect battery life to be one to two years on average, depending on the size of the rod and how often the mechanism is used each day.

In addition to pointing out that the new product is...

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CEDIA 2014
NEAR Pounds the Ground with New Outdoor Sub
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 13, 2014
Maine-based NEAR, a pioneer in outdoor speakers known for building audiophile-quality speakers that can withstand extreme weather conditions, previewed a new “all environment” subwoofer designed to meet or exceed the stringent Mil-Std-810 military spec for resistance to humidity, salt air, water, and extreme heat and cold.

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CEDIA 2014
Music Streaming Service Deezer Makes U.S. Debut
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 13, 2014
Deezer, a French music streaming service with 16 million active users and 5 million paying subscribers, is coming to the U.S. with the “world’s largest” music catalog of more than 35 million tracks—all captured in the lossless FLAC format.

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CEDIA 2014
Kaleidescape: This is who we are
John Sciacca  |  Sep 13, 2014
“We’re religious about the experience and the function and design of our products, “ Kaleidescape’s CEO, Cheena Srinivasan, stated, reminding dealers about who Kaleidescape is and “where Kaleidescape belongs in this world with all of the other competing devices and substitutes, and the technology directions where we are headed.”

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CEDIA 2014
Now You See It, Now You Don’t: World’s Brightest Mirror TV
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 13, 2014
Electric Mirror has conquered the hospitality mirror TV market over the past 16 years and is now targeting the residential and commercial spaces with models that incorporate patented Iris glass technology said to allow the TV image to show through the mirror better than any TV on the market.

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CEDIA 2014
Nucleus: Reach Out and See Someone
John Sciacca  |  Sep 13, 2014
Reach Out and See Someone Video calling is certainly nothing new, in fact with iPhone and Android devices most of us carry the ability to video chat with someone around in our pocket. But the home intercom is still a popular request, especially in larger homes where you want a more elegant way to find everyone than, “HELLO?!? WHERE ARE YOU?!? HELLO!!!!” New company, Nucleus, has one of the coolest intercom systems I’ve seen in a while and at a price that is pretty startling.

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CEDIA 2014
Artison Previews Vibration-Free Micro Sub
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 13, 2014
I knew from the press photo that Artison’s RCC Nano 1 sub was small but I didn’t realize just how small until I saw in person at CEDIA Expo. The little guy is less than 9 inches square yet packs one helluva punch and boasts a “vibration-free” reactance cancelling configuration developed by CEO and chief designer Cary Christie.
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CEDIA 2014
Atmos: Lend Me Your GoldenEar
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 12, 2014
While the JBL Atmos demo remains the champ at the show (at least through the first two days) for shear impact, undistorted output level (in a good way), and immersion from 39 speakers, it's not likely to find its way into too many homes. The Atmos demo from GoldenEar, however, was a more conventional 5.4.4 setup with five conventional channels, 4 true ceiling speakers (no reflective Atmos here), and four subs. It was both impactful and at the same time subtle in a way that will please many audiophiles with at least some interest in home theater. Not that a lot of audiophiles wouldn't covet the JBL (I'll take the JBL for my big room when I win the lottery, and something like the GoldenEar for the smaller!), but the GoldenEar is more practical.

The GoldenEar system used an Oppo Blu-ray player, an Integra Atmos-ready pre-pro, three Pass Labs monoblock amps for the front channels, six other amp channels for the two surrounds and two ceiling speakers (I didn't catch the make for the latter, but it was far more modest and less pricey than the Pass amps). The speakers were the GoldenEar Ones left and right, a SuperCenter XL, GoldenEar Twos for the surrounds, and four Invisa HTR 7000s for the ceiling channels. The four subs were the powered subs built into the GoldenEar Ones and Twos. The levels chosen were loud enough, but sensible, and the experienced convinced me, at least in these fledgling days of Atmos (I remain open minded on this), that true ceiling speakers just might produce the best Atmos results.

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CEDIA 2014
Atmos Alley
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 12, 2014
Hailed by many as the most significant advance in audio since the advent of surround sound more than 20 years ago, the home theater version of Dolby Atmos surround is off and running with support from at least 20 brands—a roster that is sure to grow in the coming months. Let’s break it down:
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CEDIA 2014
Pioneer Flagship Blu-Ray
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 12, 2014
Pioneer announced the BDP-88FD Blu-ray player, at $2000. Not only is it a universal player, but offers advanced audio and video circuitry--the most advanced Blu-ray player yet from the company. It can also play back DSD, though multichannel DSD is limited to its HDMI outputs, as the analog outs are 2-channel only. It will be available by the end of this year.

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