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Olympica is a new speaker line from Sonus Faber, whose speakers have always been luxurious in both build and looks. A 1.1-inch silk dome tweeter and six-inch paper-composite woofer are built into a curved enclosure that is asymmetrical and built in mirror-imaged pairs. This allows the slot ports, located toward the rear of the side panels, to interact with the room in different ways, so if you audition these, you'll want to experiment with positioning, facing the port inward or outward. Available in light walnut and dark graphite veneer finishes, these were easily the most beautiful products we've seen on the first day of CEDIA 2013, and we suspect we won't see anything finer. Pricing is $6500/pair, shipping now. A matching center model is also available.

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.

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.

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.