One of the first questions anyone asks you at CEDIA Expo is, “So, what’s the best thing you’ve seen?!” But since there are SO many great things spread across so many different categories, this is really a bit like asking, “So, what’s your favorite movie?”
But there are definitely things that stood out and resonated more than others. It’s those items that stick in my mind and make me think about them long after the demo that makes my highlight reel. If you missed CEDIA this year, these are my “Best Of” picks from the show. If you were there and think I missed something cool, please let me know about it!
Best Front Projection
Home theater is my personal passion, so seeing the latest front projectors was on my radar pre-show, and Expo did not disappoint. JVC demonstrated its DLA-NZ900, showing some native 8K content, along with debuting the new DLA-NZ500, the “world’s smallest” native 4K projector. JVC also had a meeting room set aside to compare its flagship NZ900 to Sony’s previous flagship VPL-XW7000ES projector in a head-to-head shootout that highlighted the differences between these models.
Epson came hard to CEDIA with three new models and the goal to stop being perceived as a “value brand” and reach for the premium segment. With its new models, specifically the 10,000-lumen QL7000, Epson is looking to have a place in the modern, non-dedicated theater space, allowing for a giant screen experience in the living room that competes with ambient lighting.
Barco’s mighty Nerthus with 32,000 lumens was on display in the Trinnov-partner theater, and I was fortunate enough to get one of four demos that included DCP (Digital Cinema Package) content that would be what those on the famed Bel Air circuit could enjoy. Even on the 189-inch screen, they said they had to dial the projector’s light output down to around 30% to “only” get 105 nits on screen. In its own booth, Barco displayed the new Heimdall. (And, I must say, props to Barco for having such great names for its models, sticking with their roots and continuing with Norse gGods!) Heimdall is configurable between 4000-6000 lumens and different lens options based on needs and budget.
Christie Digital was also big at CEDIA, having four different models on display, from its “budget-friendly” 4K860-iS to its 36,500-lumen Griffyn 4K35-RGB that ran a marquee partner demo with StormAudio in SR4.
However, for me, the standout projector demo was Sony’s new BRAVIA Projector 9, which includes the company’s new XR Processor for Projector. Sony ran an A/B comparison between this and its previous flagship VPL-XW7000ES, and the results were night-and-day for me, with the BRAVIA 9 showing far more high-brightness detail and low-level black detail and resolution. In a scene from Zero Dark Thirty, the Blackhawk helicopters were barely visible on the 7000ES. However, thanks to the dynamic frame-by-frame HDR tone mapping and XR Deep Black to enhance contrast, details sprang to life in the image while retaining deep blacks. This was the demo that now lives rent-free in my mind!
Best Marquee Partner Demos
No home theater system is an island; it takes a bunch of great equipment that works together as a system to deliver a “Wow!” experience. And, once again, we saw the best companies teaming together to show off fantastic, $1 million-plus systems that express the ultimate of what is possible in this space. These were the E-Ticket demos of the show, and if you weren’t in line early, then you were in line for a while!
The two biggest demos were put on by a combination of Trinnov, Perlisten, Officina Acustica, Barco, madVR, Kaleidescape, and Seymour-Screen Excellence in booth 2938 (which I’ll call the Trinnov demo) and the StormAudio, Seymour-Screen Excellence, Ascendo Immersive Audio, Christie Digital, Moovia, and Lumagen demo in SR4 (the StormAudio demo). Beyond the “big room,” Storm and Seymour had multiple partner demo booths and really demonstrated what was possible at a variety of price levels!
The Trinnov demo featured a 13.14.6-channel system with an 8×6 array of Perlisten D215s subwoofers highlighting Trinnov’s WaveForming technology, with a ±1 dB variance in the seat-to-seat performance in the 18-seat theater that was said to be flat down to 8 Hz. The bass was absolutely fantastic, and at one point it had this incredible tactile sensation of a giant hand pushing me back into my seat!
The 13.12.10 StormAudio demo used the ISP Elite 32 AoIP processor to send signals digitally via IP to amps and speakers, and featured Ascendo’s flagship Black Swan speakers for the screen channels, along with 12 28-inch Ascendo subwoofers. Someone measured peak SPLs during one demo that were hitting 125 dB, but it never sounded harsh or fatiguing. Since I heard these systems on different days, and they played different content, it’s hard to pick a favorite, but if forced to choose, the bass in Trinnov’s demo is what really stood out in my mind.
But at more than a million dollars, of course, those systems are going to be amazing. I was blown away by what Harman Luxury Audio was able to do with its JBL Synthesis demo at “only” $150,000 with its 9.4.6 system. (To be fair, that was just the speakers and electronics, not the projector, seating, or room.) With two SSW-1 dual 15-inch subs up front and two SSW-3 dual 10-inch in back, the system delivered deep, impactful bass that really slammed you in the chest and rumbled up through your body. This destroyed the commercial theater experience and would wow virtually any customer.
Best Software Updates
With all the cool hardware, sometimes it’s easy to forget that it’s the software running in the background that makes all this cool stuff happen. Admittedly, I’m sure there were some updates out there I didn’t see, but I did check in with Josh.ai, Crestron, and Snap One.
With “AI” right in their name, it’s not too surprising that Josh’s new software is AI OS, being touted as the first AI-powered operating system for the smart home. I got a great demo of this from Josh CEO Alex Capecelatro as he showed off a variety of the AI OS features, including ImageGen, which allows customizing the user interface with AI-generated images from voice prompt, AI Voices for a more diverse voice assistant experience, automated lighting effects for creating transformative lighting environments, and intelligent security integration that can analyze a camera’s video feed and provide a description of what is happening in the room. For Josh owners, AI OS will be a very cool update! Josh also showed the new Josh Touchscreen, which is an elegant addition to the lineup, featuring the sleek look and premium materials of other Josh components, along with a built-in tap-to-talk microphone for Josh’s industry-leading voice control.
Snap One celebrated a couple of big milestone anniversaries, with the 10-year anniversary of OvrC and 20 years for Control4. OvrC has certainly been a game-changer for many in our industry, eliminating those truck rolls that can be resolved via a simple power cycle. Snap continues to develop OvrC’s potential, with new fast and efficient deployment of MoIP distribution and IP/NVR camera systems. Control4 gave a preview of X4, a completely new, redesigned, and re-imagined user interface that will be rolling out in January. This will have a new look and feel that will be adaptable and give more power and control to the end-user, such as allowing them to create, modify, and schedule routines that will adjust their system to accommodate new habits or preferences throughout the day.
Crestron added more than 20 new features to its Home OS 4 update, putting more power into the hands of dealers and allowing them to customize and optimize the smart home experience for their clients. Some of these new features include native Lutron Ketra integration for more lighting control options, enhanced communication features such as room-to-room calling between touchscreens, conditional logic programming that uses “if-then, else” statements to create complex and nuanced automation scenarios, enhanced user management of Crestron EX locks, PIN codes to protect touchpanels, and more. While not having the full, open-ended world of SMPL, Home OS continues to become more powerful and intuitive with each update, while allowing for much faster system programming.
Best Soundbars
You might think that it wouldn’t be possible to get excited by a soundbar at CEDIA, and you’d be right. This is why it is so impressive that three soundbars caught my eye at Expo.
First was the new Klipsch Flexus Core 300, which is a seemingly ordinary 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X bar on the surface; however, it is the world’s first soundbar to incorporate Dirac’s award-winning Dirac Live Room Correction. That Klipsch is taking the category seriously enough to add room correction is a great sign for the category. The Flexus Core 300 can also pair with Flexus Surround 200 wireless Dolby Atmos upfiring rear speakers and up to two Flexus Sub 200 12-inch subs. The entire package with two subs will retail for under $2400 and will be compatible with control systems like Control4 and RTI. This setup filled the demo suite with sound and is definitely a worthy consideration for a soundbar install.
I’ve long been saying that the soundbar category is ripe for a luxury entry, and both Dynaudio and Steinway Lyngdorf totally came through.
The Steinway Lyngdorf Model S is the company’s first soundbar, a beautifully finished design described as “the world’s largest and most powerful soundbar.” Every Model S Soundbar is assembled and finished by hand in Skive, Denmark, and made to the same quality standards as Steinway & Sons’ pianos, with customized lacquers and finishes available on request. At 73 inches wide and 106 pounds, the Model S is certainly a visual statement piece that won’t sit shyly under a display. Driven by 1600 watts of total power, the Model S is capable of producing up to 113 dB, with a total of eight drivers (three Air Motion tweeters, three 5.25-inch midrange, and two 10-inch aluminum cone woofers) playing from 40 Hz–20 kHz. As part of a full Steinway Lyngdorf system, the Model S can be calibrated with RoomPerfect for the best experience in any room. For a more “discreet” install, you could pair the Model S with Steinway’s new BWS-110 10-inch in-wall subwoofer that fits in a standard 2×4 wall construction. While the show floor was a difficult place to experience the Model S, it certainly impressed me during the demo I sat through, producing terrific detail and dynamics.
Billed as a “conceptual prototype,” the Dynaudio Symphony Opus One is also a 73-inch-wide bar that is fully self-contained with amplification and 22 drivers, including three tweeters, 14 mid-bass drivers, three woofers, and two subs. Visually, the Symphony Opus One reminded me a good bit of Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound, with a Scandinavian-inspired design featuring an aluminum alloy cabinet and 72 vertical wooden fins that swivel open and closed. The Symphony Opus One also features a form of room correction that Dynaudio calls Room Adapt, which uses a mic built into the remote control for calibration. The immersiveness the Opus One delivered rivals anything I’ve ever heard from a standalone bar solution, with sounds placed effectively and clearly all around the room and overhead and an incredibly wide front soundstage, all while keeping dialog sharp and clear.
MicroLED
This technology continues to develop and impress, though it remains uber-pricey and is currently reserved for large commercial and those top-1% resi jobs. You can tell that a lot of money and resources are being poured into this and that MicroLED is the future of the large display market. So many companies were displaying this tech at Expo, including AWOL Vision, Just Video Walls, Barco, Planar, Sony, Samsung, LG, Quantum Media Systems, C-SEED, Stealth Acoustics, and Digital Projection.
Two new notable entries from AWOL and Just Video Walls show how pricing is certainly approaching more mainstream levels.
Known for its range of ultra-short-throw projectors, at Expo AWOL Vision demonstrated the AWALL, a 162-inch 4K display that utilized a COB (Chip On Board) design of 144 panels with a 0.9mm pitch that AWOL claims can be set up by two techs in about two hours. While described as “the most affordable,” this still has a $126,000 retail. Other models are available in 108 and 135 inches.
Just Video Walls launched its new entry-level series, Lunar Walls, after reaching out to dealers to help set margins and price points. The new “Ledge” is a pre-packaged MicroLED that comes in 135- and 165-inch sizes, built from the ground up for the resi market, and retailing for $50k and $70k, respectively. Highlighting the “hang-and-bang” install speed of these systems, Blake Vackar, director of business development, said they come in three pieces and can be installed in about three hours.
For the third year running, the best video of the show was on display in the Quantum Media Systems demo room. When you see the inky blacks and bright highlights on the screen, it would be difficult to spend $250k or more on a flagship video projector compared to Quantum’s 20-foot wide Cinematic XDR Pro Cinema MicroLED display that more resembles a giant OLED than anything else I’ve seen on the market. Quantum is one of the industry’s first 8K Digital Cinema-compliant residential video walls, allowing access to first-run movies via the Bel Air Circuit. The XDR also boasts several impressive stats, such as being able to hit 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, support for high frame rates up to 120 Hz, full 12-bit 4:4:4 video, 1,000,000:1 contrast, and can hit 1500 nits for true HDR playback. All of this in a 3.5-inch build-out depth using only 30 watts and putting off 100 BTU. Part of Quantum’s success is its demand for sourcing only the highest-quality components, with panels designed for the high-end residential market. The system price includes full calibration services such as “Pixel Alignment Calibration” along with full on-site chroma alignment, grayscale and color space calibration for REC709, DCI-P3, and REC2020, and full system optimization of every AV source, ensuring each install has optimal performance.
Best Presence
Kaleidescape was definitely having a moment at CEDIA Expo, with the company’s products in practically every demo on the floor. (For the record, they were in a total of 45 booths, up from 42 last year!) As with last year, the underlying message was, “If you want the best experience, you need to begin with the best source component and content,” and that’s where Kaleidescape lives. With its customizable scripts that can string demo scenes together for easy playback, it was also the perfect source material for quick, fast, and repeatable demos. But beyond being practically omnipresent, Kaleidescape also got a ton of buzz from new products at both ends of the pricing spectrum. At the entry-level is the company’s newly released Strato V movie player, which hits a sub-$4000 price point that will attract tons of new owners. At the high end is the new 123 TB Terra Prime SSD movie server that holds a mind-numbing 2000 4K films, answering the question, “What’s for movie night?” for the next 5.5 years!
Most Demo’d
After taking a year off, Top Gun: Maverick once again was the go-to demo for many systems, with the Kaleidescape scene “2 Minutes, 15 Seconds” being the overwhelming favorite. And I have to say, I didn’t hate it; that’s just a great movie and scene! “We Will Rock You” from Bohemian Rhapsody also got some decent play. Before Expo, I predicted that Dune Part 2 and A Quiet Place Day One would be big favorites, but I only saw them used once. The opening of John Wick 4, the church/Aston Martin DBV scene from Bond’s No Time to Die, the jellybean “Shoot Out” scene from Bad Boys: Ride or Die, and the “Helicopter Pursuit” scene from Mission: Impossible – Fallout also made a couple of showings.
Coolest New Thing
Sitting in a large yet elegant wall display at the side of Steinway’s booth was what appeared to be a large section of floor-to-ceiling green marble, however, at the touch of a button, the center of this “marble” peeled back and revealed itself to be a perfectly flush-mounted, concealed display. This is the magic of Alchimia Design, whose goal is to redefine “traditional interior design by seamlessly integrating technology into pieces of furniture and natural materials, creating a harmonious fusion of elegance and innovation.” The overall design of the wall unit is configurable, with speakers concealed behind solid panels for technology that can perfectly disappear and blend into any design space. Luxurious stone, marble, and woods are available in a variety of color options, housing displays ranging in size from 50 to 98 inches. Sensors integrated into the material are AI-powered to measure lighting in the room to perfectly match the levels for the display when not displaying video. Alchimia is partnering with Steinway Lyngdorf in the States under the “Alchimia Design – Lyngdorf Powered” banner, where Lyngdorf Audio will provide the amplification and processing to drive the hidden speakers. For that well-healed client who demands the best without compromise to their design, Alchimia Design is sure to impress.
Most Up and Coming
A couple of years ago, I’d never even heard of Dante or AES67, audio-over-IP standards. Then last year StormAudio made a big splash with its ISP Evo processor, a fully digital 11.6.6-channel system utilizing AES67 and a single Cat6 connection between processor and network switch to feed the Grimani Systems amplifiers. Cut to this year, and Dante was a topic of conversation in many booths. The benefits go beyond greatly simplifying and decluttering the rack, as the network topology also eliminates common issues like ground-loop hums and allows features such as remote setup, calibration, and monitoring. The Dante ecosystem is also huge, offering wide compatibility between more than 4000 Dante-enabled products from over 600 manufacturers!
For ease of integration, Legrand AV introduced a new line of Luxul Dante-compatible managed switches. StormAudio once again had its ISP Elite 32 AoIP in its main demo. JBL Synthesis showed new, high-power Dante/AES67 compatible multichannel DSP amplifiers with its SMA-4750 and -8300. Origin PRO also displayed multiple Dante-enabled amplifiers in a variety of channel and power configurations.
Crestron demonstrated four cool AoIP Edge Devices that work with its DM NAX system for remotely adding sources like analog, Bluetooth, microphones, and USB. Crestron also showed an eARC-over-IP device that will prove to be a great problem solver. Similarly, AudioControl introduced an eARC-to-Dante converter that will allow the stereo audio signal from a display via eARC to any Dante-enabled device on the system. AudioControl claims that sampling rates from 44.1 to 96 kHz will be converted into analog with zero impact on fidelity for playback across the entire system.
The coolest and most complete Dante integration I saw was in the SoundTube booth, which had the theme “Dante Comes Home.” SoundTube showcased a complete residential ecosystem of Dante-enabled products from the STNet-Switch II PoE switch to the DSM-16 Dante System Manager, to a variety of IP-enabled PoE-powered speakers available in architectural recessed, surface mount, soundbar, pendant, and outdoor styles. To ensure sound quality, the speakers are bi-amped with crossovers, EQ, and time correction performed in the digital domain prior to amplification. SoundTube also says it offers seamless integration with control systems like Control4, Crestron, and QSC. With this, you could wire an entire audio system with Category-rated cable from end-to-end for a clean installation with full local and remote system management.
Best Pre-Show Event
Come on, did you really think my CEDIA pickleball meet-up wouldn’t make this list?! We had over 40 CEDIA professionals from around the globe, including dealers, installers, manufacturers, public relations, and CEDIA employees, together at The Gates Tennis Center in downtown Denver enjoying the great weather for four hours of pickleball action. And thanks to the generosity of sponsors that included Crestron, Daisy, Hunter Douglas, InGear Public Relations, Josh.ai, Juke Audio, Just Add Power, KMB Communications, Legrand AV, Origin Acoustics, Rosewater Energy, Somfy, Sonos, Steinway Lyngdorf, and CEDIA, there were some terrific giveaways and prizes, including a logoed t-shirt and water bottle and custom-made pickleball paddles. The event raised enough money to donate $2000 to CEDIA education! We’re already planning to do it again next year, with a tentative date set for Tuesday, September 2, 2025, from 1:45 – 5:45 PM. Save the date, and if you are interested in playing or sponsoring, reach out to me at JMDLS@aol.com.
