2014 CEDIA Expo logo Wireless Speakers

2014 CEDIA Expo Show Coverage New Products – Day 1

This year Audiogurus took a team to the 2014 CEDIA Expo to uncover some of the latest and greatest audio and video home theater products and see what was hot and upcoming in the industry. We spent Day 1 covering the main show floor as best we could, with lots of stops to see what was brewing from manufacturers and what was going to potentially change the industry this year. And really, this year’s big theme seemed to be Dolby Atmos and 4K—at least for the speaker, display, and AV receiver manufacturers. Our trip began with…well, the view from the hotel room balcony:

LG Electronics 4K OLED Televisions

The next day we started at LG’s booth. They were showing off some new display technology and, in particular, their new oversized OLED 4K television sets.

LG is expecting around 1 million OLED TVs to be sold this year. They won’t be manufacturing all of those, but the numbers look good for the format.

The thin edges of these TVs are unreal. This 77-inch model is literally 0.17″ thick at its narrowest point.

Epson LS10000 Reflective LCD Projectors

We next visited Epson to check out their new flagship LS10000 Reflective LCD projector. This new model will run for 30,000 hours on a laser “lamp” system and produce 1500 lumens. Since the laser passes through the LCD panel twice, the black levels are astounding and it achieves a true 0 lumens on black. We saw a demo of this projector in their booth and it was absolutely mind-blowing. MSRP on the LS10000 should be under $8000 and both models will be available this Fall (basically any day now).

Unlike the Epson Pro Cinema 6030 projector (which just got a killer new firmware update that increases video quality significantly), the new LS10000 and LS9600e have a rear cover that is slim and allows cabling to enter the project vertically from the bottom—perfect for table or ceiling mount applications. This is good, too, because the projector is considerably larger than their Pro Cinema 6030, coming in at roughly 22″ in width and depth.

DVDO Air 3C Wireless HDMI Transmitter and Receiver

Next up for our coverage of the 2014 CEDIA Expo was DVDO, who were demoing their new Air 3C and Air 3C Pro wireless HDMI systems. What makes these products unique is that they use 60GHz technology and carry a very low latency. They also are positioned at a very affordable price point. The DVDO Air 3C is targeted for consumers and more simplified installations, priced at $189. The Air 3C Pro model ($299) adds the ability to log and monitor the device via a USB connection to a PC or laptop. These are single HDMI wireless transmitters with one input on the transmitter and one output on the receiver. The design is for the two devices to maintain line of sight as much as possible. We stood between them for a considerable amount of time and saw no glitches until we got directly in front of either the transmitter or receiver in a deliberate attempt to cause interference. They look pretty rock solid.

Integra DLB-40.6 Soundbar

The Integra DLB-40.6 Soundbar is a simple device that includes AuraSphere DSP surround and Bluetooth wireless streaming. The driver complement includes six 2-3/4″ midrange drivers and two 1-3/16″ ring tweeters. It’s a nice little soundbar that is also complemented by an included 6 1/2″ wireless down-firing subwoofer.

Denon HEOS Wireless Speakers

We’ve already written quite a bit about the new HEOS Speakers from Denon, but seeing and hearing them up close and personal was a treat. We were able to interview Brendan, who pretty much took the lead with those products in bringing them to market and found out that a whole lot of effort and consideration went into these three new speakers and their accompanying accessories.

Tributaries HDMI Cables

Tributaries went back to the drawing board and actually reconsidered what was needed in each conductor of their new HDMI cables. The goal was to make them 100% reliable when dealing with new 4K/60 signals while maintaining the thin form factors possible with both active and passive designs. Tributaries sells the cables as passive models until the lengths require active chips. The only difference is in the length of the HDMI heads. The connectors are also redesigned so that they have both top and side tension points that grip into the female connectors to hold securely. Because devices tend to get moved around for repair and maintenance, Tributaries opted not to have locking connectors in order to present a safer alternative.

HDBaseT 2.0 Takes the Stage

I’m very excited to see HDBaseT finally start to get some momentum in the marketplace. HDBaseT announced version 2.0 which adds bidirectional USB 2.0 support so that the system can work as a KVM extender in addition to HDMI, Ethernet, and other functions. HDBaseT also adds support for ARC (Audio Return Channel) and you can now extend past the 100 meter limit by using fiber optic cable. We saw a ton of new products integrating HDBaseT, including new AV receiver manufacturers, projector companies and—most importantly—flat panel TV manufacturers. With HDBaseT and its ability to pass 100 Watts along a Cat5e cable, you can finally see one-cable TVs hung on a wall without the need to be plugged into a traditional outlet.

RBH Sound CTX Series Speakers

The new RBH Sound CTX Series speakers build upon the CT platform from years ago, but in a wholly redesigned and reimagined way. Gone are the metal grilles in favor of cloth, and the 4″ drivers are made of aluminum. These are 2-way sealed speakers that pack a real punch. In the demo was saw, the clip from Pixar’s Planes really popped, and the 10-inch CTX series subwoofer had some real tactile presence in the demo room. Retail price is $1699 with an 8-inch sub, or $1749 with a 10-inch upgrade.

RBH Sound Bluetooth Earphones

We would also tell you that RBH Sound is working on a new pair of Bluetooth earphones with Apt-X that are incredibly light and small and will run for 5 hours on a charge, but we won’t because that would be jumping the gun. You’ll just have to wait for more info on that later. For now…well…just forget that we mentioned it.

Day 1 Wrap-up

We did a lot more throughout the day at the 2014 CEDIA Expo, but those videos can be viewed on our Audiogurus YouTube channel. Tomorrow we’ll do a lot more in the listening rooms and also cover some of the larger brands we weren’t able to get to today. Stay tuned and be sure to check out #CEDIAgurus for the latest show updates or subscribe to our AudiogurusAV YouTube channel to see our show videos !

>> Check out our Day 2 2014 CEDIA Expo Show Coverage <<

About The Author

When he's not doing tool reviews, giving out tool innovation awards, or playing with the latest AV receiver or loudspeaker, Clint enjoys life as a husband, father and avid reader. He has a degree in recording engineering, carries several THX certifications (Technician I and II, THX Video), and is ISF Level II Certified. He has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another for the past 18 years (including being the Editor-in-Chief of Audioholics.com from 2002-2013).

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1 Comment on 2014 CEDIA Expo Show Coverage New Products – Day 1

  1. Martin Cali

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