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It's that time of year, again. . .
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CEDIA Expo is upon us and I hope that everyone takes advantage of this very valuable venue. I fondly remember my first CEDIA experience in 1991 when when I attended an evening event at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with a few "forward thinking" manufacturers showing in the basement. I was most impressed by FROX, an early A/V integration solution incorporating the "wand"; a universal remote (Rich Green still has a wand in his collection of memorabilia), and it has held its own over the years, from an industrial design perspective. Somehow I held on to the FROX press release. Like many other products and solutions that have come and gone, it was a step in the right direction. Ultimately, it is part of the process that gives us numerous, robust control solutions today.
An ex-employer (rep principal) allowed me to attend CEDIA classes, and I remember the only network class at the 1996 CEDIA was a Small Business Networking class hosted by Microsoft. He understandably questioned my investing the time attending this class, but I had a hunch that Ethernet was going to play an increasingly greater role in our lives. I now have 8 Gigabit switches and 4 wireless access points in my home and just about every piece of my audio gear has a RJ-45, for either control or for finding network content to stream an amplify. Pretty cool stuff.
CEDIA still strives to provide the necessary education and certifications to make installations better. Sadly, a lousy installation has more negative impact than a good one has a positive impact. We work for the end user, and we need to exceed expectations. CEDIA provides the tools to do just that.
Obviously, CEDIA has evolved to provide manufacturers catering to ESC's a platform to introduce new solutions. Eleven of the twelve manufacturers that I represent will be showing this year. In addition, the trade show portion has been reduced to three days--Thursday, September 8, Friday, September 9, and Saturday, September 10. CEDIA has also introduced an "all-you-can-eat" option for the classes.
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James Loudspeaker Small Aperture Series ...and more. It's Magic.
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Having James Loudspeaker of Napa in our backyard really has its advantages. In any given month 5-6 Northern California/Northern Nevada ESC's visit the facility. I love being there when Mike Park plays his Small Aperture Series-- the experience is dumbfounding and defies logic. How can this 3" flush mount opening in the ceiling produce such astounding sound? Not only that, but the image is in front of you, not above you. Or, a dual 8'' sub that fits in a conventional stud bay and outputs low in the wall through a dual gang plate? Or, a 1-1/2" deep slim plasma bar that actually sounds good?
For those of you that haven't heard these wonders, I urge you to invest the time to experience something truly remarkable. Perhaps you can find yourself in Napa on a Friday afternoon and make a weekend out of it?
You may sense that I really like what James is doing. Once you experience what they are doing, there is no going back.
James will be at CEDIA in SR14.
James Small Aperture
James Large Flat Panel Display Bar
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