CEDIA 2007 Show Report & Wrap Up

by Gene DellaSala — last modified September 13, 2007

CEDIA

Like the past times we've covered CEDIA, this one was another great show. It seems every year the show gets more popular as evident by the larger draw of crowds. But, being in Denver keeps it highly organized, especially since all of the home theater related stuff is centralized is one main area. This was apparently their largest turnout with over 29,000 attendees. Incidentally this was also our largest presence at any trade show with 7 Audioholics members busting through the show driven with one objective in mind – in-depth, no holds barred coverage that only lunatics strive for and sane people question why anyone would subject themselves to such torture. Some say, I am an over-achiever or that I set my expectations too high. Others that know me better understand that I am absolutely drawn to home theater like a moth is to a flame. Luckily the members of my dream team share in my passion/obsession, and Clint was witty enough to drag along J Clark’s wife whom is now an official inducted member of our “Dream Team”.

Our Dream Team consists of:

Gene DellaSala
Clint DeBoer
Tom Andry
J. Walker Clarke
Tony Leotta
Eric Shelton
Dina Clarke

and last but not least, a special thanks to my wife Bertica Molinares-DellaSala for scheduling flights, hotel rooms, and also handling all of our bookkeeping to ensure we didn't spend out of control. Trust me, throw a bunch of tired CEDIA press into a nice restaurant after a long day of information gathering, and you've got a receipt for $1,000 meals.

For those wondering what it takes to be a member of the Dream Team, here are the requirements you must be able to meet:

walk at least 5 miles per day
hustle across the entire show floor to make meetings we accidentally booked to closely together
stay up to early hours of the morning posting article coverage you just gathered during the day
function on 4-5 hrs of sleep per night for 3 – 4 days
have a strong will to be able to handle raging debates on: politics, Star Wars, and Mac vs PC
have a big enough appetite to gorge with us at the best restaurant locations we can find

Think you’ve got what it takes? Send us an email to: IWantToBeExploited@audioholics.com

So what cool new stuff did we see at CEDIA? Well, this show seemed to be the year of new speakers. We have over 30 pages of show coverage dedicated just for loudspeakers.

Check out our Loudspeaker Coverage:

A/V Receivers

Displays aren’t really my bag but Clint and Tony certainly enjoyed checking out the latest and greatest 1080p offerings.

Televisions & Displays

Ok you’ve got your new 1080p display, but where’s the HD source? You don’t want to rely on that mediocre compressed so called Hi Def source your local cable or satellite provider is piping into your house do you? You’re best bet is to pick up one of the new HD or Blu-ray players offered from the following manufacturers.

DVD/HD-DVD Players

Audio & Video Processors

What good is a new display and speakers without the raw power to provide the sound in the system? J Clarke found some cool new amplifier products at the show and provided some coverage. Could that Denon amp be any bigger or heavier? Guess who has to lug this bad boy up a flight of steps for me to bench test in the Audioholics labs? Yep, Tony is the low man on the totem pole. He will be getting that call shortly but don’t say anything about it in the forums.

Amplifiers

For those savvy home theater enthusiasts that like to integrate HTPC’s and media servers into their systems, you won’t want to miss our coverage of these new and exciting products.

Media Centers/Servers

Got your Nerdar on? Good. Technology lovers will embrace the new tech stuff that seemed like SCI-Fi only a few years ago.

Technology

Some cool stuff we saw at the show that doesn’t really fit into a specific category so we lumped it in as miscellaneous coverage.

Miscellaneous

Dina and I wrote up CEDIA related editorials. Her editorial dealt with the Nerdism she was exposed to at the show and from us during our daily chats. Mine dealt with my travel experience to and from Denver.

As well as a podcast Tom and Dina produced at the first night of the show.

AVRant CEDIA 2007 Day 1: What time is it in Dina-land?

Over the course of the next week, we will be uploading our CEDIA video interviews that will surely entertain as much as they will enlighten both our readers and ourselves. Keep your eyes peeled as you ain’t seen nothing yet!

Recent Forum Posts:

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egr2rst posts on September 18, 2007 12:09

I thought you were going to have video with Tom and the Babe? Where is it?

mtrycrafts posts on September 14, 2007 16:03

If anything, they should tout the black level output at 7.5IRE in a completely black room. THAT would impress me.

Yes, that would be impressive and useful and maybe embarrassing to the makers

Xander posts on September 14, 2007 08:39

when do the videos go up?

Clint DeBoer posts on September 13, 2007 13:54

northreign;306997
At least its a little more factual then less even if its totally made up. Why all the hate for the panny? No one put the wrong number on the 50,000:1 Epson.

Absolutely NO hate for Panny. Just funny is all. Contrast ratios are touted as being important by the manufacturer and PR companies but for years we, and every other publication I know of have been educating consumers that the numbers are basically useless. Get your blacks low - period. None of those contrast ratio numbers are real world, or even close to it when you run the lamps in low power mode and shut off the typically useless auto Iris or ambient light settings.

A lot of times increased CR means that the projector simply has more lumen output on the top end - something I don't find important at all in a home theater setting. If anything, they should tout the black level output at 7.5IRE in a completely black room. THAT would impress me.

birdonthebeach posts on September 13, 2007 11:20

Thanks. And you are right, Macs ARE better (mine had no problem reading the thumb drives)!!

(Just pickin, clint!!!)