Michael Heiss virtually walks us around the CEDIA Expo 2022 show floor and shows us some of the key highlights from the show.
Spoiler alert: if you are allergic to clichés, please make certain that you have taken the appropriate antihistamine or similar pill before reading this article. There will be more than a few of them here as a way to capture, categorise and report on some of the high points of CEDIA Expo 2022. After being cancelled in 2020 due to Covid and the Convention Center being taken over as a field hospital, and 2021 which made a valiant effort as an in-person event but suffered greatly in terms of exhibitor and attendee count, CEDIA Expo returned to full strength in Dallas, Texas in late September. Yes, there were lots of products, ideas and concepts along with a full programme of educational courses and social activities. It must have worked, as over 15,000 registrants have been reported.
However, given all that there was to see and hear, one can’t see and absorb everything. Even as a long-time observer and reporter, even I always ask people “What did I need to see? What did I miss?”. Here, I’ll give you some of my thoughts on what was at Expo from a variety of viewpoints and subject areas.
One other caveat: HiddenWires has a global reach, but at present most readers are concentrated in the EMEA regions. Similarly, while CEDIA is definitely a global organisation, given the show’s location in the US, some of the products may be limited (for now) to North America just as would be the case for an EMEA-centric exhibit floor at ISE or IFA. Thus, please note that some of these items may not be available yet where you are, though many manufacturers I spoke with did say that their plans for the year ahead would include global market reach. When in doubt, it is always best to contact your local distributors. If some of what you’ll see here is by nature very product and technology specific, if what you want is not available in your area, think about a creative way to achieve the same result with other products.

Victrola Stream has everything most would want from a turntable but uniquely adds communication with Sonos systems. How cool is that!
Everything old IS new again!
To begin to riff on this type of cliché, one company that is “old” did something new at CEDIA Expo 2022. The company is Crestron, and they returned to the show floor with a wide variety of not just products, but aggregated solutions for the first time in a few years going back before Covid. Their reappearance says a great deal about the health of our industry and the confidence key vendors have in it.
Here’s one that may not be that old, but is definitely “new again”. Once, TV brands were promoting curved screens as the next big thing, but they mostly ended up in the bin of TV history. However, the ability of a curved screen to permit focus on the main task while having other multiple peripheral windows on one screen while using the curve has become more important in a work-from-home (WFH) world. That’s also what gamers want: to focus on the main action but have the peripheral vision to see the “bad guys” off to the side.
There were two interesting approaches to curved screens that, while different, both merge the needs of gaming, WFH and entertainment into a single product.
LG’s approach is their new model LX3 OLED screen. Its trick is that the 42”, 4K screen may be either flat or at the touch of a control, bend inward up to a 900R curvature. It has all the expected gaming and productivity features such as HDMI 2.1, a built-in mic, USB ports for easier connections to a computer for web cams and such, Dolby Atmos support and dual front-firing 40W speakers. Important for gamers, it has VRR that is also both G-SYNC compatible and AMD FreeSync Premium certified. There are other gaming-centric option modes. My favourite is that the screen may be tilted forward 10-degrees or backwards five-degrees along with up 140mm height adjustment. For those who change their seating position depending on task or content, that is a very usable idea.
If a 42” curved monitor isn’t big enough for you, Samsung was promoting their own unique solution: the Odyssey Ark. First seen back in June at Infocom, this 55”, 4K is a Quantum Mini-LED curved screen that gives the competition one better on a number of fronts. Along with its larger screen size, the curvature is 1000R and the refresh rate is 165Hz.
“Their idea might be considered old, but these implementations are definitely new and interesting.”
While the LG monitor can be either flat or curved, the Ark has quite a different orientation trick of its own. While most of us have our screens in the normal horizontal position, the Ark is designed to move 90-degrees to a vertical position that Samsung calls the “Cockpit Mode”. It might take a bit to get used to this, but it will be useful for gaming and business or production where the user wants to stack full-width multiple windows one on top of another rather than side-by-side.
As does its competitor, the Ark doesn’t skimp anymore with audio than with video. Four corner speakers and two low frequency drivers with 60W for a 2.2.2 channel offer Dolby Atmos and sound down to 45Hz. As one might expect from a higher-end Samsung product, there is HDR-10+, HDMI 2.1, VRR and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Of course, it comes with both a standard remote and a proprietary control called the Ark Dial. Their idea might be considered old, but these implementations are definitely new and interesting.
Still on the video side, another “old” thing that continues to reinvent itself is the UST, or the Ultra-Short-Throw projector category. Here, the “new” might be considered more evolutionary than revolutionary but it is worth noting that products in this category continue to improve. This is thanks to a variety of technology applications such as three-laser systems in many models, more UST sets with HDR and HLG, the addition of streaming service compatibility through the likes of Android TV, and more. The strength of the category was shown by displays from both established brands such as LG, Samsung, Epson and Hisense as well as by relative newcomers to our market such as AWOL Vision.
Lest you think that I’m ignoring audio, there are two more “old things” that are new again. One is the AVR. The receiver, even long before it was stereo, let alone audio/video and then multichannel has been a mainstay of our industry since it first saw the light in the 1950s when Harman Kardon’s Festival D1000 was the first to combine a tuner, preamp and amplifier into a single chassis product back in 1954. What we now call the AVR has certainly come a long way, and the new products shown at CEDIA Expo were firm evidence of that.
The largest showing of AVRs was from corporate cousins, Denon and Marantz, which displayed models with new industrial design and more inputs with HDMI 2.1. Similarly, more custom-centric brands such as Arcam, Anthem and AudioControl also showed new AVRs that will be sure to find a home in many of your installations.

Speaker Snaps is the easiest way to secure wire into a banana plug. Winner of my “If I’m so smart, why didn’t I think of it?” award. Image: Speakersnap.com
However, as I go to trade shows to see who is there and what they have that is new, it is also important to see who was not on the show floor. With regard to AVRs, particularly in both the more “popular” price ranges as well as with the more custom-market-centric sub brands, those who were absent is notable. Take this as you wish, but none of the brands from Premium Audio were at Expo. That not only includes the Klipsch speaker, soundbar and headphone lines, but to the point here mainstream Onkyo and Pioneer as well as the Integra and Elite sub-brands long popular in our world were there. Similarly, Yamaha was not there either for the main brand or the upscale Aventage models. Even at Sony, which has always attended since the first CEDIA Expo and showed products that will be mentioned shortly, their standard and “ES” AVRs were conspicuously absent. Read what you will into this, as there may be many reasons for this. However, the question is whether or not this is a sign of the times or a cautionary note for the future.
Rounding out this line of thinking, one of the oldest things around is the banana plug. Over the years it has morphed from something used for electronic test equipment into a long time standby for easily inserted audio connections. To be sure, it fell into disfavour for our applications a while back when manufacturers were forced to plug them up on speaker terminals due to the fear of the 4mm spacing on dual plugs was felt to cause confusion with the same spacing on the two-pin 230VAC power plugs widely used in many European countries and in many other parts of the world.
Given that continued popularity, one more “old/new” thing at CEDIA Expo were the ingenious banana plug connectors from Speaker Snap. As easy as it is to insert the plugs into the sockets, sometimes it is frustrating to use small width screws to tighten the wire down. This is an idea that might well be my “If I’m so smart, why didn’t I think of it?” award for CEDIA Expo 2022.
Speaker Snap banana plugs have you lift up a small lever that tightens down the internal connection, insert the stripped wire, up to ½”, and then simply, as the name implies, snap the lever down to tighten and secure the connection. Then, all you need to do is insert the plug and power things up. At $7.99USD per pair they are not as cheap as the simple banana plugs I’ve bought from the local electronic supply store but, WOW, this is really easy.
“Best of the old and best of the new”
Look this cliché up in the dictionary and you’ll soon see this as a definition. After all, what could be older than a turntable, let alone one with the brand name Victrola? Even for more recent turntables, “Best of the old…” includes a solid base, belt drive and carbon fibre tone arm with a respectable cartridge. There are many products in that category, including ones that have both a phono preamp and/or the ability to convert vinyl to MP3.
However, just because a concept has been around for a while, that does not mean it can’t change. The easiest way to call these clichés out was the Stream Carbon from Victrola. At first glance it looks to be a sleek and modern premium turntable that validates a $799USD retail. It has the mechanical features listed above, including Ortofon 2M Red cartridge mounted to a carbon-fibre tone arm. What makes the Victrola Stream Carbon stand apart from the best of the old is its ability to stream the records’ audio directly to a Sonos ecosystem. Yes, it also has RCA outputs for direct connection to a non-Sonos system, but this melding of streaming content and the oldest physical media is a novel and interesting idea. Perhaps in the future they will make it even cooler if it could respond to a voice command and find the desired track on an album? Oh, well, maybe in Version 2.0?

Epson’s new LS800 was a typical example of new UST products at CEDIA Expo
“90-ish (and larger) is the new 75”
Let’s move to another well-worn cliché that has often been used by baby boomers such as myself to show how we’re getting better, not older. Or in plainer words, haven’t you heard someone say, “65 is the new 55”, or words to that affect? Here we’re also talking numbers but move the context into our arena. Remember when 21” TVs were normal, 27” were considered big? Of course, those were CRT-based displays, and with the introduction of the flat-panel plasma sets a 42” screen size was then the norm. Or, if you will, “42 is the new 27”.
Technology has changed dramatically since the first Fujitsu plasma in the late 1990s and today’s family room likely has a 65” or 75” flat panel, if not larger.
However, one key takeaway from CEDIA Expo 2022 is the growing importance of even larger screen sizes. LG and Samsung introduced new models in the “super-size” category, joining existing models they, as well as Sony and others have in the 85” and over category. For those who do not want a traditional projector, UST model or cannot afford a direct view LED (dvLED), you now have a 98” Neo QNED from Samsung and a 97” OLED about to reach the market from LG. Now, all you need to do is be certain that it can fit through the door. Remember back a decade ago when we said that about the 103” plasma from Panasonic. Perhaps in that case, everything old IS new again!
“Technology has changed dramatically since the first Fujitsu plasma in the late 1990s and in today’s family room likely has a 65” or 75” flat panel, if not larger.”
Let’s expand this cliché to projectors. Over 30 years ago when I was running a company manufacturing CRT-based projectors, I had a demo in my house, hung perilously to the ceiling, lighting up a 60” screen. It was the hit of the neighbourhood then, but now my 4K flat panel has a bigger screen, and clearly cost less.
However, don’t count projection out, even in the face of dvLED and the large flat panels. The problem of getting very large flat panel screens is, itself, “new again”, there were some options to get around that at CEDIA Expo.
The most obvious solution is a UST projector. However, despite their large size when installed and configured, dvLED systems can clearly fit through the door but provisioning them is time and labour consuming. The most unique solution to that is one first seen at Infocom, Samsung’s IAB Series versions of their Wall models, described in detail in our last issue. If you haven’t read it, check it out from the HiddenWires website.
“Black is the New Orange”
Sorry, this is one I just couldn’t resist. Perhaps you are a fan of the hit Netflix show “Orange is the New Black”. At CEDIA the folks at JBL turned that title on its head. Do you remember the classic L100 speaker? Designed as a consumer version of the JBL 4310 Pro Studio Monitor, its most defining feature, aside for the great sound, was that it sported a Quadrex foam grille with rows of squares. The most famous iteration was the orange grille. Once you see it, the speaker’s image is burned into your memory.

JBL is bringing back its iconic L100 speaker and others in a Classic Line in a mirror-like gloss black finish. Quite a difference from the 1970s orange and walnut! Image: Harman Luxury Audio Group
JBL has released updated versions of the L100 over the past few years using the famous grille and walnut veneer cabinet. However, at Expo JBL made Black is the New Orange with the release of special, limited run, Black Edition versions of the various models in the Classic Series. Here, the grille is obviously flat black, but the cabinets are a luxurious high-gloss back finish giving the speakers a mirror-like exterior. How about applying one more cliché to this one: “Best of the old and best of the new”.
One more cliché that will never change was clearly true when looking at everything that was shown at CEDIA Expo: “So much news, so little time”. Or, as my editor reminds me every time, “…so little space.”. I wish there was more space, but there isn’t. However, there is much more “space” in our online reports.
As a final comment on CEDIA Expo 2022, despite the cancellations and low attendance of the past few years, I will firmly state that the event was a great success both for the education and the trade show floor. My hat is off to CEDIA, and I look forward to putting on that crazy jacket again and seeing you all next September in Denver.
Main image: LG’s new LX3 can change from curved to flat screen, depending on your application