Not everyone can take part in the Amp Toss at the Installer Olympics. You have to at least be able to lift the thing. Well, everyone can participate in "Guess the Winning Amp Toss Distance" contest, no matter how scrawny you are.

Simply guess the winning distance and you could win an amplified multiroom audio system from NuVo. It's a new one that will be demonstrated at CEDIA but you'll learn about it first at CEDIAnews.com

Enter your guess -- out to three decimal places -- in the Comments section below.

You must be a qualified home systems integrator to win.



The Installer Olympics are:
Friday, Sept. 7, 200 - 6:00
Saturday, Sept. 8, 12:00 - 4:00
Registration begins one hour prior to the start.

See…

What would you prefer—running two Cat 5 cables behind the wall to your flat-panel TV, or running enough fat cables for audio, component video, IR repeating and low-voltage triggers?

If you vote for the first option, AudioControl's new BVD-30 sender and BVR-30 receiver fit the bill. The combo delivers HD component video (1080p), three channels of audio (left, center, right) and two control signals up to 1,000 feet over Cat 5 cable.

AudioControl says its Active Balance Technology—both the driver and receiver are powered—rejects noise and "eliminates signal degradation."

“The new BVD-30 and BVR-30 will simplify the installation of a flat panel television by providing all the audio, video, and control signals via Cat 5,” says Tom Walker, AudioControl president. “Flat panel displays are easily mounted in a variety of locations, but there’s never been a convenient and reliable way to feed them high-quality picture and multichannel sound. Cat 5 is inexpensive, flexible, and small, making it the optimal and…

Inteset, LLC is now offering an optional Blu-ray HD-DVD combo drive in its Maximus and Denzel media server systems. The Media Centers can play back both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs in full 1080p resolution from a single drive.

“It’s been a long time coming,” says David Hirsh, Inteset’s Director of Business Development. “Users now have no limitations for movie playback. DVDs, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, it doesn’t matter. Our media servers handle all of these formats."

Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback is facilitated through CyberLink’s PowerDVD Ultra software. All high definition 7.1 surround sound formats are supported without the need of a separate receiver or pre-processor, including Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS audio.

DENVER, Sept. 6, 2007 -- Wisdom Audio (http://www.wisdomaudio.com), the leader in planar magnetic technologies with more than 85 years on-staff experience, is proud to announce the launch of its new Sage Series high end architectural and in-room audio systems at the 2007 CEDIA Expo, held in Denver from Sept. 6-9 at the Colorado Convention Center, booth SR-12.

Initially, Wisdom Audio will bring to market five speaker configurations, ranging from 15 inches to 95 inches tall, each available as an in-wall, on-wall, or freestanding solution. Multiple center channels, a dual woofer in-wall sub enclosure, integrated Audyssey Laboratories room correction software, and dedicated electronics round out the new product offerings. Depending on the model and size, Sage Series speakers incorporate proprietary thin film planar magnetic drivers and oblong shaped CLCF (Constrained Layer Carbon Fiber) woofers for greater performance and to allow for its narrow and shallow physical characteristics.

"The Sage Series represents not only the continued growth of Wisdom Audio, but the evolution of high…

DENVER, Sept. 6, 2007 -- Wisdom Audio (http://www.wisdomaudio.com), the leader in planar magnetic technologies with more than 85 years on-staff experience, is proud to announce that Audyssey Laboratories MultEQ XT software has been incorporated into its SC-1 System Controller, part of Wisdom's new Sage Series high end architectural and in-room audio systems, to be launched at the 2007 CEDIA Expo, held in Denver from Sept. 6-9 at the Colorado Convention Center, booth SR-12.

Wisdom Audio offers multiple electronics options for the Sage Series, including the SC-1 System Controller, boasting an electronic crossover and acoustic room correction that incorporates Audyssey MultEQ XT technology. It also includes selectable, RS-232 operable memory settings for optimized performance in varied acoustic settings for music and film environments. A PC-based installation application allows a professional installer to configure the SC-1 for a particular complement of Sage Series speakers in a given installation.

"When designing such a high end audio system such as our new Sage Series, it is imperative…

There are a couple of features that make projectiondesign's Action M20 so remarkable —it is the first and only 720p DLP projector with TI's BrilliantColor, and it comes in so many brilliant colors.

The compact unit matches so many home theaters … and racing cars for that matter. It is sold in Maranello Blue, British Racing Green (not to be confused with the Italian shade) and Vanquish Grey. Not surprisingly, the company's Norwegian design firm, Eker Design, also designs million-dollar Koenigsegg cars. (So where's the Koenigsegg Yellow?)

On the inside, the M20 features BrilliantColor, a Texas Instrument technology that yields more realistic color reproduction. projectiondesign says it worked closely with TI to be the only company to offer this technology with true HD2+ DC3 DLP displays. DC3 (DarkChip3) technology enhances contrast; HD2+ is a 720p chip with higher contrast and black levels.

The M20 is a home cinema projector that builds on…

The Training Dept. is hosting the 2007 "Real Men Retrofit" Installers Olympics at the Expo in the B.E.S. / Training Reels booth. The installer with the best time of the day wins a Contractor Retrofit Tool Set valued at over $500.00. Grayson Evens of The Training Dept. says it's a "GREAT contest event and a lot of fun."

So it must be.

Everyone that enters gets a "Real Men Retrofit" T-shirt. "Very cool," Grayson says, "I designed them myself!"

So if real men retrofit? What do real chicks do?

The CE Express is an industry initiative headed by CEDIA president Ken Smith, which brings cyclists from across the nation together to ride and raise funds for cancer research.

Ken is finalizing details for the one-day regional rides, which will take place in cities across the United States thanks to the support of CE cyclists, riders, volunteers and our community.

The goal is to raise $80,000 – double the funds raised in 2006. Donations will be given to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, with a portion given to a local cancer charity in each region the ride takes place in. Riders within and outside of the industry are welcome.

Interested sponsors, riders and team captains are still needed. To find out more, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)