In these tough economic times, oh wait, I’m reading from a 3”x5” card left over from last week’s convention. Anyway, times are tough if your dealer base is heavily invested in new home construction. So SpeakerCraft is doing something about re-edumicating them. Laugh all you will, and you will because SpeakerCraft VP of Marketing Dave Donald will make you, but their common sense business practices are a clear value added to their dealer clientele, many of whom know their “craft” but not necessarily how to survive and prosper. Hats off to CEO Jeremy Burkhardt for the advice. I’m stealing some ideas for a completely unrelated business (especially the one about not letting yours sales staff dictate what you sell), because they simply make great sense!

Link looks like a busy guy over there at Sony.

Stewart Filmscreen thinks it would be real 90210 of you to show movies outside. First place to start is with a weather resistant screen assembly. Secondly, don’t turn on the projector while standing in pool of chlorinated water.(Seriously though, this is strictly a “rear projection” solution). Stewart’s Oasis screens are available in sizes up to 124” wide by 92” high, way bigger than that crusty old LCD you’ve got hanging under the straw roof cabana by your kiddie pool!

A new projector company appeared at CEDIA this year. Wolf Cinema is dedicated to the custom-installation market with a variety of models based on 3-chip DLP technology. Using xenon lamps, these projectors ain't cheap, starting at $60,000 and going up to $117,000 (custom faceplate $2000 extra). For all that money, you get a complete system, including anamorphic lens, thermal-management system, 14-bit processor, and your choice of primary lens.

As promised, front and rear views of the new Sony AVR, sporting Internet connectivity, that second room of high definition audio and video and, oh, page down and read it why dontcha?

I can’t tell you much more than the placard says, other than the price, $1,500, and availability, “the fall.” Balanced outputs will thrill the 2-channel crowd. The rest of us will use HDMI.

I've seen installers take weeks to put in systems and fine tune them. Sony offers a turn-key, yet still flexible system that, not counting wiring, could take as little as a day to install. With the capability for a 7.1 home theater and six other rooms featuring everything from 2-channel audio all the way up to high def audio and video (via cat5e), the Sony WHS is very advanced. The system also lets you insert up to three components of your choice, such as a Pioneer BD player, your favorite Theta Digital CD player / DAC and even your crappy VCR. Sony and Control4 touchpads also give you access to your comfort systems (heating/cooling), security systems and lighting. Typical dealer installs start at $35,000 and go up from there.