Bang & Olufsen and Origin Acoustics announce a partnership at CEDIA 2016-- one covering a portfolio of high-end in-wall and in-ceiling speaker solutions ranging from background listening solutions to home theatre installations.

The team-up currently involves two product ranges, the Celestial in-ceiling and the Palatial in-wall speakers. The Celestial range promises both great sound and installation flexibility, and is designed for discrete background music listening, high performance listening and "involving" home theatre audio.

Meanwhile the Palatial in-wall speakers are ideal for active listening, be it music or an invisible living room home theatre.

KEF presents an addition to the Extreme Home Theatre THX Ci custom install speaker series-- the Ci5160REF-THX, featuring four linear 165mm bass drivers and a 125mm MF/HF Uni-Q array.

Aimed at the high-end market, the in-ceiling loudspeaker also features a 25mm vented aluminium dome tweeter at the acoustic centre, and is finished with a "massive" brushed 11mm thick aluminium front baffle. It is designed to be part of the Reference series, and is THX Ultra 2 certified.

Vizio is the next company to present a wireless multi-room audio solution-- the SmartCast Crave, a line of standalone speakers featuring Google Cast integration over either wifi or ethernet.

Essentially, the speakers allow any audio app with Google Cast support to stream directly to the speaker, with the speakers taking care of connectivity to the streaming service in question (while the smartphone acts as controller). Bluetooth connectivity is also included.

SmartCast Crave speakers currently come in two flavours-- 360 and Pro. The 360 is a portable cylindrical number featuring 360-degree omnidirectional 2.1 audio, "custom-crafted drivers" able to output up to 95dB of sound and a battery promising up to 8 hours of use on a single charge. Construction is in stainless steel, and a leather strap allows one to easily carry it around.

Sonos announces a pair of upcoming updates for its wireless speaker system-- the platform will be integrated with Spotify Connect, before it gets voice control via Amazon Echo or Echo Dot.

Spotify integration comes through the music streaming service's mobile app, and allows direct control of a Sonos system through the Spotify app. Control includes playback and volume as well as track selections, and comes through both home and mobile networks. In addition, the Sonso app can recognise songs being played through Spotify, so if a friend is playing a song a user does not have they can easily add it to their library.

Such integration is a logical step forward for Sonos, since it already signed similar deals with the likes of Apple Music, Tidal and Google Play. It should be available in an October 2016 software update.

In a sign of the rude health of the home AV industry, one of the top commercial audio companies is entering the high-end residential market-- Meyer Sound, creator of the legendary 650 subwoofer.

Built in 1980, the 650 subwoofer was used in the multichannel sound system touring with the 70mm theatrical release of Apocalypse Now, a sound system described as "remarkable" by director Francis Ford Coppola.

The residential audio debut of Meyer Sound will be made at CEDIA Expo 2016, with exclusive demonstrations of an ultimate private cinema experience featuring technology normally reserved for Hollywood screening rooms. This includes professional acoustic design, Hollywood Digital Cinema content, a DCI/ 4K digital projection system and Dolby Atmos immersive sound from 24 Meyer Sound cinema series self-powered loudspeakers.

Bang & Olufsen claims the BeoSound 1 and 2 speakers combine the wireless convenience of Bluetooth with audiophile-grade 360-degree audio, all from a form factor reminiscent of Doctor Who's most memorable foes, the Daleks.

Revealed at IFA 2016, the speakers are built in aluminium, a material the company says reduces dissonance and distortion. Meanwhile the retro-futuristic  conical shape enables the aforementioned 360-degree sound through a unique sound dispersion method where top-mounted tweeter plays audio downwards into a disperser, before the audio spreads outwards through the open top.

Wireless connectivity comes through AirPlay, Google Cast, Bluetooth and DLNA.

The speakers come in two sizes-- the BeoSound 1 is 33cm tall and weighs 3.5kg, while the BeoSound 2 stands 43cm tall and weighs 4.1kg. The BeoSound 1 is portable, with a built-in battery powering up to 16 hours of playback on a single charge. On the other hand the BeoSound 2 requires a permanent power connection.