Speaker maker Focal and audio electronics maker Naim merge their businesses and create a new company, Focal & Co.

Focal founder Jacques Mahul will control as chairman, and the new company will manage the Focal and Naim brands separately-- Focal will continue making loudspeakers, Naim electronics.

The 2 companies' combined sales total around €55M, and together employ 325 people in facilities at Saint-Etienee (Focal) and Salisbury (Naim).

Focal & Co has plans to create "industry leading R&D capability"-- no doubt combining Naim and Focal's brightest-- with new products combining both companies' technologies.

Go Focal and Naim Merger Announcement

Audio firm Artison and American lighting company Sylvania join forces in creating MusicLites-- a  lighting and wireless speaker combination.

Each MusicLites carries a 10W LED (putting out the equivalent of a 65W reflector bulb), a 70mm full-range high-fidelity loudspeaker and a wireless audio receiver.

Beaming audio signals is a wireless transmitter, which connects to most audio sources (including stereos, TVs, computers, mp3 players and mobile devices).

one can tie together up 5 zones (each with up to x12 MusicLites) in a single network, creating a scalable lighting and audio system. Being water resistant, MusicLites are also ideal for outdoor settings.

The MusicLites package includes two 3.8 x 5.3" modules, as well as a remote controlling both light and audio levels.

Go MusicLites

The CEA reports 39% of audio-interested consumers say they're willing to step up to high-quality audio equipment-- but are in need of education on what high-quality audio actually consists of.

The findings come as a results of the CEA's latest consumer survey.

The association says manufacturers and retailers are in a position to educate their customers on what constitutes high quality audio-- for instance, 43% of survey participants say FM radio provides "superior sound quality", while 43% describe HDTV audio as "high quality."

Consumers should also do their own in-the-field research, hearing the actual difference between different offerings-- after all, quality audio is as experimental (and subjective!) a field as HD and 3D video technology.

Go CEA Study Finds

PSB delivers on its CES 2011 announcement with the Imagine mini loudspeakers, the smallest in its Imagine series at just 5.74" x 9.25" x 8.3" in size.

The speakers carries a 2-way design, with 4.5" woofer, 1" titanium dome tweeter (with ferrofluid) and rear port bass reflex, as well as technology from PSB's own Synchrony series.

It also carries what PSB calls the Turbo-Magnet, which the company says improves low frequency performance for better, more controlled bass.

The mini is available in black ash, dark cherry, walnut and high gloss black or white, with stands and brackets available as optional extras.

Go PSB Imagine mini

The Head Monster never does anything without jumping in with both feet...and you can imagine the King of Cables has stood by for years without being tempted to enter the fray for loudspeakers. After all, hundreds of manufacturers try to "redefine" audio sound every year, year in year out...

So what did it take to get Monster to finally create its own version of the high performance loudspeaker for the digital age?

Before, we answer that, here's what the Monster has made: The ClarityHD Model One High Definition Multi-Media Speaker Monitor (USA SRP: $749.95/pair) with a built-in high-powered digital amplifier and iPod dock.

Specifically designed for high resolution playback in the digital realm, it includes advanced 6.5" bass drivers with 4-layer voice coils for deep extended low end response and proprietary soft-dome tweeters for "smooth articulate highs with superior inner detail". The ClarityHD Model One will begin shipping worldwide in mid July 2011-- with all the advanced connectivity options to satisfy the needs of today's most ahead-of-the-curve digital audio consumer.

The Monster ClarityHD Model One can be set up easily in just seconds and provides room-filling sound right out of the box. It will be available in several designer colors, including automotive-grade-gloss yellow, and red to start, with additional colors coming this fall. The Model One is for use in the living room, den, bedroom or kitchen, as well as for in-home or professional music studio use.

Head Monster Noel Lee notes: "We named our new ClarityHD speaker system the Model 'One' for the simple reason that it's the first of its kind to combine such powerful audiophile-grade performance with total user simplicity and all the connectivity features demanded by today's consumer – not yesterday's. The way we listen to music has changed. We no longer build our family rooms around a stack of gear in the center of the room, and we don't want the intrusion of huge speakers and other components. And thanks to portable, digital music players like the iPod, we now keep vast music collections in our pockets. The Model One delivers the kind of big sound you wouldn't expect from a bookshelf speaker, and with the iPod as heart of the system, you can listen to all your favorite music in 'higher definition.'"

So what did it take to finally drag the Head Monster into the speaker business? It's a simple answer. Noel Lee loves music... from his cables to his headphones, you can see the Head Monster is at his personal best when surrounded by good music, great musical artists, and superior quality sound. Taking complete control of the final output of Monster-delivered sound has probably been on his wish list for years...and digital audio gives him the opening he deserves.

I'm only surprised he waited this long.

Go Monster

B&W announces its latest entry to its audio lineup-- the Prestige Monitor 1, a compact loudspeaker in a cabinet unlike anything from the company's catalog.

The PM-1 carries a number of new technologies, including a carbon braced tweeter using a ring of ultra-thin wound carbon fiber bracking the tweeter dome. The company says this raises frequences to up to 40kHz, while cutting distortion at frequencies below 20kHz.

Like B&W's 800 Series, the tweeter comes in its own tapered tube housing, separate from the bass/mid enclosure.

Cone construction is in kevlar with foam damping cap (FDC) in the centre, while the driver's new surround material helps deliver wider dispersion at higher frequencies.

The cabinet features Matrix interlocking panels, which the company says reinforce the cabinet at small intervals and in every direction to withstand air pressures building inside.

Go Bowers & Wilkins PM1