French audio vendor Cabasse announces The Pearl-- a high-definition connected speaker packing technologies from the self-descriptive La Sphère flagship into a more compact, if still spherical, form factor.

The result of 3 years of research and development, the Pearl stands 32cm tall and is the first triaxial speaker from the company. It carries a 25cm bass drivertogether with a coaxial midrange and tweeter, and produces a sound output the company claims is the equivalent of a Formula 1 car (118dB) from 3200W peak amplification. Meanwhile the spherical design is not only striking to look at, but also allows for spatial coherence.

An integrated microphone allows for an automatic calibration system (CRCS) through technology borrowed from the La Sphère speaker. Connectivity comes through Bluetooth and wifi, with integration within the Cabasse StreamCONTROL multi-room system and support for MP3, AAC, WMA, AIFF, FLAC and ALAC files. The speaker handles 24-bit/192kHZ HD audio sources from USB-connected storage, NAS devices, internet radio or online music services, and is compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

StormAudio forms a pair of alliances aimed to benefit installers-- one with calibration and room design assistance service provider Performance Media Industries, the other with remote control specialist Domotz.

“Critical to all rooms are engineering, speaker placement and room acoustics,” PMI says. “The StormAudio ISP Series are certainly the best immersive audio processors on the market, and very much deserving of this special attention to fully shine. However, work like this demands considerable time of the installer. This is where PMI comes into play-- it is through our new alliance that StormAudio dealers can take advantage of our CEDIA award-winning services. This allows dealers to get the most out of the room while alleviating them of all the exacting and often tedious engineering.”

MSE Audio launches the Rockustics OneSub and DubSub-- a pair of subwoofers aimed at outdoor audio applications, designed with rock enclosures and built to withstand rain, frost, snow and ice.

The OneSub is an 8-inch standalone passive subwoofer with need for a subamplifier and active crossover, while the DubSub is an 8-inch dual-voice coil subwoofer. Both feature 4-ohm impedance, 8-inch polypropylene subwoofers and a frequency response of 38 to 100 100Hz.

NAD launches the C 658-- a combination of preamplifier, DAC and BluOS-compatible streamer complete with Bluetooth aptX HD, built-in Dirac Live Room Correction and a modular design.

Being a BluOS system, the C 658 natively supports nearly 20 streaming services, as well as indexing of over 250000 tracks from local network sources. It handles streaming in high resolution audio formats, including MQA, to 64 zones and control options for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac phones, tablets and PCs. BluOS also supports all major smart home controllers, and is available in a wide range of products.

The C 658 offers a high-quality phono stage, analogue inputs, balanced preamp output and stereo subwoofer outputs, plus high current headphone amplifier with a 6.4mm jack. An RS-232 serial port allows connectivity with Control4, Crestron, RTI, URC and ELAN products once paired with incoming chassis drivers. Two-way Bluetooth capability not only allows streaming from mobile devices, but also playback on Bluetooth-enabled headphones.

Polk Audio launches the Signature E Series-- an update of the Signature speaker consisting of all the components for a home cinema setup, namely a floor, centre and bookshelf loudspeakers.

The range consists of the  S60e, S55e and S50e floor standing tower speakers, the S35e and S30e centre speakers and the S20e, S15e and S10e bookshelf speakers. All carry technologies from top-of-the-line Polk home entertainment speakers, bringing better-performing linear drive units, new crossover topology and improved crossover components. The bass tuning also gets refinement, while the cabinets are carefully crafted and braced.

The top S60e pillar loudspeakers have 2.54cm Terylene high resolution tweeters able to deliver 40kHz, while the S55e and S50e offer the same performance as the S60e suction loudspeaker. The S55e also carries two 6.5-inch midrange drivers, and the S50e has two 5.25-inch drivers. Further features include a four-driver (S60e and S55e) and three-driver (S50e) with tapered crossover frequencies, anti-diffranction grilles and double gold-plated five-way connection points.

Devialet announces a smaller version of the flagship Phantom wireless speaker-- the Phantom Reactor is just 25% the size of the original, even if it promises loud sound with a maximum volume reaching up to 98dB SPL.

The Phantom Reactor retains the same striking design of the Phantom, but within a form factor weighing around 4.5kg. It comes in two versions, with a 900 model offering 900W power and a 600 model with 600W of power. Frequency range reaches from 18Hz to 21kHz. A number of features from other Phantom speakers are included, such as Analog Digital Hybrid amplification, Active Cospherical Engine acoustic design, Speaker Active Matching algorithm and Heart Bass Implosion acoustic process.