European Custom Installer

The European Commission fines Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer for breaking EU antitrust rules, leading to higher prices for "kitchen appliances, hair dryers, notebook computers, headphones and many other products."

The announcement follows the recent €4.3 billion antitrust fine put on Google, the result of "illegal practices regarding Android mobile devices to strengthen dominance of Google's search engine." As for the 4 above mentioned vendors, the EC points out all engaged in "fixed or minimum resale price maintenance (RPM)," or not allowing retailers to set own product prices.

DTS announces more Play-Fi-enabled products are compatible with the Alexa smart assistant, including speakers from Aerix, Klipsch, McIntosh, Onkyo, Pioneer, Phoros and Soundcast.

More products, namely "select" soundbars and AVRs, will also get the upgrade throughout the year.

Alexa compatibility allows customers to control Play-Fi products from another room using their voice and an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show or other Alexa-enabled device. Voice controls include playback of a song in a specific room or group of linked rooms, as well as volume, track skipping, mute, pause, and stop. One simply needs to link an Amazon account to a compatible Play-Fi product, and Alexa automatically learns the speaker name.

Parasound launches a flagship stereo power amplifier-- the Halo JC5, designed by respected audio expert John Curl and promising to boil down "the essence of the two top-of-the-line Halo JC1 monoblock power amps into a single chassis."

The design features a high power and ultra-high bias Class A/B topography able to deliver 400W per channel. High bias A/AB provides 12W per channel pure class A power and class AB to the 400W per channel 8 ohms rating. It delivers 600W per channel into 4 ohms, and can be bridged to mono for 1200W into 8 ohms. The output stage features 24 beta-matched, 15 ampere, 60MHz bipolar transistors to deliver peak current of 90 amperes. Meanwhile the power supply employs a 1.7kVA shielded toroid power transformer with a H18 grade steel core. It has independent secondary windings for the dual-mono power supply.

Just Add Power (J+P) announces the VBS-HDIP-3G 509POE daisy chain power-over-ethernet (PoE) receiver-- a means for installers to add multiple network devices at the endpoint or add more receivers for custom installations.

The VBS-HDIP-3G 509POE distributes UHD and 4K video over a single Cat-5e cable without need for fibre. The onboard passthrough network port allows connection of any PoE device, meaning a network soundbar, IP TV control or a single display location can be expanded into a video wall. The receiver also expands the number of PoE devices a system can handle by connecting a PoE switch to the port. As a result, installers have greater network flexibility, and any system can be expanded quickly and easily when customers want to add to the AV experience.

The Savant smart home ecosystem gets another voice control option-- Google Home Assistant, allowing customers to activate Savant Scenes to control any smart home feature through a single voice command.

Google Assistant support was initially available on the Savant Pro Remote. The integration allows users to adjust entertainment, lighting, climate controls, TVs, shading and more through the power of voice. The company adds setup is as intuitive as possible, allowing users to create a Savant Scene, enable the Savant Action with the Google Assistant or Google Home app and link their account.