Lenbrook to Hit CEDIA Expo With New Speakers, Amplifiers Across 4 Brands

Amplifiers, speakers and distributed audio products headline Lenbrook’s CEDIA Expo product introductions this week across its Bluesound, NAD and PSB brands. NAD will show its CI 8-120 DSP amplifier ($2,999), designed to handle long cable runs and challenging speaker loads, delivering 120 watts into eight channels, said the company. Installers can program and control functions of the amplifier via web browser, including managing digital signal processing and IP control; they can also set up, calibrate, reboot, restore custom settings and update firmware, said the company. Lenbrook’s BluOS operating system added Google Assistant voice control via Actions on Google. Users of Lenbrook’s Bluesound, NAD and Dali speakers will be prompted Oct. 8 to update their players to add hands-free control of their music from a Google Home speaker, said the company. To raise music volume, users ask Google Assistant on a Home speaker: “Ok, Google, tell BlueVoice to play louder,” it said. Bluesound also supports Amazon Alexa and expects to support Apple Siri via AirPlay 2. The company’s PSB brand will demo the PWM2 wall-mount speaker ($1,749, January) that can mount horizontally or vertically for music playback or be used as a front, center or surround speaker in a home theater configuration. PSB’s new CS AIC 860 in-ceiling speaker ($649, November) is angled in a way that minimizes refraction to provide a wide sound field that seems to come from the listening area vs. the installation point, said PSB. Three new PSB subwoofers ($999, October; $1,299 and $1,199, January) offer different placement options for installers including between studs in wall, standard in-wall and rack-mount. A 500-watt in-wall subwoofer amplifier ($1,199), designed for new construction and capable of powering two subwoofers, will ship in January, it said. In its Dali line, Lenbrook will show the Katch One sound bar, a 10-driver design powered by a 200-watt amplifier system ($999, October). Inputs include HDMI, optical and analog, said the company; users can connect a smartphone to the sound bar via Bluetooth for music playback.