KEF updated its LS50 speaker line with acoustic materials and a wireless design, said the company Tuesday. The LS50 Mega ($1,499 a pair, available Tuesday) has a 12th-generation Uni-Q driver and material from Acoustic Metamaterials Group that’s said to absorb 99% of unwanted sound radiating from the rear of the driver. The LS50 Wireless II ($2,499 a system, available Oct. 11) has a 100-watt class A/B amplifier powering the tweeter and a 280-watt class D amplifier powering the mid/bass driver. The left and right speakers are connected wirelessly, with 24-bit/96 kHz resolution; when connected with the supplied cable, resolution is 24-bit/192 kHz, said the company. KEF's Connect app allows LS50 Wireless II customers to stream directly from Spotify Connect, and the speakers are compatible with AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast. The wireless speakers, which support Master Quality Authenticated tracks, have jacks for connecting a TV, turntable, CD player and game console via HDMI, analog and optical and coaxial digital cables.

Bowers & Wilkins bowed a Carbon Edition version of its flagship PX7 over-ear wireless headphones with Bluetooth aptX technology. The $399 cans, due next month, support hi-res audio up to 24-bit/48kHz streaming quality, Andy Kerr, director-product marketing, told a media briefing. They use B&W’s adaptive noise-cancellation technology the company developed last year. It’s based on four mics that analyze ambient noise in real time and identify the most effective noise cancellation solution, Kerr said. A pass-through feature allows voices to get through noise cancellation, he said. A proximity sensor automatically pauses music when an earcup is lifted and resumes when the cup returns to the ear. Users can launch Siri or Google Assistant voice assistants by pushing a button on the earcup. Battery life is 30 hours; a 15-minute boost provides five hours’ additional life, said Kerr.

Bose is taking preorders for two new true wireless Bluetooth 5.1 earbuds slated for Sept. 29 availability, it said Thursday. The QuietComfort Earbuds ($279) use StayHear Max tips, said to create a tight seal, and multiple mics for noise cancellation. Multiple mics sense, measure and send noise to a proprietary chip, and an algorithm delivers an equal and opposite signal to the earbuds in less than a millisecond to cancel it, said the company. The QCs have 11 levels of control and six hours’ listening time; an additional 12 hours are available from a fully charged case. New Bose Sport earbuds ($179) have a StayHear Max tip that locks the buds in the ear, said the company. Battery life is five hours; a charging case provides 10 additional hours.

1More’s True Wireless active noise-canceling in-ear headphones ($199) are the first true wireless phones to carry THX certification, said the company Tuesday. THX Certified sound is available on units manufactured beginning in June with firmware version 3.62 or higher, said 1More. THX certification focuses on frequency response, consistency and low distortion, said the headphone maker.

Denon celebrated its 110-year anniversary Tuesday with the launch of an AV receiver, integrated amplifier, SACD player and phono cartridge. The flagship AVR-A110 ($5,499) is billed as 13.2-channel 8K receiver with a full array of immersive audio formats: Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and X Pro, Imax Enhanced and Auro-3D. With Heos multiroom wireless audio, it has access to Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music HD, Tidal, SiriusXM and Deezer streaming music services and is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Josh.ai voice control platforms. The $3,499 PMAA110 hi-res integrated amplifier is rated at 80 watts per channel at 8 ohms with 0.07% total harmonic distortion and includes a phono preamplifier compatible with moving magnet and moving coil cartridges. The DCD-A110 SACD player ($2,999) spins CDs and Super Audio CDs and plays 2.8-Mhz/5.6-MHz DSD files and high-res audio files up to 192-kHz/24-bit on recordable DVDs. The DL-A110 moving coil phono cartridge ($599) is “hand-spun” in the Denon Audio Works factory in Shirakawa, Japan, “just as it was in the 1960s when it was first introduced as the DL-103 cartridge,” said the company.

IFi is shipping Zen Phono, a $149 phono preamplifier designed to pair with moving-magnet or moving-coil phono cartridges. Its balanced circuit design reduces noise and crosstalk, said the company.

Audioengine bowed a pair of A1 compact powered speakers, available for $199 from the company’s e-commerce site with a 30-day tryout. The speakers support Bluetooth aptX at up to 100 feet, plus AAC. The powered left speaker connects to the passive right speaker with supplied wire. An auxiliary input accepts wired audio from a turntable, computer or TV.

Panasonic teamed with Square Enix on the SoundSlayer gaming speaker, set for September availability. B&H Photo showed the 2.1-channel system Tuesday as “coming soon” for $299. The 17 x 2-1/16 x 5-1/4 inch sound bar has three sound modes: role-playing game, first-person shooter and voice; it supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and DTS Virtual:X immersive audio formats. Panasonic is pitching the Bluetooth-equipped sound bar as an alternative to headphones, which it said can become uncomfortable after prolonged use.

Yamaha introduced a pair of AV receivers with support for 8K, HDMI 2.1 and HDR10+ to “usher in a new era of dynamic displays.” The RX-V4A ($439) will be available this month; the RX-V6A ($599) in September. Audio features of the Wi-Fi receivers include MusicCast and app control, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, built-in music streaming services, multi-room audio and voice control via Alexa, Google and Siri-enabled devices. MusicCast Surround allows optional wireless MusicCast speakers to be paired and used as surrounds in a 5.1-channel setup without the need for speaker wire to the AV receiver. The 7.2-channel V6A, rated at 100 watts per channel, has Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization. The 5.1-channel V4A is 80 watts per channel. Both have YPAO automatic room calibration. The company’s upcoming YH-E700A and EP-E70A (see 2008200022) headphones have Qualcomm’s AptX Adaptive audio codec, capable of 96 kHz sampling rates, noted a Yamaha spokesman on a Monday webinar. "Not a lot of phones" have the codec yet, he said, but the headphones are “ready and waiting” for next-gen smartphones with the feature.

Yamaha launched eight wireless headphones Thursday, some with noise-canceling technology that’s said to intelligently adapt and respond to listeners and their environment. Advanced ANC improves on standard noise canceling, which Yamaha says can color or degrade sound, by analyzing and removing background noise. Yamaha’s Listening Care technology allows listeners to hear full-range sound even at low volume settings, it said. Controls are available to make a phone call, summon a voice assistant and manage music functions; advanced versions also have apps. Models include the YH-E700A wireless over-ear headphones ($349, December) and YH-E500A on-ears ($179, December); EP-E70A ($269, October) earphones, EP-E50A earphones ($159, November) and EP-E30A earphones ($59, September); and three true wireless models: the TW-E7A ($229, October), TW-E5A ($159, December) and TW-E3A ($129, this month). The company plans a webinar, open to the public, on its adaptive sound technologies Monday at 5 p.m. EDT.