Atlantic Technology bowed the $499 SB8 125-watt subwoofer as a companion to home theater speakers, a sound bar or a music system. The 13 x 13 x 11-inch sub has an 8-inch long-throw driver that delivers low-end extension to 32 Hz, said the company. Features include an adjustable crossover, crossover bypass setting for use with electronics that have built-in bass management, auto-on signal sensing and phase control, it said.

Remote control and home automation company RTI bowed a two-way driver for BluOS-enabled devices from Bluesound and NAD Electronics, it said in a Wednesday announcement. With the driver, BluOS-enabled devices will be able to connect to a Wi-Fi network to access streaming music services available via the Bluesound platform, and users can send music to compatible devices in other rooms. The driver allows integrators to connect, manage and control a BluOS system through an RTI interface.

For Voxx International, the “premium audio” sector, which includes the Klipsch brand, “was our best performer” in fiscal Q3 ended Nov. 30, CEO Pat Lavelle said on a Tuesday earnings call. Sales in the sector were up 27 percent in Q3 over the same year-earlier quarter, he said. For the first nine months of this fiscal year, sales in the sector were 19 percent higher than in the same period a year earlier, he said. Sound bar sales jumped more than 190 percent in Q3, “and we continue to expand the line by bringing Dolby Atmos and all-in-one sound bar products to market,” he said. Best Buy recently tested an “in-store Klipsch-branded audio space” in a “few hundred” stores, and plans to triple the number of stores with Klipsch displays “on a go-forward basis,” he said. Voxx also has installed Klipsch-branded store displays in Nebraska Furniture Mart, BrandsMart, hhgregg and Dillard’s that are “unique to each retailer,” he said.

Dolby Labs outlined a roundup of Atmos product additions from CES in a Friday announcement. The company cited multiple form factors now available for Atmos multichannel sound technology, including new sound bars from LG, Sony, Onkyo and Pioneer. Gibson showed us a $999 Atmos-enabled sound bar in its Fidelio line at its CES tent. Lenovo’s Legion Y720, a gaming PC, is the first Atmos-enabled PC, said Dolby.

Dog & Bone is differentiating itself in the packed Bluetooth earphone space with earphones that can be molded to the wearer's ear. The Earmade comes with a dock that heats the earbuds’ insert for two minutes before wearers customize the moldable buds to the ear. The earphones provide a high level of sound isolation due to the exact fit, said the company. Earmade is water- and sweat-resistant, has a control compatible with Android and iOS devices and offers six hours’ battery life. The $159 earbuds will be available later this year in black, orange or white and come with moldable inserts, a micro USB cable, heating dock and carrying case.

Cleer bowed a Bluetooth speaker with Alexa voice control at CES. Built-in press-to-talk functionality lets users access music, weather, news and other information via simple voice commands, said the company in an announcement. When the speaker is connected to Wi-Fi, it can answer questions, give sports scores and deliver weather and traffic updates, it said. The $199 portable speaker is rated for eight hours’ battery life and is dust and water resistant, said the company.

Technics will support streaming music service Tidal next year, the Panasonic audio brand said in a Thursday announcement. Technics’ SU-G30 network amplifier and SC-C500 all-in-one hi-fi system will be Tidal-ready via a firmware update next month, said the company. A Technics music app will be distributed at the same time.

The global home audio market outperformed the overall CE category and is on track to finish the year at 102 million shipments valued at close to $11 billion, said a Futuresource report Wednesday. It cited Amazon’s Echo and Google Home speakers in a category led by sound bars and Bluetooth speakers. Growth of music streaming services and music playback on smartphones is creating demand for a wide range of wireless audio products, said Futuresource. The voice-enabled personal assistant speaker category will expand with Microsoft teaming with Harman on a Cortana-powered product and a possible Siri-enabled speaker from Apple, said analyst Simon Bryant. Bluetooth speakers are 80 percent of the wireless speaker market, and sound bars had 15 percent growth in 2016, said the research firm.

James Loudspeaker bowed the FXA Series of architectural speakers with angled baffles designed to provide wide dispersion in large spaces. The speakers come with a choice of tweeters: a single beryllium tweeter or a quad array tweeter, said the company. Single-tweeter models are $1,700 each, and quad-array models are $1,400 each, it said. The speakers also include dual 3-inch mid-range transducers angled at 30-degrees and two 5.25-inch woofers.

OtterBox is expanding its product portfolio with charging and audio products, said the accessories maker in a Tuesday announcement. OtterBox is joining the crowded headphone market with products based on a custom-molding design from Decibullz that’s said to block ambient sound and resist moisture. New products include Bluetooth earphones ($99), wired earphones ($49), a Bluetooth audio adapter ($39), USB car charger and USB wall charger (both $24).