Yamaha added to its MusicCast wireless multiroom audio lineup Tuesday with the launch of the R-N402 network receiver. The Bluetooth- and AirPlay-equipped 100-watt-per-channel receiver offers streaming via Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, Napster, SiriusXM and vTuner, said Yamaha. Music can be controlled by Android and iOS apps. The R-N402 also supports playback of high-res audio files: DSD 5.6 MHz, AIFF 192 kHz/24-bit, FLAC 192 kHz/24-bit, Apple Lossless 96 kHz/24-bit and WAV 192 kHz/24-bit. The receiver has 40 presets for FM radio stations and an additional 40 presets for streaming music content, it said. The $449 receiver will be available next month.

Procella Audio bowed the V18 Bass Engine ($7,499), a subwoofer with dual 18-inch drivers, measuring 105 dB sensitivity and power handling of 2 x 1,400 watts, continuous, 2 x 2,800 peak. The companion power source for the V18 is Procella’s DA06-DSP two-channel class-D power amplifier, which provides 1,200 watts continuous power to each driver, said the company. Factory-programmed amplifier digital signal processing presets can be used to optimize the subwoofer’s response and provide compensation for room placement, it said. User-selectable options for placement: against a wall, in a corner or inside a baffle wall.

Rotel unveiled the 14 Series of audio components based on the company’s balanced design concept. The CD14 CD player and the A12 and A14 integrated amplifiers are due in stores in October, said the company. Stereo playback is experiencing a “renaissance,” with new interest coming from younger consumers, said Doug Henderson, president of Rotel distributor B&W Group, who said the 14 Series has features aimed toward contemporary listening requirements. Connection options include USB for PCs and iOS devices, Bluetooth and a phono input, he said. Prices are $1,299 for the 80-watt-per-channel A14 integrated amp with an AKM 32-bit/768 kHz DAC, $899 for the 60-watt A12 with a Wolfson DAC, and $599 for the CD player with a Wolfson 24-bit/192 kHz DAC, said the company.

LG will debut three Bluetooth speakers at next week's IFA show in Berlin, the company said Monday. The 2.5-watt PH2 (3.8 inches by 1.5 inches) and 16-watt PH4 (3.8 inches by 1.5 inches) are music-only devices, said a news release. The 3-watt 360-degree PH3 (3.5 inches x 4.9 inches) adds multicolor lighting modes. Battery life ranges from six to 10 hours, LG said. Prices weren’t given.

Artison will launch the Nano Backpack P5 surround-sound processor/amplifier at CEDIA Expo next month. The 11.7-by-11.7-by-1.1-inch unit can mount behind a display, in or on a wall or on a shelf, said the company. Power rating is 100 watts across the front three channels and 50 watts per side in the surrounds, the company said. Built-in surround decoders include Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II/IIx, and internal 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz radios enable connections to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. The P5 ($1,199) will ship in December, said the company.

James Loudspeaker added the 63SA-7HO three-way speaker to its Small Aperture series of in-ceiling speakers. The 63SA-7HO is said to offer more sensitivity than previous models and higher output due to a new 6.5-inch woofer. A power limiter circuit protects the speaker from potentially harmful transients, said James. The ETL/UL-approved speaker is shipping at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $1,400 each.

Meridian Audio partnered with Qnap to give dealers direct access to configured and installed drives for Meridian Sooloos music systems. Qnap products had been Meridian’s preferred network attached storage drives for Meridian, and offering them configured and installed saves dealers installation time, said Meridian. Qnap’s hot-swappable RAID (redundant array of independent disks) technology allows users to replace a faulty disk without compromising their music collection, said Qnap. Meridian will offer a two-bay system with 4 TB storage ($1,200), a four-bay system with 12 TB storage ($1,800) and a rack-mount four-bay system with 12 TB storage ($3,000).

British-based Prism Sound, which for 25 years has supplied pro audio equipment to recording studios and mastering houses around the world, is now selling its first consumer product. Called Callia, it’s a small tabletop pre-amp box that takes in digital audio by USB or SP/DIF optical, and outputs analog audio to headphones or by line sockets to a conventional stereo amp or active speakers. Callia handles PCM from CD-quality 16 bit/44.1 kHz to 32 bit/384 kHz and DSD 64 and DSD 128. Prism demo’d the Callia during a recent media briefing at the British Grove Studios built in West London by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, using a wide selection of music ranging from old Telarc recordings to recent tracks from Eric Clapton and Knopfler. Content was played from a Windows 7 laptop through a Callia box to the studio control room’s stereo pair of three-way active speakers. “We don’t want Callia to sound warm or clinical or any other words from the hi-fi vocabulary,” said Graham Boswell, Prism’s sales and marketing director. “We want nothing added and nothing taken away.” Prism has priced the Callia at 1,500 British pounds ($2,004 U.S.). The company confirms it will sell the Callia in the U.S. at $2,595 through Prism Media Products, the American distributorship it runs in Rockaway, New Jersey.

AT&T put Dolby Audio at the top of its feature list for the AT&T-branded Trek 2 HD tablet that will be in stores Friday. The 8-inch Android tablet will sell for a buck with two-year agreement or $7.50 per month for 20 months with an eligible plan, said AT&T. Other features: Snapdragon 1.5 GHz Octa-core processor, 16 GB storage expandable to 128 GB with a microSD card, 10.5-hour battery life and five-megapixel front and rear cameras.

Marantz announced the SR6011 AV receiver, with nine channels rated at 110 watts per channel. It includes Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio decoders and can be configured for 7.1.2 or 5.1.4 speaker setups without an external amplifier, said the company. Features include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity, HDMI 2.0a, HDCP 2.2 on all eight HDMI inputs and support for 4K Ultra HD 60 Hz video, 4:4:4 chroma sub-sampling, high dynamic range, 21:9 video, 3D, and BT.2020 pass-through support on every input. The SR6011 can upscale standard and high definition analog and digital video content to 4K Ultra HD, Marantz said. Streaming music is available via AirPlay, network-attached storage devices, internet radio, Pandora, SiriusXM and Spotify Connect, and high-res audio formats, including DSD 2.8 and 5.6 MHz, are supported. The SR6011 is to ship in September at $1,399.