Meridian Introduces Roon Ready 210 Streamer for Advanced Home Integration

High resolution audio pioneer, Meridian has introduced its new 210 Streamer to help integrators meet market demand for reliable, high-quality audio streaming throughout the home. The new Meridian 210 allows the latest music-streaming services to connect flawlessly to home audio installations via a range of formats. With aptX HD Bluetooth, the Meridian 210 supports highest quality streaming and synchronizes the volume controls of Bluetooth devices, playback apps, Meridian components and third-party control across the system.

Virtually everything has been tried in the world of personal audio! Everything? Not yet... Streamz is promoting a crowdfunding campaign for headphones with an integrated player and SD card for internal storage, that are also able to stream music directly from Pandora or Spotify thanks to built-in Wi-Fi, all without needing a smartphone. After 4 years of development and promoting the concept, Streamz launched on Kickstarter.

Originally introduced at IFA 2016, the latest wireless speakers from the famous Danish brands also caused a positive impression at CEDIA 2016, even though the company had several other installation-specific announcements. With smart speakers and connectivity causing all the rage in Dallas this year, the new BeoSound 1 & 2 certainly surprised many by raising the bar on how flexible high-quality wireless speakers can actually be.

Among the many announcements from Harman International during IFA 2016, the new Harman Kardon Omni+ is certainly one of the most promising products. This next generation of Wi-Fi HD home audio systems from Harman, combines improved speakers with advanced streaming capabilities, from single speaker to multi-room and whole-home audio configurations. The highlight is the support for high-resolution wireless streaming using technology from Blackfire Research.

Naim’s Mu-so wireless music system now adds TIDAL and full multiroom capability to its already rich list of features. The multi-room mode works over a standard home network, either via a wired or Wi-Fi connection. A free, three month TIDAL trial is now available through the Naim control app for all Mu-so owners and owners of Naim streaming products.

With the trend towards multi-room audio at home evolving towards wireless solutions, Sony continues to expand its range with complete systems to address also multichannel entertainment for the living room with its slim, compact HT-RT5 Sound Bar with wireless rear speakers and subwoofer. The new Sony HT-RT5 system combines also support for streaming audio and direct connection of high-resolution audio via HDMI.

Sony unveiled its new audio product lineup scheduled for release in 2015 at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas with a total of ten new devices, including a Hi-Res compatible top-of-the-line Walkman, headphones, wireless speakers, home theater systems, and multi-channel integrated amplifiers.