Joe Palenchar

You could hear them but couldn’t see them, nor could you pry any details out of MartinLogan representatives about the mystery speaker pair demonstrated behind acoustically transparent panels to celebrate the brand’s 35th year in business.

Emotiva Audio is in an expansive mood at the CEDIA Expo, launching an AV preamp/processor/tuner with the processing power and expansion ports that will enable it to support 11.5.8 channels of Dolby Atmos surround.

Yamaha wants to make sure it’s part of your custom-installed multiroom-audio or home-control system, so it came to the CEDIA Expo with its latest installation-friendly products, including a four-zone MusicCast streaming amplifier and a flagship AV preamp that incorporates proprietary artificial intelligence (both pictured in the rack above). In a surprising twist, the company also demo'd a wireless-multiroom turntable.

Definitive Technology updated its two Wi-Fi streaming soundbars by upgrading their TV connections, enabling voice control through Google Assistant-enabled devices, and shifting their underlying wireless multiroom-audio platforms to Chromecast built in (CCBI) from DTS Play-Fi. Meanwhile, sister brand Polk unveiled two entry-level soundbars.