Friday, September 12 -- Part 1

B&W's Custom Theatre 800 comprises a collection of speakers meant for use in high-end custom installations -- set into walls or fine custom cabinetry. B&W worked with Classé to create a bass-management/power system for the speakers.

The CT 8 CC center-channel speaker.

The full CT 800 range: (from left to right) two CT8 SW subwoofers, two CT8 DS surround speakers, CT8 CC center-channel speaker, CT8 LR front speakers. Price for the entire 7.2 system? "Roughly $50,000," according to company spokespeople.

Replacing Parasound's "classic" HCA-1000 and HCA-750 stereo amps are the 125Wpc Model 2175 (bottom) and 75Wpc 275 amps, both of which include switching for two pairs of speakers. Prices are not yet set.

Dynaudio's new Audience 72 SE (left, $2500 per pair) uses the Esotec tweeter from Dynaudio's Contour S models and the Audience 52 SE minimonitors ($1400 per pair) pictured next to it.

Mark Levinson continues to introduce new products. Shown here is the No.326S preamp, which uses much of the circuitry of the No.320 preamp and Arlon circuit boards, like those in the No.32 Reference. The user interface for all three models is identical. Once it's available, the No.326S will cost $10,000.

APC is well known for its computer UPS systems. With the new M15, APC is attempting to break into the home-theater and custom-installation markets. The M15 is a power conditioner with battery backup that can use extra battery power as well. The M15 (top) costs $1499, while the extra battery (bottom) costs $499.

Niles introduced a range of indoor and outdoor speakers -- guess which these are?

Prices for Niles' RS5 Rock speakers range from $199 to $449.