New Gear from Marantz, Sony, Audeze, Klipsch and more! March 2023

JBLs latest soundbars are getting tons of attention right now. The BAR300, 500, 700, 1000, and 1300 make up their latest options. Expect updates all around in the series that include more drivers, more power, and higher-quality sound, to bigger bass and expanded features. MOST IMPORTANTLY...keep an eye out for my review of the BAR1300—their flagship sound bar. JBL sound bars are incredibly popular and a solid choice for many home theater setups— I recommend checking out their options.

We also added a number of new gaming headphones from JBLs Quantum Series, and will be adding even more very soon. The JBL Quantum 910 Wireless Over-Ear Gaming Headphones is one of the latest and greatest models. To note, when shopping headphones for gaming, make sure to check the compatibility with your platform as some of these are platform-specific, or have features only available for specific gaming consoles.

Marantz has released a BEAUTIFUL new Home Theater Receiver, the Cinema 40. The Cinema 40 replaces the SR7015 and is currently their top end AVR in the cinema line. Marantz has given the Cinema 40 a visual refresh, as well as noteworthy, yet understated, reworking of what’s under the hood. If you want to learn more, we have a comprehensive deep dive into this new product on our blog.

Sony always brings their A-game to the AV world—which they’ve been doing for over 70 years—and they’re doing it again with a new line of ES receivers. There are 4 receivers in the ES line starting with the AZ1000ES, followed by the AZ3000ES, AZ5000ES, and finally the AZ7000ES—the proverbial, top-of-the-mountain. Our own CI guru Brian has a great write-up on the ES line, and is working on a hands-on video review that should be coming out soon.

Here’s an interesting product we’d love to hear your thoughts on, the Audeze FILTER Personal Bluetooth Conference Speakerphone with Noise Cancellation. Audeze pitches this as “...the first high-performance compact wireless conference speaker engineered with advanced neural network noise-cancellation combined with Audeze’s award-winning proprietary planar magnetic speaker technology.”

We do a lot of video conferencing here at WWS, as I’m sure many of you viewers do as well, so I’d be interested in trying this out myself. I’m a fan of Audeze’s headphones, so they’ve piqued my interest with this product.

We’re big Klipsch fans here at World Wide Stereo, and they consistently drop great products. We have 2 new Heritage products to share with you— The Sevens Heritage Series Wireless Powered Monitors with 6.5" Woofer, and The Nines Heritage Series Wireless Powered Monitors with 8" Woofer.

Both are available in a Black or Walnut finish—classic Klipsch product finishes. And it should go without saying that being a powered speaker there’s no amp or additional components needed. Essentially, they are plug-and-play.

Both speakers include :

• Integrated phono preamp if you want to connect them to a turntable.
• Bluetooth® 5
• HDMI-ARC—hook them up to a TV
• Digital optical inputs
• Analog RCA inputs for all your traditional gear
• USB inputs.

The primary difference between The Sevens and Nines is going to be size and power. And while they’re called “Wireless Powered Monitors”...the Sevens are going to take up some decent space on you shelf, and the Nines might simply do better on a set of stands.

Something I THINK that would be fun to see here are options for custom grill colors, or maybe just a selection of grill colors so I can add a little personalization to them. I love the way these look but am always interested in making pieces like this work stylistically in my home—or just adding some flair.

Available for pre-order right now, these are Yamaha’s newest floorstanding speakers—the NS2000A 3-Way Floorstanding Speakers. They come in a gloss black finish using the same process they use on their grand pianos, which is a process reserved for a limited number of Yamaha products...a very cool fact.

Something special about Yamaha is their history and connection to making musical instruments. The technology and craftsmanship that carries over to their home audio products is unique, considering that a goal in the hi-fi industry is the pursuit to reproduce the sound and emotion of live music.

On our site, we have these speakers bundled with Yamaha’s R-N2000A Hi-Fi Network Receiver.

JVC has a new 4K laser projector that they're putting out (JVC LX-NZ30 4K Laser Projector). It's 3,300 lumens, but something that you would want to note is that it's not a true 4K projector, it's a 4K e-Shift or pro-shift projector. What that means is that it actually has a lower resolution, 1080p mirror array that will oscillate up and down and side to side to kind of fake a 4K video on your screen. It still does accept a 4K input and it's still going to look fantastic because it's such a high-lumen output and it's still a laser projector, but just keep that one thing in mind.

We now have the Hisense L5G Ultra-Short Throw Laser TV Projector available in a 90” screen. This screen size has been added to their 100” and 110” options which are still available.

If you’re considering a Hisense Laser TV, I think you should also look at Salamander cabinets for Hisense projectors. Currently we only have cabinets for the L9G listed online, but if you’re interested, give us a call and we can get you a Salamander cabinet for the L5G as well.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area we have the Hisense L9G in a Salamander cabinet on display at our Montgomeryville Showroom.

From Bowers & Wilkins, 2 new earbuds update previous generations—the Pi5 S2, and Pi7 S2. I've used the PI5’s as my daily drivers for years.

Beyond some very nice aesthetic updates, the Pi7 S2 earbuds now deliver high-resolution audio through a 24-bit connection with a Qualcomm aptX™ Adaptive codec. For context, a 24-bit connection is the highest quality audio that can be sent over bluetooth—which is pretty cool to see in the Pi7.

Additional updates for both the Pi7 S2 and the Pi5 S2 include increased battery life, faster charging time, improved connection, and each model comes in 3 new colors.

From AudioTechnica we have 2 new headphones to shout out. First, the ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet Closed-Back Headset is a professional headset geared toward streamers and content creators. Hitting a few product highlights... they are going to have...

• 45 mm drivers
• A Cardioid condenser microphone
• Up to 24-bit/96 kHz sampling rate – mic or headset?
• They come with a USB-A cable and also include a USB-C adapter
• 2 interchangeable earpads.

The second AudioTechnica headphone we’re highlighting is the ATH-M20xBT Wireless Headphone. These are going to be an entry-level AudioTechnica headset, and are pitched as a gateway to their M-Series headsets. The main callout here is the addition of the white color-way.

We have a few new and notable products on our site from Astell & Kern.

First up...Astell & Kern ACRO CA1000T All-In-One Head-Fi Audio System. This is a high-end headphone amp with a lot of awesome features. If you’ve invested in a nice pair of Focal’s, Meze’s, or Audeze’s...you should also be investing in a complete “Head-Fi” system. There’s too many features to get in to right now, but check out our product page, and reach out to one of our gear experts with any questions. It’s a very cool product.

Moving from a desktop headphone amp solution to something more portable, this is Astell & Kern’s AK PA10 Class-A Portable Headphone Amplifier. A much more portable option than the CA1000T, this is A&Ks First Class-A Portable AMP. If you're new to headphone amps, or haven’t even heard of a headphone amp, it’s something you really need to experience. Even when used with entry-level wired headphones, a headphone amp can really bring your music alive. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, I encourage you to stop by a showroom and checkout some of the headphone amps we have on demo. It’s worth stopping by to experience.

And finally, a nice travel option, or simply something less intense than what I just mentioned, this is the Astell & Kern AK HC3 Hi-Fi USB Dual DAC Amplifier Cable with Lightning Adapter. Some main features include:

• ES9219MQ Dual DAC from ESS for True Hi-Fi Quality
• Dual-Shielded Cable
• Supports Headset Microphones
• Supports iOS Devices
• Proprietary App that provides Detailed Volume Control
• LED Display Shows Song Details
• Made of Full Aluminum.

And in the world of car audio, starting with Kenwood we have a collection of new receivers for car AND marine. A few nice entry-level options as well as a feature-rich DMX9708S Multimedia Receiver with Bluetooth, Apple Carplay, & Android Auto.

And from Kicker, we have a new line of 50th Anniversary Edition, Competition Gold 4ohm speakers available in 10”, 12”, and 15” sizes. Echoing style from their 1987 roots with that sweet throw-back logo, they are re-introducing the KICKER Gold Series Separates—one of their original lines of subwoofers—updated, of course, for the 21st century.

If you weren’t aware, we do car audio installation at our Montgomeryville, PA location, so reach out to make an appointment for an evaluation!