Chord Electronics has introduced its new QBD76 digital to analog converter built upon the award winning DAC64. Using the very latest Field Programmable Gate Arrays the WTA filtering and Pulse Array technology has been taken to new levels. The improvements in performance are now reaching the theoretical maximums achievable with CD digital audio.

The QBD76 incorporates a Bluetooth receiver that gives HiFi quality playback of music content stored in A2DP (Advanced Audio Profile) Bluetooth devices and in particular mobile phones. Rather than using the analog signal found on other Bluetooth audio products Chord has extracted and decoded the digital audio stream giving a perfect reproduction from an uncompressed audio file stored in the phone. In addition to Bluetooth, the QBD76 also has two coaxial, two AES, two optical inputs as well as a USB port.

The new QBD76 DAC is available for £3,000 in silver or black anodized aluminum finish.

Here is the KID's daddy , the Krell Papa Dock power amplifier has been designed for the KID (Krell Interface Dock) iPod/iPhone dock. It delivers up to 150 watts of power and features a 40,000 microfarad power supply. It also has physically isolated left and right channels, twelve high current output devices and WBT speaker connectors. Papa Dock automatically powers on when an iPod is inserted and powers off when the iPod is removed.

The Krell's Papa Dock power amplifier is available for $2,500 while "its" KID is priced at $1,500.

From October, Pioneer will launch 2 new high-quality loudspeakers to complement the EX Speaker Series: the S-4EX bookshelf and S-8EX centre speakers. Constructed with the same award-winning design technology as the S-3EX tall boy speakers, these smaller sized multi-channel solutions bring the high definition audio experience to life.

Both speakers have an ultra rigid cabinet construction and the S-4EX has a curved front baffle surface with a 3m radius to ensure perfect time alignment. The S-8EX employs 2x 16cm bass drivers while the S-4EX get one along with a ceramic graphite diaphragm tweeter mounted concentrically within a magnesium coned midrange driver. Pioneer gives no details on specifications, but the maximum power handling of 160W per speaker.

No price yet but these speakers will be available in beech high gloss veneer or dark teak matte finish.

Meridian has unveiled the new i80 universal dock to fit all dockable iPods. Designed in complement to the Ferrari F80 audio system, Meridian says the i80 offers the "very finest" solution for listening to, and sharing your, digital music collection. The i80 connects to the F80 simply, allowing immediate and complete control of the music library stored on the iPod through the F80 remote control or its front panel buttons. Track info is relayed via the F80's OLED display and the i80 also charges your iPod so you get continuous play with no need for extra power cables.

The dock is available in standard gloss black, but has clip-on red or yellow trims so it matches your particular F80 model. It's available in the next few days for £195.

Sony recently launched 3 new high-end home theaters receivers, the STR-DA4400ES, STR-DA3400ES and STR-DA2400ES. Each receiver includes Faroudja DCDi Cinema technology for upscaling all video sources to 1080p via HDMI, and supports the latest audio codecs; Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, dts High Resolution Audio and dts HD Master Audio.

The STR-DA4400ES 7.1 channel receiver has a 120-watt amplifier (8Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.09 percent THD), six HDMI inputs and DSD decoding through HDMI. It offers high-definition video distribution to a second zone, audio distribution to three zones and picture-in-picture for monitoring of multi-zone output or an external video source. The model will be available in August for about $1,500.

The STR-DA3400ES 7.1 channel receiver has a 100-watt power amplifier (8Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.09 percent THD), four HDMI inputs, a 12-volt trigger, IR repeater and high-definition video distribution to a second zone (composite). It will be available in August for around $1,000.

The STR-DA2400ES 7.1 channel receiver has a 100-watt power amplifier (8Ω, 20 Hz – 20 kHz, 0.09 percent THD), a basic icon-driven graphic user interface and four HDMI inputs. The model will be available next month for about $800.

According to Pioneer's European website, 4 Blu-ray disc players will be introduced by the company. The new line-up will include the BDP-LX91 (LX Line Reference Blu-ray disc player with BD-Live / Profile 2.0 support), BDP-LX08 (LX Line "Designer" Blu-ray disc player with BonusView / Profile 1.1 support), BDP-LX71 (LX Line Blu-ray disc player with BonusView / Profile 1.1 support) and the BDP-51FD (Blu-ray disc player with BonusView / Profile 1.1 support).

The BDP-LX71 will be available in September. The BDP-51FD and the BDP-LX08 will arrive in October and the BDP-LX91 later on in winter. Price for each model remains a mystery.

After the Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 announced last month, Auzentech has unveiled its PCI-Express sound card with native HDMI 1.3 output and HDCP support. The Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port.

The sound card has been designed around the latest Creative PCI Express X-Fi audio processor and supports Dolby Digital, DTS as well as EAX 5.0 audio. The release of the Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 is planned for Sept. of 2008, but pricing is still unknown.

Denon will release by the end of the month a couple of new entry-level receivers, the AVC-1909 and AVC-1509.

The first one, priced at $790, is a 7.1-channel receiver with 7x 140W output (6Ω), high-performance 32-bit DSP, Faroudja DCDi video processing with 1080p up-conversion, Audyssey’s Dynamic Volume automatic volume leveling system, Dolby TrueHD / Dolby Digital Plus / DTS-HD Master Audio support and HDMI 1.3a I/O.

Concerning the second amplifier, it provides only 5.1-channel audio with an output power rated at 130W per channel (6Ω). However, as the amplifier is not compatible with 7.1 audio, it doesn't support the latest 7.1 channel surround sound formats. There is also HDMI I/O with video switching, 32-bit DSP and Audyssey’s Dynamic Volume. It will be available for $470.

Roberts introduces the SolarDAB radio which is the world's first solar powered DAB radio. The SolarDAB radio has a solar panel integrated into the top of the unit and a level indicator on the display screen that shows the power level generated by the solar panel, if the sun is strong enough it powers the radio directly otherwise it recharges the internal battery. A fully recharged battery can run the radio for up to 27 hours.

The radio includes UK Band III and L, has a white backlight LCD which gives station and setting informations, a line-in jack for connecting a stereo or mono source (e.g. CD player, iPod, Mp3 player), plus headphone socket.

The Roberts SolarDAB radio is currently available in black, white, pink, red, and green colors, for £79.99.

A few days ago, Onkyo Japan announced a new high-end A/V receiver, the TX-SA706X. Due on July 19th, this new 7.1-channel receiver is certified THX Ultra2 Plus and provides 200 watts per channel. It includes five HDMI 1.3 inputs, Audyssey Dynamic EQ processing and built-in decoding for Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio formats.

After conversion, the retail price will be close to $1,750.