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Introducing B&O's new portable wireless speaker

Just when you thought all speakers looked the same, along comes Bang & Olufsen with the BeoLab 90. Okay, so it’s not the first loudspeaker to break with convention, but with its combination of pentagons and rhombuses it’s certain to stand out from the crowd. The BeoLab 90 utilises Active Room Compensation to measure the effects of the acoustic behaviour of the four walls around it. It does this by employing a microphoneto measure the effects of different positions within the room so that it can select a suitable compensation filter.

New entry-level bespoke equipment supports

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Beach Boys' classic albumPet Sounds. To mark the occasion, the band is planning to release a special 50th Anniversary boxset in June. The deluxe collector's edition comes on four CD/Blu-ray discs stored in a natty-looking hardback book. The collection will include stereo, mono and high-resolution recordings of the album, plus instrumentals, 5.

Were I gifted the time and resources to write a hi-fi thesis, I feel there is a strong case to be made for exploring regional similarities in the design and creation of audio equipment that is broader than national borders. If I needed physical evidence to back this up, I could do a lot worse than point to this system. There are roughly 400 miles between Cliffwood New Jersey and Montreal in Canada – in North American terms a journey of very little consequence. There is also a national border and a partial language change.

Bixiga 70 has announced details of their latest album, III, which is released on 11 September on Glitterbeat Records. The São Paulo-based combo is one of the guiding voices of Brazil’s contemporary instrumental music scene. Taking Fela Kuti’s Afrika 70 band as a launchpad both in name and spirit, this explosive 10-piece unleashes a ground-breaking fusion of African and South American rhythms and sounds. The band’s aptly named third album, III, is a luminescent and energised mixture of Atlantic cultures.

Reimagining its hi-res streamingand wireless lineup, Bluesound – the Canadian multi-room music system specialist – unveils its Generation 2i (Gen 2i) platform, with extensive hardware and software updates. The comprehensive redesign sees updates in all Gen 2i models that includes dual-band wi-fi, AirPlay 2 support and two-way Bluetooth with aptX HD support. A 3. 0 version of its BluOS control app is included in the Node 2i network streamer (£499), Powernode 2i network streamer and amplifier – now with two Toslink/3.