China-based audio supplier Edifier will enter the U.S. market for the first time with five products, two of them iPod-docking speakers systems.
The other three will be PC multimedia speakers that also connect to other-brand MP3 players via an aux input.

The products will be sold in the U.S. through Fort Worth-based ESI Distribution.

The two iPod-docking speaker systems will launch first. One is the portable AC/DC iF350 iPod/iPhone-docking speaker system with FM radio at less than $120. The other is the $299 AC-only iF500 Luna 5 tabletop system with FM, three-way speaker system, 52 watts of amplification and a spherical speaker enclosure with elliptical profile. Both are Works with iPhone-certified.

Three other products include the E3350 2.1 portable speaker system, MP300 Plus 2.1 portable system and Luna 2 speaker system, all for laptops, PCs and MP3 players.

Edifier will display all five products at this month's Consumer Electronics Associations Line Show on June 22-23 in New York.

The company, launched in Beijing in 1996, sells into more than 50 countries, including Canada, with three products lines: iPod speaker systems, multimedia speakers, and headphones and headsets. It operates four manufacturing facilities around the world, designs and manufactures its own transducers, does its own R&D, designs and assembles its own printed circuit boards, and makes its own tooling, the company said.

The iF350, due at the end of July, is a foldaway portable dock with two 3-inch speakers, FM tuner with automatic search, 18 station presets, aux input, credit-card remote, alarm clock functions, LCD display, and rechargeable lithium-ion battery that delivers up to 15 hours of playback time. A switchable 120-240-volt power supply is included for worldwide use.

The AC-only Luna5 encore iF500, also due at the end of July, is a one-piece unit with an iPod-docking base/control panel and an upright round speaker panel with elliptical profile. The speaker panel incorporates a 5.75-inch bass driver flanked by two 2.75-inch midrange drivers and two 1-inch tweeters. The tweeters and mids, arrayed to maximize stereo separation, are powered by a 22-watt Class D amplifier. The woofer is powered by its own 30-watt Class D amp.

Pressing an illuminated power button causes the base to glow red and exposes touch-sensitive keys that control power, volume, track advance, FM station scan and input selection functions.

The speaker panel incorporates vibration-and resonance-control technologies, bass port, and midrange-tuned cavities.

The product is an International CES 2010 Innovation Honoree Award winner.

Details, shipment dates and prices of the three multimedia speaker systems were unavailable.