The center channel in your surround-sound system usually does the bulk of the heavy lifting, whether it’s all of that movie dialogue or music vocals that are being pumped out. You’ll want a pretty powerful speaker doing the job of center channel, and MartinLogan is lending a hand with its new “Feature” model.

The Feature is an electrostatic design that is internally powered with a high-resolution 150-watt switching amplifier. The internal amp also gives you a bit of flexibility and reduced wire clutter because you can use its RCA line-level input to connect straight into a wall-mounted TV or other device without going through an external amplifier.

You can use the Feature as a front-channel or surround speaker, too, if you want, and there is standard speaker-level connections as well for use with a traditional receiver.

Along with the 150-watt amp, other features include a Vojtko crossover, neodymium soft-dome tweeter and dual low-distortion 5.25-inch woofers.

The Feature will be available this month at $1,695 each. Need to fill a starring role in your surround-sound setup?

Arlen Schweiger - Editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen writes about home technology installations and product news and reviews for electronichouse.com and Electronic House magazine.