Mountlake Terrace, Wash. - AudioControl has begun shipping a new high-power, two-channel amplifier that drives up to eight speakers in a custom-installed multi-room-audio system.

 The Architect Model 210 is stable to 2 ohms, allowing for connection to up to eight speakers in large spaces or large zones. With low power consumption of less than 1 watt at standby, it also meets the new Energy Star 2 energy-consumption requirements despite its high-power output, the company said.

 Power output is rated at 2x240 watts into 2 ohms, and bridged-to-mono output is 410 watts. Other features include dual speaker-output terminals for each channel, optional 5-way binding posts, main plus auxiliary inputs with signal-sensing auto turn-on, stereo/mono control, blue front-panel status LED indicators, LEDs to signify signal presence on speaker outputs, and subsonic filter for speaker protection. It also features speaker-optimization controls.

 Dealer pricing wasn't announced.