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August 22, 2009 10:22 AM PDT

A unique iPod speaker

by Steve Guttenberg
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The Phonofone II

(Credit: Tristan Zimmermann)

I'm no fan of iPod speakers; most of the ones I hear at the CNET offices tend to sound pretty awful. But Tristan Zimmermann's Phonofone II iPod speaker is just so cool I couldn't resist writing about it. The ceramic device uses what looks like a miniature horn modeled after an old-fashioned Victrola.

Conceptually the Phonofone II owes a lot to the earliest pure acoustic record players that made sound without electrical amplification. I have heard some of those sound remarkably good. Victor-Victrolas were made from 1901 to 1929.

According to Unica Home's Web site the Phonofone II "... boosts the audio output of standard earphones to up to 55 decibels (or roughly the maximum volume of laptop speakers) upon connecting active earphones to the Phonofone their trebly buzzing is instantly and profoundly transformed into a warm, rich and resonant sound." In other words the horn acoustically amplifies the sound of the earbud/headphone driver.

... Read more
Originally posted at The Audiophiliac
Steve Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to magazines and Web sites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
April 21, 2008 3:04 AM PDT

The Phonofone goes black

by Mike Yamamoto
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(Credit: Charles & Marie)

Sometimes the most popular gadgets on Crave are the simplest of all. (Who could forget those drive-in speakers or the singing theremin doll?)

Perhaps the best example we've seen lately is the "Phonofone II," a ceramic device that requires no external power source and relies on "passive amplification" instead of any digital wizardry to work with the earphones of an iPod or other MP3 player. And now it's being offered in black, a special edition of 200 available for a limited time.

Simple doesn't necessarily mean cheap, however, and this version of the Phonofone is living proof: It goes for about $600, according to Pocket-lint. Back in Nipper's day, that would have probably bought about a million RCA dogs.

April 2, 2008 5:23 AM PDT

A speaker for the RCA Dog, if he had an iPod

by Mike Yamamoto
  • 1 comment
(Credit: Unica Home)

If retro is indeed the future, at least where design is concerned, then this item may be destined for immortality. The "Phonofone II" amplifier--excuse us, "sculptural audio console"--is a ceramic rendition of the gramophone done in iPod white, GeekSugar says. That's no coincidence, as it's been designed specifically for use with said media player (though we suspect it'll work with other MP3 devices as well).

What's even more unusual, however, is that it works by way of "passive amplification" through the player's earphones and therefore requires no external source of power. Instead, according to Unica Home, the Phonofone "inventively exploits the virtues of horn acoustics to boost the audio output of standard earphones to up to 55 decibels."

If you believe all that, you probably won't have a problem paying $500 to find out if it really works--which, amazingly enough, is more than 40 percent cheaper than originally estimated last year. And if it doesn't live up to its billing, you can always stick some flowers in it and use it as a vase.

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