Every year product life cycles in the consumer marketplace grow ever shorter and we see ever faster turnover in cameras, phones computers, and so on. On the audio side, the latest and greatest receivers become yesterday's news faster than you can say "HDMI 1.4." It seems like no receiver can stay current for more than a year or so.
Speaker companies show a little more restraint and "refresh" their lines every few years, but even then new models rarely demonstrate actual performance improvements over the previous generations' models. Speaker manufacturer Magnepan doesn't play by those rules; it invests years of development in each of its models before introducing a new speaker. It has to sound better--a lot better--than the outgoing model before it's released to the world.
The new Magneplanar 1.7
(Credit: Magnepan)And not just in the opinion of the designers. New-model Magnepans undergo extensive "blind" listening tests with a wide range of audiophile and non-audiophile listeners (the listeners don't know whether they're hearing the old or new model). The new speaker must consistently score better than the old model before it goes into production.
When I first heard the Magneplanar 1.6 back in 2008 I said it was the best under-$2,000 speaker on the market. Incredibly enough it was 10 years old at the time! The Magneplanar 1.6 has stayed in production for 12 years, but now it's about to be replaced with the new Magneplanar 1.7.
Magnepan, based in White Bear Lake, Minn., builds nothing but panel (boxless) speakers. Not only that, Magnepan designs forgo conventional dome tweeters and cone-type woofers. As I pointed out in my August 14, 2008, blog that's why the company's Magneplanar 1.6 speaker mostly avoids sounding like a speaker. The speaker earned the top position in my Top 10 greatest audiophile speakers blog earlier this year.
The new Magneplanar 1.7 is also a flat-panel design, 64.5 inches tall and a mere 2 inches thick! The new speaker looks a little more contemporary, thanks to its aluminum, wrap-around edge molding. The old model was a two-way design, with a 48-inch-tall aluminum ribbon tweeter and a 442-square-inch mid/bass panel. The Magneplanar 1.7 is a three-way design, with a woofer, tweeter, and super-tweeter. The super-tweeter comes in around 10,000 hertz and is said to produce wider dispersion and better-resolved treble than the Magneplanar 1.6 did.
The other big difference is the Magneplanar 1.7 is a "full-range" ribbon design. ... Read more
If you have a favorite animal, chances are you can now find it in the form of an iPod speaker. We've seen everything from pigs and pandas to cats and dogs. Heck, even insect lovers aren't left out in the cold, thanks to Vestalife's array of winged speakers.
One of these is the $130 Firefly, an iPod and iPhone speaker dock with a solid feel, compact design, and pleasing audio quality. For those who are after a different-looking portable speaker with a reasonable smattering of extras, this unit could fit the bill.
Klipsch's nifty ProMedia 2.1 does bona fide stereo, and its subwoofer belts out more and better bass than single-box iPod speaker systems.
(Credit: Klipsch)I don't know why, but it seems like almost every iPod speaker I hear here at CNET is a wretched-sounding thing. Most have screechy treble, lumpy bass, and vocals never sound remotely human.
As always, you get what you pay for, and the cheapest ones tend to be the worst offenders, but hey, they're cheap.
Some, going for upward of $300 are somewhat less horrible, but for three hundred bucks, you could actually buy a nice set of hi-fi speakers.
The A2 speakers
(Credit: Audioengine)And since most iPod speakers are one-piece systems, they don't do stereo all that well. Sure, many incorporate some sort of processing to simulate stereo separation, but that usually messes up their already pitiful sound quality even more. With separate speakers, you can place them far enough apart to make stereo sound like stereo. Which stereo speakers, you ask?
I like Klipsch's little 2.1-channel iPod solution, the ProMedia 2.1 iPod/Computer Speaker system that goes for $150. It features a pair of two-way satellite speakers and a 6.5-inch powered subwoofer. Separate speakers means it does bona fide stereo, and the sub is big enough to generate real bass.
The larger A5 speakers
(Credit: Audioengine)For $199 you could buy a pair of Audioengine A2 speakers and hook them up directly to your iPod. In my opinion, the A2 sounds at least as good as any single-box $400 iPod speaker I've heard. Granted, the $600 high-end iPod speakers make a lot more bass, but it's still on the thick, boomy, and bloated side of natural. And they're $600! For that kind of dough, you could buy a small stereo receiver and actual hi-fi speakers.
You can read my complete A2 review here.
... Read moreI'm not a big fan of small speakers or subwoofers.
They tend to sound, well, small, and most of them squash the life out of films and music.
Thing is, people like tiny speakers and subs, so lots of speaker companies make, and sell tons of iffy-sounding 5.1 systems.
The Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 system.
(Credit: Definitive Technology)But they're not all bad, I've cherry-picked three truly exceptional alternatives from Definitive Technology, Energy Speakers, and Mirage. My complete reviews are all on CNET, but I'll run down the highlights here.
The Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 System is a six-piece package with four 7-inch tall satellite speakers, one 10.5-inch wide center speaker, and a minisubwoofer. The injection-molded mineral-filled polymer cabinets have more of a high-end feel than your typical plastic or fiberboard cabinets. Can you say "rock solid?"
The subwoofer is a conventional, matte-finished medium-density-fiberboard box. It measures 13 by 10.3 by 13 inches. Its side-mounted volume control is a convenient design touch.
The satellites are two-way designs with a 1-inch aluminum-ceramic dome tweeter and a 3.25-inch midrange driver. Ah, but the midrange driver is acoustically coupled to a 3.25-inch pressure-driven planar low-frequency radiator on the top panel (so when the midrange driver moves in, the passive radiator moves out, and vice-versa).
The passive radiator effectively doubles the bass radiating area of the tiny midrange driver. The same technique is employed on the center channel speaker; it has a pair of 3.25-inch midrange drivers flanking a 1-inch tweeter--and there's a 3.25-inch radiator on each side of the speaker.
The subwoofer's 8-inch polymer cone woofer is acoustically coupled to a bottom-mounted 8-inch passive radiator. The combined radiating area of the driver and radiator is almost equivalent to a single 12-inch woofer. This little sub kicks butt!
... Read moreI know, I know...you're thinking, "really? Another holiday-themed list? Really!" But here's the thing: this one is legen(wait for it)dairy! Or awesome, take your pick. Actually, the selections here could make appropriate gifts for any time of year. the reason I just had to make another one is that I wanted complete creative control over the stuff to be included. No sticking to one category, no price guidelines, heck, no having to include only things that are actually available in the U.S. (Consider yourself warned.) This list includes seven sweet gadgets I'd love to see under my tree or would happily plunk down my own hard-earned cash for, plus two extras "just for kicks." Enjoy.
In the vast sea of MP3 players, headphones, and other portable audio accessories, not all can reign supreme. Some have the best battery life, some provide the boomiest bass, and some offer the best bang for your buck. But we're not addressing these more "nebulous" items here. Instead, we've got a list based only on the hardest data we can get: hits.
The top 10 most popular portable audio gadgets list is based solely on traffic numbers. Of course, even this measurement is not without a couple of caveats. Namely, these numbers favor older products, since newer products have had less time on the site to build traffic. In addition, gadgets on our top products lists also get some favoritism because--well--they're the most popular pages on CNET.
Check 'em out--in order from 1 to 10--below.
Portable speakers for your MP3 player are easy enough to come by, but the smaller of these often suffer from problematic audio. Every once in a while, though, we come across a supercompact speaker that surprises us. The X-Mini Max II Capsule Speaker is one such model, featuring an innovative, travel-friendly design and surprisingly good sound quality for just $49.95. One thing's for sure: we wouldn't complain if we found one of these under our tree this year.
Read the X-Mini Max II review.
For just $9.99 you can stuff a stocking with the cool, practical HiJack Headphone Splitter Keychain.
(Credit: ThinkGeek)What do you get for the iPhone user who has, well, an iPhone? After all, the device itself is the gift that keeps on giving. Am I right?
Anyway, I've rounded up five iPhone-friendly items for the holidays. Whether you're shopping for a Secret Santa gift for a co-worker, a stocking stuffer for your hubby (or missus), or something to round out the latter nights of Hanukkah, one of these should fit the bill.
1) A gift card...that later turns into an iPhone stand! Start with any gift card--Starbucks, iTunes (duh), or whatever--then tell the recipient to bring it back to you after it's used up. Following these simple Instructables instructions, do a little waving-your-magic-wand thing and turn that card into a cute, clever, portable, and virtually indestructible stand. Who knew a gift card could keep on giving?
2) The world's best (?) battery pack Blogger Josh Bancroft calls this Monoprice iPhone Backup Battery Pack the "best $15 you can spend," and I'm inclined to agree. For just $15.23 you get a 2200mAh battery, which is good for roughly two full iPhone charges. Just one problem: It's currently on back order. Well, you can always print a photo from the product page, write "coming soon," and stuff that in the stocking.
... Read moreThe best of today's home theater in a box systems are excellent, but how do you find the one that's right for you?
First, read my CNET reviews; they're loaded with information about how easy the HTIB is to use and how well it performs. It may be a dubious honor, but I probably hold the record for testing more HTIBs for magazines and Web sites than any other reviewer.
Most HTIBs come with Blu-ray or DVD players, receivers, and five or more speakers and a subwoofer. Right, HTIBs also come with lots of wires and setup chores, so they're almost as complex to install as separate receiver, player, and speaker-based home theater systems.
Onkyo's HT-S9100THX is the best-sounding HTIB on the planet.
(Credit: Onkyo)If that's more than you bargained for, maybe you should be looking for something simpler: a single-speaker surround system? That would eliminate most of the wiring and setup hassles. Check my CNET reviews to see if one is right for you.
For small bedrooms or dorm rooms, a budget HTIB or single-speaker surround system may be ideal. Family-size home theaters may require larger systems with larger speakers and powered subwoofers.
Connectivity varies a lot in this category, so don't assume all HTIBs have what you need. If you don't want to switch inputs on your TV every time you select a different video source, say from a game system to a Blu-ray player, make sure the HTIB has enough HDMI and other video inputs. Some HTIBs don't switch video at all. Some have USB inputs and iPod-docking capabilities.
HTIBs tend to sound best with movies; music comes in a distant second place. I always refer to HTIBs' performance with movies and music, so if you plan on listening to a lot of music over your new system, definitely look for that in the reviews. Don't assume the sound will be equally good for music and movies; it rarely is.
... Read more
The ZiiSound D5 with an iPod touch docked.
(Credit: John Chan/CNET Asia)SHENZHEN, China--Aside from the Zii platform, Creative also showcased some of its consumer products during the Zii Summit here. A particularly interesting specimen was an iPod speaker dock called ZiiSound D5. Our first question was: Is there a Zii processor in there? The answer is no. We don't know why Creative would want to borrow its processor's name, but this new range of speakers won't have Zii chips in them.
Like many other iPod docks, this one will act as both speakers and a charger for your Apple MP3 player or iPhone. A dongle attaches to the iPod connector and audio will be transmitted to the dock via Bluetooth. If you'd rather use a 3.5mm jack for music output, that's also available.
There hasn't been an official announcement for this product, yet, but it will be available by early 2010. Pricing is still unconfirmed, but a Creative spokesperson estimates it will go for about $299. Aside from the D5, a Zii Egg-compatible version called the D3 will also be available.
(Source: Crave Asia)
