speaker

How quickly things change. Barely a couple of months ago we were whining about the dearth of wireless audio systems on the market; now it seems as if our cup runneth over.

The latest to join the fray is a new home theater system from Acoustic Research, a subset of Audiovox, which promises "CD performance" in its sound. The wireless setup includes five "voice-matched" satellite speakers that the company says uses a special channel so it won't conflict with the frequencies of phones, computers, microwaves and other household devices, according to Electronic House.

All this … Read more

If you've got teenagers in your house, you've got loud music. Lots of it. But be aware, it could be worse: They could have a bed that plays music too.

The "Tune-In Bed" from PBteen essentially turns an entire headboard into a sound system with two 4-inch stereo speakers and a control panel for connections to an iPod or MP3 player. (Maybe there's a way for parents to hack the volume levels.)

This "biggest iPod dock in the world," as Red Ferret calls it, doesn't come cheap--it's $700. But that's … Read more

If you take a '70s boombox and digitally morph it into the future, you'd have this iPod speaker system. It even takes the same kind of power supply as its forefathers--eight D-size flashlight batteries, which means it's not something that can be tossed easily into your messenger bag.

Harman Kardon's "Go + Play" does bring the concept into the 21st century with a 120-watt amplifier, twin Atlas drivers and twin Ridge drivers. But iLounge observes "one serious oddity"--it doesn't include full support for the Nano. And at $350, that could be a … Read more

You know a design trend has gone too far when you start to see products like this. We like technologies encased in wood as much as anyone but, like fine furniture, it's got to be done right to be any good. Case in point: the "iDear" wooden speaker, which Red Ferret says can apparently be hooked up to a phone or media player through its USB connection. Regardless of what this keychain-sized speaker sounds like, it's just--how can we put this delicately--coyote ugly. And we don't mean that in a good way.

If simplicity creates good design, this is a perfect example. With so many MP3 speakers on the market, it's almost impossible to stand out. But this system from MoMA has managed to do just that, not by adding bells and whistles but by reducing its appearance.

The "Soundsticks II," as you can plainly see, has a transparent casing that lets you inspect its innards while enjoying "high-quality stereo sound for music, MP3s, movies, and games." Uber-Review says the bases of the speakers are easy to adjust, which is a good thing because you wouldn't … Read more

Here in Manhattan we have all these overpriced, semi-trashy, "see and be seen"-type nightclubs that routinely show up in the pages of Us Weekly. They all have one thing in common, aside from the price-gouging on bottle service: each one inevitably features some kind of luminescent gimmick inside, be it a giant tank of jellyfish or a light show on the ceiling. Well, if you can't get enough of that stuff, here's a set of speakers that will bring nightlife into your home--the I-Lit, which feature pulsing colored light to the beat of your music (… Read more

If H.G. Wells had envisioned a set of speakers that could take over the planet, they would have looked like these.

This Martian-impersonating pair hails from Western Ireland, created by former BMW designer Aonghus O'hEocha. Hammacher Schlemmer says the hand-crafted 200-watt isobaric speakers "provide the clearest three-dimensional soundstage performance available." They'd better, when you see the price: $9,000.

Then again, as eyeball-shaped alien speakers go, that's a lot cheaper than Cabesse's $150,000 "La Sphere." Talk about the end of the world.

TV sets aren't the only home entertainment products that have flattened out. The "Fret" audio system, designed by U.K. design house Studiomold, includes a subwoofer and two flat carboard speakers that can be mounted almost flush against the wall. Shiny Shiny says the pair, which comes in black or white, can be used with MP3 players or TV stereos. By the looks of this unit, it might work as a decent window treatment as well.

The onslaught of flat TVs has clearly been confounding for furniture makers, which have lost their staple faux armoires and have been struggling to come up with an equally popular replacement ever since. Evesham, at least, is making an effort to add function to form with a TV stand that also serves as a surround-sound system.

The "Sound Stage X1" matches many of today's plasma and LCD designs with a glossy black and glass finish, which masks nine--count 'em, nine--speakers built into its frame, according to Pocket-lint.

The stand isn't the cheapest at nearly $600, but … Read more