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Exclusive hands-on with the Fatman iTube 452

In the audiophile world, iPods aren't exactly highly regarded. And that sentiment often extends beyond iPods, to all portable music players. The very name "MP3 player" is, to the audio elitist, synonymous with poor audio quality, lossy encoding, and discarded fidelity.

It's sad that, for the most part, they're right. For those of us who want more, however, there are solutions. Fatman's iTube 452 is one such product, and we've been given one to play with. It's a 1,500-pound ($2,992) valve amp, with no less than nine heat-pumping valves to … Read more

Fatman iTube 452: It's a series of tubes!

When you hear the word "iTube," you're probably more likely to assume it's the name of a grossly self-obsessed version of YouTube. But you'd be wrong, as fans of Fatman--the company, not the game--would tell you. The iTube 452 is in fact Fatman's uber-stylish new valve amplifier and it comes with the ValveDock for seamless integration with iPods.

Valve amps claim to offer a warmer, more natural musical sound than that from today's common transistor-based amplifiers, and they're often favored by audiophiles. With the iPod's arguably good sound quality and … Read more