Archive for the ‘speakers’ Category

Entertain Yourself: Jamo A 804 Speakers

In part 1 of our Entertain Yourself series we took a look at the Sony BRAVIA NX800 3D HDTV. It’s our pick for amazing picture quality, industrial design, and packs a wallop of future proof technologies to take you far beyond 2010. Tho the built-in speakers are a wonder in themselves we wanted dedicated speakers. Last year we came across the Jamo A 804 and have been in love ever since.

A beautiful television demands an equally beautiful speaker system. If you take a look at what’s available on the market, speakers are either 80’s industrial boxes or beautifully crafted modern exercises. The former is all performance with no thought to design and the latter is just the opposite, too much design with subpar acoustics. Is there a happy medium?

Take one look at the A 804 – it’s gorgeous! The piano black finish is accented with black leather; fluidic yet technical in appearance. The size is dominating but well suited to Sony’s new monolithic design aesthetic. It’s absolutely stunning and only enhances the entertainment area. Speakers don’t have to be hidden. They can be proudly displayed and the A 804 is more than capable of holding its own amongst the best hardware makers and designers in the industry.

Prior to installing the A 804, we were using a Yamaha Sound Bar which we LOVE. The simulated 5.1 audio system is just the ticket for something better than stereo. The A 804 can function as a single, double, or a full on 5+ speaker setup and it’s the versatility that’ll make any audio guru happy. Unlike other speaker systems, you don’t need a full blown out package to get massive sound. We only have two A 804’s and a subwoofer and we’re more than elated. You will need a receiver to drive the speakers. We’re using a Pioneer model but even when hooked up to a small Denon unit, the sound was full, crisp, and balanced between the high, mids, and lows.

The A 804 is a 3-way, bassreflex speaker. The rigid cabinet constructed from high-gloss, lacquered aluminum, steel and high-density polymer results in a stable, non-resonant cabinet with very clean sound reproduction. One of the secrets of the A 804 lies in its flow-optimized bass port, which delivers extremely clean bass, even at high volume. The silk dome midrange/tweeter is a Jamo developed co-axial unit featuring WaveGuide technology. The clever three-way construction of the A 804 produces a perfect sound dispersion pattern, giving you maximum freedom when positioning your flatscreen, surround system and sofa. Its hard to visualize but sit anywhere around the TV and you never hear the sound drop off. It’s continuous and rich from the farthest corner of our seating arrangement. Sitting dead center is no longer the hottest seat in the house. Everyone gets to enjoy the almost pliable audio experience.

Designer: Jamo (Buy it here)

Tangle Tronics DNA Speakers Aren’t Double Helices

By Evan Ackerman

As a matter of form, it is necessary for me to object on scientific grounds to these speakers being called “DNA” speakers. DNA is a double helix, not just two wiggly polymer strands… I mean, I guess it’s possible that these speakers are DNA after a helicase enzyme has zipped through and broken all of the hydrogen bonds, but if that’s the case, then it really should have said so on the box.

Oh, wait. DNA stands for Dynamic Neural Audio? Never mind then. ‘Course, I can’t tell you what “Dynamic Neural Audio” means either, but I can tell you that these speakers are bendy, powered by USB or AC or batteries, come with an integrated volume control, and cost $40.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ Craziest Gadgets ]

Sounds from Behind

This is the strangest audio device I believe I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s just bizarre. It’s called the “Asspeaker” and it’s probably not for your average home. The main unit is the subwoofer and the control station. The smaller units are speakers and connect to the controller through bluetooth technology, they work as single cheek units and can be connected to store as one small butt. To activate the unit, one must tap the unit.

Tap the main unit to turn the speakers on. Once tapped, the unit shows that it’s received the command with a small red light (kind of like what happens when a cheek is smacked). This light goes away after three seconds. Rubbing the unit on either cheek in a circular motion turns the sound up (rotating right), and turns the sound down (rotating left.) The speakers are connected with bluetooth, and the distributor label AltecLansing is “tattooed” on the cheeks.

Any votes on what song would be best played on these?

Designers: Younes Daneshvar and Javad Yazdani
Rendered by: Mohsen Tafazzoli

TerraCycle Recycles Tasty Treat Wrappers Into Speakers [Speakers]

These recycled speakers are interesting, TerraCycle, but I won’t be 100% impressed until you find a way to turn the World’s Largest Cheeto into a speaker too.

Lame jokes aside, TerraCycle actually has a decent little business plan going on. Put simply, they recycle the world’s garbage into electronics, bags and other knick knacks, and sell them on the cheap.

These Frito-Lay Cheeto speakers, for example, sell at Radio Shack for $20. They won’t melt your face, but I can see them finding a comfortable home on the desk of some college undergrad. [TerraCycle via CNET]

Polk HitMaster “Monitor” Means Inexplicable Faux Instrument Arms Race Actually Exists [Polk]

The disdain I harbored for that ridiculous Altec Lansing Guitar Hero “stage monitor” was fading this morning, but news from Polk that they, too, would be entering the world of fake music accessories revived those feelings anew.

This isn’t to say the so-called Polk HitMaster doesn’t have a bunch of extra features, which it does. There’s 60 watts packed in the unit’s 13-lb. frame; a pair of 2.2×5.5-inch horns; and two 1-in. tweeters. Top it all off with a 6.5-in. sub and you have yourself an impressive faux stage monitor. Oh, and there’s also iPod support should you want to listen to some real musicians.

Arrives in early 2010 for $100. [Polk Hot Hardware via Engadget]

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