Tag: Sound

Building out that ultimate home theater, but can’t deal with wires running all over the place? Sure, there are plenty of virtual surround systems which consolidate the front, rear and center satellite channels. But all of those really require a subwoofer if you want any meaningful low-end.

The title speaks for itself. Sound Activated Mini Dancing Monkeys has to be the best product name I’ve heard in a long time. What more can you ask for than mini monkeys that dance along to sounds?

Somebody at Pottery Barn’s PBteen division was assigned the task of creating a bookshelf stereo, and appears to have taken the concept a bit too literally by creating a bookshelf with speakers built into it. Actually, the Modular Speaker Double Shelf is actually a pretty clever idea, combining both a sound system and a storage unit into a single piece of furniture.

At almost 5.5-feet tall, you certainly won’t miss these giant speakers in your living room. The Ferguson Hill FH001 loudspeakers feature a huge acrylic horn balanced on a delicate aluminum base. The speakers’ massive horn design allows them to crank out plenty of volume with as little as 5-watts of power driving them.

At the tip-top of the audiophile market, there’s an elite group of folks who think the best way to listen to music is on a good old-fashioned analog turntable. This record player is for them. The DaVinciAudio Labs AAS Gabriel turntable bases its unique design on the same process that’s used to cut grooves into masters for vinyl discs.

I can definitely say I’ve never seen a subwoofer that looks quite like this one. Elemental Designs $2500 Dodecasub offers up ten individual ten-inch subwoofers in a single, geometrically striking package. The enormous multi-element subwoofer looks like a giant twelve-sided die to me.

Soundmatters is best known for their all-in-one surround sound systems which cram an entire 5.1 home theater into a single small box. Up until now, their designs were still a bit too unwieldy for placement anywhere but on a shelf or on top of rear-projection set.

Industrial designer Nicolas Gonzalez Garrido has created this nifty lamp that looks like a dog. It’s called the Guide Dog because when you enter a dark room and whistle, it illuminates to show you the way.

If you’re looking for some deluxe speakers to complement your shmancy crystal radio, look no further than these noisemakers from ELAC. Their new 240 series speakers feature drivers that look like crystal. They’re made from aluminum covered with a angled crystalline surface that mimics the look of a cut precious gem.

Tired of cheap looking plastic portable speakers? These portable speakers are made out of wood, which not only makes them look swell, but should make them sound better than plastic ones too. These compact speakers from China’s Microbon Science connect to your PC or portable media player through a 3.5mm Mini jack.

Creative Japan today took the wraps off this cool portable speaker for the 2G iPod Shuffle. The compact speaker goes great with the brushed metal finish of Apple’s tiny media player. Just dock your 2G Shuffle on the top of Creative’s new Travelsound i50, snap on the clear protective cover and you’re ready to go.

While Microsoft bundles a headset for Xbox 360 online gameplay, it would be an understatement to say that the sound and build quality is a bit sketchy. So what’s a heavy-duty online gamefreak to do? Turtle Beach may have the answer with their Ear Force X3 headset for the Xbox 360.

I’ve written about some out of this world speaker designs in my time, but never anything quite like these speakers from Germany’s MBL. Their 101 E Radialstrahler Reference speakers offer a striking sculptural design that makes them look more like something you’d see at a power plant than something that would crank out world-class audio.

Have a juvenile sense of humor? Now you can get out your immature tendencies with this remote controlled version of the “classic” Whoopee Cushion. Just place the battery-operated receiver unit under your unsuspecting coworker’s chair, head back to your cubicle and press the wireless trigger and let the mayhem ensue.

Many audiophiles will tell you that there’s nothing quite as sweet as the sound of a good old analog tube-based amplifier. While there are a handful for tube amps for the iPod already out there, most of them are quite expensive.

I came across these dramatic little speakers from Bang & Olufsen and they really caught my eye. Not only do they look like no other speakers I’ve ever seen, they’re supposed to sound pretty amazing too.