Audio/MP3

Judging by the number of e-mails I get on this subject, a lot of folks don't understand the difference between computer and hi-fi speakers. For example, how is an Audioengine A5+ ($399 a pair) functionally different from a PSB Alpha B1 speaker ($300 a pair)?… Read more

Well, yesterday was kind of a train wreck, huh? Believe me that I get just as frustrated as you when a vendor suddenly jacks up the price on a product, as TigerDirect did yesterday on the Vizio sound bar. It's worse than a sellout, because it smacks of bait-and-switch tactics (even though the company's own promotional e-mail showed it at the higher price, so that accusation doesn't hold water).

Anyway, I still feel bad about it, which is why I'm giving you five -- count 'em, five -- deals today. Without further ado:

1. Wal-Mart has … Read more

This is an update of a deal I've posted before.

Most HDTV speakers sound pretty crummy. In their defense, there's just not a lot of room for cones and whatnot inside those skinny LCD and plasma panels. But it's disappointing! Here you spend all this money for a beautiful screen, and your ears pay the price.

One affordable way to improve the audio situation: a sound bar, which is a speaker/receiver combo that sits above or below the screen and does the work of two or more standalone speakers.

While supplies last, TigerDirect has the refurbished … Read more

Picture this -- you are sitting down with a bowl of popcorn to watch your favorite movie on a home entertainment system, hand-selected for you by the CNET editors. I know it sounds too good to be true, but for one lucky … Read more

And now for something completely different.

Need a wireless speaker to complete your home-theater surround system? How about a Pandora-friendly speaker for the living room? Maybe you're just tired of sitting in the dark.

Whatever the case, here's a product I didn't even know existed until this morning, but now feel I must have: today only, 1SaleADay has the Soundolier DUO-CP lamp with wireless speaker for $129.99, plus $4.99 for shipping.

The Soundolier has a list price of $379.99, and that's exactly what you'd pay for one at Amazon. Elsewhere I've … Read more

I'm a lucky guy; audio companies keep asking me to check out their gear, and that's not a bad way to make a living. Before you get too jealous, I have to listen to a lot of crap to find the good stuff. There's a lot of shipping to and fro, and that's not a fun part of my work. Every now and then something really special arrives, and that makes it all worthwhile.

The nice folks at Heir Audio sent over two models of universal-fit headphones, the 3.Ai and 4.Ai, and even before I popped 'em in my ears I thought they might be out of the ordinary.… Read more

Val Kolton has a lot of ideas. I know him first as the man who runs V-Moda, but he's also a hotshot DJ. I met with him in NYC last week for a sneak preview of his brand-new Crossfade M-100 over-the-ear headphones. Kolton had just received the first production batch and hadn't actually listened to the completed headphones yet. I had the honor of listening first, even before the V-Man, and the M-100s totally knocked me out. It has a closed-back 'phone design, but the sound was remarkably open and spacious, a rare feat for a closed design. … Read more

I met Julie Glick a few months ago with some folks from Ultimate Ears at a Head-Fi meeting in NY. UE was promoting a new set of custom-molded in-ear headphones, the Personal Reference Monitors, which are just now entering full production. In her NYC office, Glick can fully demonstrate these unique headphones, which are not only custom-molded to your ears but fine-tuned, soundwise, to your liking. Ultimate Ears technicians use the frequency curve you create to build your Personal Reference Monitors. I crafted my EQ curve in Glick's office; it was a lot of fun to design my sound. … Read more

It was just a few weeks ago when my buddy Tyll Hertsens was raving about Colin Shaw's Sicphones amplifier Kickstarter project. Hertsens never steers me wrong, so I contacted Shaw, and a few days later I received the amp. Hertsens was right. This design uses a newly available SemiSouth silicon carbide transistor, and the amp sounds amazing. If Shaw makes his Kickstarter goal he'll be able to sell amp kits for as little as $229, and assembled amps for $279! DIY-ers can spring for just $35 and get the Sicphones amplifier PC board, assembly instructions, and parts source … Read more