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From Boxes to Cans: Seven Headphones from Speaker Manufacturers

Can traditional speaker companies make a mark in the headphone biz?
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted June 25, 2012
- 1
These days, the headphone biz is hot. The speaker biz? Not as hot. So it’s no surprise that every major speaker company is either launching a headphone line or thinking about it. And why not? They’re experts in developing, manufacturing, and marketing audio products. How hard could it be for them to launch a line of headphones?

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Review: Focal Spirit One

Utopian vibe and dramatic soundstaging in an audiophile headphone
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted June 25, 2012
Some audiophiles consider Focal’s $180,000-per-pair Grande Utopia EM to be the world’s finest speaker. The Spirit One, Focal’s first headphone, weighs about 99.9% less and costs about 99.8% less. Yet its brushed aluminum metal parts, matte black soft-touch finishes, and detachable cord with a woven cover convey some of the Utopias’ high-end vibe.

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Tech Trends 2012: Headphone Haven

This year, veteran firms and upstarts alike gave us an earful
- By Michael Berk
- Posted March 27, 2012
THERE WERE countless headphone exhibitors at CES 2012: familiar names showing incremental upgrades to longstanding models, Chinese OEMs showcasing suspiciously familiar designs under house brands, upstart firms testing the waters with hybrid driver designs and innovative fit systems, automotive and furniture firms muscling their way into the latest hot retail category.

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Test Report: Focal Little Bird 2.1 Speaker System

Desktop speakers that earn their wings.
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted January 30, 2012
- 1
Focal has flipped me the bird. The company is hardly the first to have done so (even just among audio manufacturers) and is unlikely to be the last. But none before has done so quite as elegantly or enjoyably.

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CEDIA Expo 2011: Speakers and Minisystems

A roundup of the coolest new audio toys from the custom installation show.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted September 12, 2011
From an audio standpoint, the CEDIA Expo used to be little more than a showcase for in-wall speakers and other products built mainly for multiroom systems and custom home theaters. But with the decline in home sales over the last few years, the custom market isn’t so hot anymore.

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