Speakers

What's New

Test Report: Sunfire Atmos Subwoofer

Sunfire’s miracle sub: Big bass from a toaster-size box.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted August 23, 2012
For subwoofer designers, the laws of physics boil down to: Small box, low cost, high output — pick any two. You can always shrink the enclosure, but to get decent output from it, you’ll need a high-powered amp and a beefy driver. And if you shrink the box way down, as Sunfire did with its new Atmos subwoofer, you’ll need to go even more extreme.

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Review: Audyssey Wireless Speakers

The home-theater DSP experts continue their quest to occupy your desktop with a new Bluetooth-endowed powered monitor
- By Michael Berk
- Posted August 22, 2012
Audyssey, a firm that's long been on our radar as a near-ubiquitous provider of software algorithms for home theater, has in recent years stepped up its efforts to become a force in the desktop audio hardware market. We loved their first powered speaker pair, the Audyssey Media Speakers, and the company's now followed those up with a Bluetooth version, the aptly named Audyssey Wireless Speakers.

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Sound Choices: How to Pick the Best Speakers for You

Our breakdown of speaker types lets you know the basics of what to look (and listen) for when shopping.
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted August 14, 2012
Virtually all music recordings and film soundtracks are intended by their creators to be heard over speakers. There’s good reason for that: Speakers yield the most natural tone and the most accurate spatial presentation — qualities that are difficult or impossible to match via any sort of headphone listening. But what kind of speakers should you buy?

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Budget Bars: Soundbars from Vizio, Samsung, LG, and Harman Kardon

Four affordable soundbars go shot for shot. Which one will be left standing?
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted August 14, 2012
- 8
TVs are lonely. A beer-soaked barstool at 2 a.m. kind of lonely. They cry out for companionship, their tinny, bass-less voices difficult to hear, even harder to enjoy. When they were young, they held so much promise: high definition, good times, low cost. How quickly came the onset of disappointment?

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AudioXperts 4TV and EVA: High-End, Done Simply

A new startup with a bunch of industry veterans onboard shows off new audio entertainment consoles and Bluetooth speakers
- By Michael Berk
- Posted August 8, 2012
Last night we got a chance to check out the first product offerings from AudioXperts, a new lifestyle audio brand from a bunch of industry veterans, led by Eli Harary, formerly of Boston Acoustics and Infinity. The systems we heard were voiced by John Fischbach, Grammy-winning producer of projects from Stevie Wonder, Carole King, and Cassandra Wilson, to name just a few. Safe to say that the consumers AudioXperts has in mind should be well served on both the business and sonic fronts.

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Pro Audio Technology: P.A. Power, Audiophile Sound

Speakers that sound sweet as sugar but play loud as hell.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted August 1, 2012
- 3
When pro audio technology invades home theaters, it’s usually in the form of a recording monitor repurposed for consumer use. Pro Audio Technology comes at it from another direction: It’s bringing P.A. system technology into the home.

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Review: CEntrance Audiophile Desktop System

A complete high-end sound solution in a compact package
- By Michael Berk
- Posted July 19, 2012
We've long been fans of CEntrance's portable USB DAC/headphone amp, the DACport; in an expanding market of bus-powered USB DACs, the venerable unit (along with its streamlined sibling, the DACport LX) remains a favorite of, and reference for, many reviewers of portable audio gear. Now they've gone ahead and put out a complete two channel system, of all things — the Audiophile Desktop System.

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Dropping In on Bob Carver

We visit an audio legend to get an advance peek at his next products
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted July 18, 2012
Whenever I drive the stretch of I-5 between Seattle and Vancouver, BC, I feel like Luke Skywalker sensing a powerful presence nearby. That’s because I know that just north of Seattle lives one of the true legends of the audio industry: Bob Carver, founder of Phase Linear, Carver Corporation, and Sunfire, and the pioneer of numerous audio technologies during his four-plus decades in the industry.

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Review: Jawbone Big Jambox

One of our favorite Bluetooth speakers gets bigger and badder
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted July 9, 2012
- 4
The original Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker has won raves from us and seemingly everyone else who reviews portable audio gear. That’s partly because of the Jambox’s great sound, partly because of its cool industrial design, and partly because of its flashy programmable features. But even the most shameless marketing guy wouldn’t say the Jambox’s 1.25-inch drivers rock.

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Review: Braven 650 Bluetooth Speaker

Pocketable portable speakers are shaping up to be the next headphones, and a newcomer ups the ante.
- By Michael Berk
- Posted June 28, 2012
Another week, another exciting new line of Bluetooth portable products. This time around, the name behind the speaker is Braven (the company formerly known as Spar), who recently announced three new full-featured models in the Six series. We of course couldn't resist calling in the company's flagship, the $189.99 Braven 650, for a look.

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Review: Sonos Sub

The top multiroom audio system gets some extra bottom
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted June 20, 2012
Since my first lengthy experience with Sonos products, I’ve been recommending them as a simpler, lower-cost alternative to traditional multiroom audio systems. It’s just so much easier. Plug in a Sonos component, go through a simple config, and you have great-sounding music and Internet radio in any room (or many rooms) in a matter of minutes, all controlled by your smartphone or computer.
But there’s one thing a Sonos system doesn’t deliver: bass. Now that’s fixed.

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New Gear: Definitive Technology SoloCinema XTR Soundbar

A simple, skinny, soundbar-and-sub solution from Def Tech
- By Michael Berk
- Posted June 20, 2012
We first heard tell of the new SoloCinema XTR soundbar from Definitive Technology back in January, at the 2012 CES, and the unit impressed us there with the sheer feature set and wattage the Baltimore firm had packed into a 43-inch wide, 2 and 3/8-inch deep profile.

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