I know we haven’t been covering reviews from other websites recently – that’s something I hope to change over the next few months or so as we expand our staff even further. To help change things up, here’s a review of the EMP Tek Impression Series E5TiR Floorstanding Loudspeaker by the folks at Audioholics. These speakers have apparently taken folks on the Internet by storm thanks in no small part to the incredible introductory pricing of $400 dollars a pair (the MSRP is $730 dollars a pair). However, what do the folks at Audioholics think? Here’s an excerpt from the conclusion:

“There is a part of me that is angry at EMP. Angry that they’ve opened my eyes to the true costs of speakers. Sure, the E5Ti Impression series speakers aren’t perfect but for $400, they are so far beyond what I expected that I actually have to change the bar. When you hear them, I’m betting you’ll be doing the same.”

Hm.. might have to check out these floorstanding beauties!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: EMP Tek Impression Series E5TiR Floorstanding Loudspeaker, Audioholics Review

The new Bose SoundDock 10 digital music system is the latest iPod one-piece speaker system to come from Bose – joining the ranks of the SoundDock Series II and the SoundDock Portable system. Features of the SoundDock 10 include:

• Incorporates the latest version of Bose’s proprietary waveguide technology – developed specifically for the SoundDock 10
• New waveguide reduced from 75 inches to 52 inches without compromising audio performance
• Newly designed Bose woofer which delivers four times the efficiency of a conventional woofer
• Two proprietary Bose Twiddler transducers optimally positioned in front of the system to complete full range of music reproduction
• Proprietary digital signal processing algorithms improves sound reproduction
• Internal switching power supply eliminates the need for external transformer
• Proprietary vibration isolation structure used to maintain iPod and iPhone performance
• Made for iPod and Works with iPhone certified
• Compatible with any click-wheel iPod or iPod touch and iPhone 3GS, 3G and original iPhone
• Optional Bluetooth dock allows you to stream music wirelessly from a stereo Bluetooth music phone. New docks will be made available to support new devices over time
• Auxiliary input
• Video output
• Infrared remote control
• Measures 9 x 17 x 10 inches

The Bose SoundDock 10 is available from Bose for a suggested price of $599. The optional Bluetooth interchangeable dock is available for $149. Both products will be available starting on September 21st.

Technorati Tags: Bose SoundDock 10 Digital Music System

First introduced back in 1946, Klipsch is bringing back their hand-built Heritage line of speakers in the UK. Four new models make up the Heritage lineup.They are:

Klipschorn Floorstanding Loudspeaker:

• Highly efficient: 105 dB 1W / 1M
• Measures 1.28 meters high
• Weighs 80 kg
• 1 inch tweeter
• 2 inch midrange driver
• 15 inch Fibre-composite woofer
• Capable of extreme output levels with ultra low distortion and astonishing dynamic range
• Available in a high-quality Cherry, Walnut or Black Ash wood veneer finish
• Priced at £5999

La Scala II Floorstanding Loudspeaker:

• Fully horn-loaded, 3-way system with a folded-horn 15” woofer, 2” midrange and 1” tweeter compression drivers.
• Capable of extreme output levels with ultra low distortion and astonishing dynamic range
• Available in a high-quality Cherry, Walnut or Black Ash wood veneer finish
• Priced at £3399

Cornwall III Floorstanding Loudspeaker:

• A three-way design using horn-loaded Midrange and high frequency compression drivers for the midrange and treble.
• Direct-radiating 15-inch woofer for powerful low frequencies.
• Available in a high-quality Cherry, Walnut or Black Ash wood veneer finish
• Priced at £1699

Heresy III Floorstanding Loudspeaker:

• A three-way design using horn-loaded Titanium diaphragm midrange and high frequency compression drivers.
• Direct-radiating 12-inch woofer for powerful low frequencies.
• 99 dB sensitivity delivers Smooth, dynamic and low distortion sound
• Available in a high-quality Cherry, Walnut or Black Ash wood veneer finish
• Priced at £849

[Via Pocket-Lint]

Technorati Tags: Klipsch Heritage Floorstanding Loudspeakers, Klipschorn, La Scala II, Cornwall III, Heresy III

Fans of Speakal will be happy to hear that the company is increasing their distribution channels. They’ve struck a retail agreement with J&R Music and Computer World which means folks in NYC will soon be able to purchase those cute Speakal iPod docking stations at retail J&R stores. Not in NYC? No worries – you’ll also be able to purchase the iPig, iPanda, and iBoo from the J&R website too. How cute.. Now the real question is – does anyone actually have one of these guys?

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Speakal iPod docking stations, J&R music World

Sony expanded their home theater product lineup this week with the introduction of five new systems – the HT-CT500 home theater sound bar, the HT-SS360 home theater system, the DAV-HDX285 DVD home theater system, the DAV-HDX587WC DVD home theater system, and the DAV-HDX589W home theater system. Here’s what you need to know about each of the new systems.

Sony HT-CT500 Home Theater Sound Bar:

• 3.1 channel system consisting of two pieces – a sound bar and a subwoofer – all connected by a single wire
• 400 watts (RMS) of total power
• A/V receiver built into the subwoofer
• Three 1080p HDMI inputs and one HDMI output
• Two component inputs and several audio inputs
• Slim speaker form factor designed to match the BRAVIA W5100 and XBR9 TV series
• Supports 1080/60p and 1080/24p video and Deep Color and x.v.Color
• Multi-room ready via S-AIR which can transmit wireless audio up to 164 feet
• Digital Media Port (DMP) for external audio sources
• Icon-based menu
• Faroudjas’ DCDi Cinema chip for upscaling of all video to HD qualities via HDMI
• Available in June for around $500 dollars

Sony HT-SS360 Component System:

• 5.1 channel system with component A/V receiver
• 1000 watts (RMS) of total power
• Three HDMI inputs and one output
• Supports 1080/24p and 60p video as well as LPCM audio
• Center console designed to match BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 Blu-ray Disc players.
• Digital Media Port
• DMPort Booster technology enhances sound quality of all audio and video
• Available in May for around $350

Sony DAV-HDX587WC home theater system

• 5.1 channel system
• Includes “easy setup” disc for step by step instructions on how to set up everything
• iPod cradle for audio/video playback via Digital Media Port
• DMPort Booster technology
• Sony S-AIR technology for wireless audio transmissions up to 164 feet
• Includes S-AIR multi-room listening station (model AIR-SA10)
• Upscale DVD video to near HD via HDMI
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration, Portable Audio Enhancer and Dialogue Enhancer technologies
• Available this month for around $430

Sony DAV-HDX589W home theater system:

• 5.1 channel system
• Includes “easy setup” disc for step by step instructions on how to set up everything
• iPod cradle for audio/video playback via Digital Media Port
• DMPort Booster technology
• Sony S-AIR technology for wireless audio transmissions up to 164 feet
• includes S-AIR wireless rear speakers (model WAHT-SA10)
• Upscale DVD video to near HD via HDMI
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration, Portable Audio Enhancer and Dialogue Enhancer technologies
• Available this month for around $430

Sony DAV-HDX285 home theater system:

• 5.1 channel system
• iPod cradle, Digital Media Port, and DMPort Booster
• Movie/music mode automatically detects what is being listened to and optimizes audio accordingly
• Includes “Easy setup” disc
• Upscales DVD to near HD via HDMI port
• S-AIR ready – you just need to purchase additional S-AIR speakers
• Available this month for around $300

Technorati Tags: Sony, Sony HT-CT500 home theater sound bar, Sony HT-SS360 home theater system, Sony DAV-HDX285 DVD home theater system, Sony DAV-HDX587WC DVD home theater system, Sony DAV-HDX589W

If you’ve been desperately trying to locate a retailer who carries the Speakal iPod docking stations (come on.. you do remember that cute iBoo docking station from last month don’t ya?) then you’re in luck. The company announced today that their entire iPod docking station product lineup is available for sale on Amazon.com. Yes, I did say entire product lineup because there’s more than just the iBoo. There’s also the iPig and iPanda (but of course!).

These iPod docking stations have the following features:

• The “smiley” mouth hides a remote control sensor while the eyes are actually two mid- and high-range speakers. The subwoofer is hidden below and is downward firing. Each docking station comes with rubberized feet to prevent rattling while powered on.
• Patented humanized touch volume control and music navigation
• 4 speakers, a 4” subwoofer and 25 watts of sound
• Adjustable Bass Control with Bass Reflex Technology. 360° Sound Distribution. Onboard Hi-Fi amplifier, dynamic airflow optimizer, interior dynamic cooling exchange and high sound stabilization (some models feature varying audio features).
• iPod dock with numerous included cradles
• Standard auxiliary 3.5 mm input jack
• Includes remote control for managing audio controls and iPod menu functionality

The Speakal iPig and iPanda are both currently available at Amazon.com for $119.99. The Speakal iBoo is available for $89.99.

Technorati Tags: Speakal iBoo, Speakal iPig, Speakal iPanda, iPod docking station

Now here’s a novel concept. Instead of having traditional bookshelf speakers that sit on top of bookshelves.. why not build the speakers into the shelving units directly? That’s the idea behind these design concepts by Polish designers Witek Stefaniak and Anielka Zdanowicz over at designboom.com. Now of course.. if you’re blaring music, you might want to reconsider placing anything valuable or fragile on top of these shelves.. but hey, it’s still a great space saving idea!

[Check it out via DVICE.com]

Automatically translated into Chinese

Technorati Tags: soundshelf, speakers, shelves

Bored of all those iPod docks out there?  How about a Ghost-shaped iPod dock? Yup – that’s what you get with the newly released iBoo iPod docking station released ahead of schedule by the folks at Speakal. Features of the iBoo include:

• Functions as both an audio player and decorative piece
• The mouth functions as a sensor for receiving remote control commands
• The eyes contain mid and high range speakers while a downward-firing subwoofer is hidden below for a total of 15 watts of power
• Rubberized feet to help prevent rattling
• “Humanized” touch volume control and music navigation
• iPod dock with several cradles
• 3.5 mm input jack
• Environmental friendly
• Mini-remote control for full control of iBoo and iPod functions

The iBoo is available now in white, red, and blue and retails for a mere $89.99. Come on.. you know you want one..

[Check it out via DVICE.com]

Technorati Tags: Speakal iBoo, iPod docking station

“What the hell…”

That was my first reaction when I saw a picture of these devices. For a second, I thought these were fancy looking mallets for air hockey tables or something. However, they are in fact the new mobiBlu UFO MP3 players.

No.. they do not fly, nor do they levitate (though Fox Mulder might like a pair of these for fun). They are in fact just portable MP3 players with built-in NXT flat panel speakers.

Measuring a mere 90 x 42 mm, the UFO MP3 player is available in storage sizes ranging from 512MB to 8GB. There’s a USB port allowing you to connect the player to your PC, a 3.5 mm audio jack for other devices, and built-in Bluetooth wireless for pairing with other devices. File format support include MP3, WMA, ASF, and OGG. Battery life is 6 hours in speaker mode and 15 hours in earphone mode.

mobiBlu also has a Bluetooth speaker only model of the UFO (without the built-in MP3 player).

[Check it out via DAPreview]

Technorati Tags: mobiBlu, UFO MP3 player, MP3 player

Not interested in spending thousands of dollars for your next 5.1 channel home theater system? Then you’ll be interested in three new 5.1 speaker systems coming out from Klipsch over the next few months. Here’s the lowdown of the new speakers:

On the high end, there’s the HD Theater 1000 priced at $899.99. Specs include:

• Five identical speakers – each with dual 2.5 inch fiber composite woofers and a MicroTractrix Horn-loaded 0.75 inch aluminum dome tweeter
• Each speaker stands 8.6 inches tall and can be mounted or placed on a stand
• Subwoofer has 10 inch fiber composite driver and digital hybrid subwoofer amp

The mid-range HD Theater 500 goes for $599.99 and features:

• 2.5 inch IMG woofer and MicroTractrix Horn-loaded 0.75 inch aluminum dome tweeter for front and rear speakers
• Dual woofers for center speaker
• Class D subwoofer amp and down-firing 8 inch driver

Finally, there’s the affordable $499.99 HD Theater 300. Specs include:

• 2.5 inch IMG woofer and 0.75 inch MicroTractrix Horn-loaded textile tweeter in main and surround speakers
• Center channel is similar except it’s also magnetically shielded
• Class D subwoofer amp and down-firing 6 inch driver

The HD Theater 1000 is due in February, the HD Theater 500 in March, and the HD Theater 300 in April.

[Check it out via SlashGear]

Technorati Tags: Klipsch, HD Theater 1000, HD Theater 500, HD Theater 300, 5.1 channel speaker system