Yamaha TSS-20 Mini Theater

Filed under: Home Audio > Complete Audio Systems > Home Theater in a Box (HTIB)



Those looking for a tiny 5.1 channel home theater system that doesn't have the word "Bose" written on it may want to consider Yamaha's new TSS-20 home theater package. The receiver stands vertically to conserve precious space and features Dolby Pro-Logic II, Dolby Digital, and DTS decoding, as well as several Yamaha Cinema DSP modes including silent cinema and night listening. It sends 6 watts to each of the five 2" single driver satellites, and a prodigious 18 watts to the 5.1" "subwoofer". The rated frequency response of 40Hz - 20kHz should probably be taken with a grain of salt. While the TSS-20 is currently only slated for Japanese release, it will work with 100-240V power should you wish to import one.

CD Turned Into Record With A Vinyl Cutter

Filed under: Home Audio > Analog



Finally I can put all of those damn AOL CDs I receive in the mail to good use. A gentleman by the name of Aleks Kolkowski brought a vinyl cutter to the Manchester Futuresonic 2008 Festival and started cutting up some CDs and DVDs for use on a record player. Aleks etched the disks with wav files for anyone that was interested at the show, no word on how they sounded though.

Too bad there isn't more info on the setup he used to etch the disks.

Ultimate Ears Metro.Fi 100 150 200 Earphones

Filed under: Headphones > In-Ear Headphones



SoundEarphones.com has the new Ultimate Ears metro.fi 100, 150 and 200 series earphones for sale on their website. The 150 and 200 both feature dynamic drivers and all three are available in Apple iPhone compatible versions for $10 more. Pricing ranges from $29.99 to $79.99.

Roberts Acoustics Rapide Monitor and Vigor Subwoofer

Filed under: Home Audio > Speakers > Bookshelf Speakers



Roberts Acoustics has released information on their new Rapide Monitor and Vigor Subwoofer. The 1" thick Rapide enclosure houses an Accuton ceramic woofer and the highly regarded Scan-Speak AirCirc tweeter. The crossovers have been designed by Rick Craig of Selah Audio and utilize Goertz Copper Foil Inductors, Mundorf Supreme and Silver/Oil capacitors and Mills resistors. The speakers are also bi-wire capable with 5-way binding posts. The enclosures are finished with automotive grade metallic paints in red, black, gray or white and have Sonic Barrier dampening on all of the internal walls.

Read more of "Roberts Acoustics Rapide Monitor and Vigor Subwoofer"...

Free Music From... Metallica!?

- Images: Metallica.com

Radiohead's brief flirtation with giving their music away online seems to have been mostly a publicity stunt for the band rather than a shift in how they feel about music distribution, as they have recently announced that they won't be doing the "In Rainbows" thing again. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails on the other hand has firmly embraced offering free music on his website. Lars Ulrich, a man not exactly known for his philanthropy or love of file sharing, has apparently been watching the success of both the Radiohead and NIN experiments. Metallica's as yet untitled album to be released later this year will be the last released by Warner records, after which he is apparently considering a possible "pay what you want" online system for their next album. They would have to pay me to listen to "St. Anger".

Fake MP3 Trojan Virus Making the Rounds on P2P Networks

Filed under: Home Audio


- Image: Unicef

McAfee has detected more than than 638,000 computers infected with the Downloader-UA.h trojan virus in the last seven days, with the vast majority of those infections in North America. The Downloader-UA.h trojan virus is spreading like wildfire over the P2P networks where it masks itself as MP3 and MPG files. Upon download and trying to play the file, users are prompted to download a file called PLAY_MP3.exe. The file is a browser controller that will display popup and popunder ads.

Since no one else has said it, I'll start the conspiracy theory here... the RIAA and MPAA are behind it.

AMR LS-77 Reference Monitors

Filed under: Home Audio > Speakers > Bookshelf Speakers



New from Britain's Abbingdon Music Research is the LS-77 monitor, designed to provide full-range performance without the need for a subwoofer or super-tweeter from a compact speaker measuring 10" W x 19" H x 12" D. The LS-77's enclosure is made from 3/8" to 1" solid aluminum available in either Champagne or Titanium finishes. The 10" bass driver features a 4" voice coil and a proprietary transmission line port system which allows for response down to 26Hz.

Read more of "AMR LS-77 Reference Monitors"...

Paradigm PDR-10 and PDR-8 Subwoofers

Filed under: Home Audio > Subwoofers



Paradigm has released new 4th generation versions of its PDR-8 and PDR-10 subwoofers. The 8.5" driver in the PDR-8 and 10.5" driver in the PDR-10 are made from a new reinforced polymer-composite material for improved rigidity and internal damping. Both models also feature redesigned enclosures with curved edges for a more elegant appearance, a sub/sat phase alignment switch that enables users to adjust subwoofer settings for zero or 180 degrees, a bypass option on the subwoofer cut-off frequency, two RCA line-level inputs to accommodate L/R line out, sub-out, or LFE outputs, and 100 watts RMS/300 watts "dynamic peak" amplifiers. The PDR-8 retails for $250 and the PDR-10 retails for $380. Both are available in black or silver.

Zohan Bluetooth Audio Marketing Ploy

Adam Sandler's new movie You Don't Mess With The Zohan probably isn't going to win an Oscar or set any box office records, but it is using innovative audio based Bluetooth marketing. Twenty-five Regal Entertainment movie theaters will have Zohan inspired salon chairs with Bluetooth enabled servers that will allow theater goers to download six different Zohan voice clips to their cell phones.

It seems like a pretty basic concept by today's standards, so it is surprising we haven't seen more of this Bluetooth cellphone based marketing. Regardless, expect to see much more of it in the future.

John Mayer is a Douchebag - Confirmed

The list of reasons why I feel that John Mayer is a complete douche bag is so long it would need an intro. Luckily for all of us, his new video confirms what I have known all along, John Mayer is in fact a douche bag.

*They drop the F-bomb a few times in the video, so you might want to turn it down if you are at work.

Link: Makin' Music with John Mayer

Stereo Integrity Mag Subwoofer Giveaway

Filed under: Car Audio > Subwoofers



I just got word from Stereo Integrity that they are giving away a previous gen Mag 12" subwoofer on their website. To enter the giveaway you simply have to sign up for their newsletter or register on their forum.

Free 12" SI Mag D2 Drawing

Bohlender-Graebener (BG) Z-92 and Z-62 Speakers

Filed under: Home Audio > Speakers



BG Radia has released two new additions to its value oriented Z-Series speaker line, the Z-92 floorstander ($1249.50/ea), and Z-62 LCR speaker ($999/ea). Both models are three-way hybrid designs which feature two 6.5" aluminum bass drivers with double gap motor technology and neodymium magnets, a 10" x 5" Neo10 ribbon midrange driver, and a coaxially mounted Neo3PDR ribbon tweeter. The Z-92 places the bass drivers below the mid/tweeter module, while in the Z-62 LCR, the bass drivers flank the mid/tweeter module. The symmetrically braced MDF enclosures are available in either maple or black ash wood veneers.

Accurate Sound Reproduction Presented by Siegfried Linkwitz

Filed under: Home Audio



This is a nine part series on Accurate Sound Reproduction presented by Siegfried Linkwitz of Linkwitz Labs. The lecture was given at the AES Section Meeting in London, November 2007.

Complete videos after the jump.

Read more of "Accurate Sound Reproduction Presented by Siegfried Linkwitz"...

Naim HDX Hard Disk Player

Filed under: Home Audio > CD Players



The new Naim HDX Hard Disk Player is not only a data storage system, but doubles as a CD ripper. Once the HDX is done ripping a CD on its audio grade transport system, it pulls the artist, album and track titles from the internet. Naim claims the device makes "bit perfect" rips by reading the data multiple times and then stores the data on a pair of 400GB hard drives (one is a backup drive)

The HDX has a pretty impressive list of features:
* Independent multi-regulated power supplies for analogue and digital stages
* Burr-Brown PCM1791A digital to analogue converter
* 24 bit/192kHz internal architecture with support for hi-resolution audio formats
* Ultra low jitter re-clocking circuits
* Seven pole analogue output filtering using Burr Brown OPA604 op amps.
* Custom designed monolithic air cord transformer isolated analogue output stages
* Optional external XPS or CD555PS power supply

Read more of "Naim HDX Hard Disk Player"...

Sound Quality Summit Series by Scott Buwalda

Filed under: Car Audio



Hybrid Audio has just announced that the Sound Quality Summit advanced sound quality seminar put on by Scott Buwalda will be returning in 2008. The first location will be Trinidad with shows later in the year at various locations in the mainland US. Currently Dallas and Atlanta appear to be viable candidates.

Some topics covered at the seminars are:
* Speaker Diaphragms
* Speaker Directivity
* Active Verses Passive Crossovers
* Crossover Filters
* Time Delay and Crossovers
* Benefits of Active Crossovers
* Tweeters and Crossovers
* Zero Delay Plane
* Distortions
* Phase
* Group Delay and Enclosure Group Delay
* Impulse Response
* Power Handling and Power Compression

Scott is also looking for recommendations for other possible locations (*cough* ORLANDO *cough*) and he can be contacted at sbuwalda(at)hybrid-audio.com.