OTHER TECH

REVEL Ultima Salon2 stereo speakers April 2008 The phrase "you get what you pay for" might seem naive when you confront a $22,000-a-pair speaker set, but the Revel Ultima Salon2 is really worth its stratospheric price tag. I doubt any speaker can credibly claim to sound more neutral and natural. I doubt any drivers on the market can exceed the clarity and output of the Salon2's beryllium-dome tweeter and its titanium-cone midrange and midwoofer drivers. And I doubt any speaker's lab measurements would best the Salon2's. No matter what you feed it - movie soundtracks, two-channel music, even TV shows - the Salon2 puts on quite a show, with incredible stereo imaging and floor-shaking bass. Intelligently conceived bass and treble controls allow fine-tuning to suit the speaker's positioning and the listener's taste. There's no question that the Salon2 places demands on its owner - there's the automotive price tag, the 178-pound-per-speaker weight, and the speaker's need to sit about 3 feet out from the wall behind it for the best sound. But those who understand that getting the best is never easy will cherish the Ultima Salon2. - B.B. revelspeakers.com

PSB Imagine home theater speaker system December 2008 Combine some of the speaker industry's most exacting engineering with tasteful industrial design, and you get the Imagine series, PSB's latest attempt to soften its hardcore tech image while retaining near-perfect performance. The $2,000-a-pair Imagine T tower speaker delivers immaculate reproduction of movie soundtracks and stereo music, with nary a significant sonic coloration. Few speakers at any price exceed its tonal accuracy, and its compact, elegant design makes it a welcome addition to stylish living rooms. The $800 Imagine C center speaker and the $1,200-a-pair Imagine S surround speaker turn a pair of Imagine Ts into a compelling $4,000 home theater sound system. Meticulous timbre matching of all the Imagine speakers produces an exciting, enveloping ambience with 5.1- or 7.1-channel soundtracks. And the Imagine S's second set of speaker terminals lets you split the speaker sonically to create surprisingly realistic 7-channel sound using only five speakers. You need to add a subwoofer for surround sound, though - the Imagine T's little woofers can't cut it for the LFE channel on action-movie DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. - B.B. psbspeakers.com

SOUNDMATTERS FoxL portable sound system Web exclusive On first listen, the FoxL sounds as miraculous as the original Sony Walkman. And it's no less impressive on the 100th listen. This tiny powered speaker system packs two 1-inch long-throw midrange/tweeters, a rectangular woofer, and digital amplifiers into a rugged metal chassis tiny enough to fit in any brief-case. The $199 unit completely blows away its plasticky mass-market competitors, sounding clearer and more natural than many conventional speakers costing several times its price. Its nearly perfect lab measurements only reinforced my impressions. The FoxL's tiny woofer delivers a shocking and satisfying serving of bass, although its rather violent motions can cause the unit to scoot around on slick surfaces. The FoxL is no party system, but it is loud enough to fill a typical hotel room with sound. A 3.5-mm stereo input jack lets it connect to any device with a standard mini headphone output, such as iPods and computers. A $249 Bluetooth version wirelessly interfaces with Bluetooth-equipped cellphones and computers, and can also serve as a speakerphone. Peripatetic audiophiles will find no better way to get great sound everywhere they go. - B.B. soundmatters.com

REGA P3-24 turntable June 2008 U.K. manufacturer Rega never stopped developing and making new turntables, even as demand flattened during the peak years of the CD boom. Sure, the company makes digital gear, too, but it's always seemed like vinyl playback has remained Rega's No. 1 priority. Upon listening to its new P3-24, my ears instantly tuned in to the clarity, focus, and weight it brought to my LPs. In some cases, this was a good thing: high-quality recordings in my collection sounded better than ever. In other cases, bad: a few records I'd considered audiophile-grade no longer made the cut. Either way, with the P3-24 plugged in, I felt I'd stepped up to the vinyl big leagues, where discovering the nuances between pressings is all part of the game. With a base cost of $895 (plus $200 for the company's Elys 2 phono cartridge), the P3-24 is a reasonably priced option for vinyl enthusiasts seeking something better than an entry-level table. But I'd go the extra step and spend another $375 on the TTPSU external power supply that feeds the P3-24's motor with a conditioned, 24-volt AC input, and also has a front-panel switch to toggle between 33 and 45 rpmplayback. - A.G. www.rega.co.uk