Sound+Vision has enthusiastically reviewed nearly every music server put out by Olive since it first launched. But the company’s newest offering, the One music player, looks to be its most interesting product yet.
Our main take-away from the 2013 CES was that this is going to be the year when OLED and 4K-rez “Ultra HD” TVs finally arrive. And by “arrive” I mean sitting in the store, waiting for you to buy ‘em. While this development is no doubt promising, you can also count on the advanced sets scheduled to hit stores later this year being expensive.
There are a zillion soundbars out there, and it seems like every one of them has something missing: a key feature, total integration with your TV or, worst of all, good sound. But from what I saw last week on a press junket to the Santa Barbara, Calif., headquarters of Sonos, it looks like maybe somebody finally got it right.
Monitor Audio have covered most of the speaker bases, from traditional towers and surround setups to miniscule desktop companions and docks, so it's no surprise that they've decided to enter the burgeoning wireless audio arena.
It's kind of amazing that a component that hasn't changed much outwardly for 20+ years can change so much internally in the course of just a couple of years. I'm talking about Pioneer's surround-sound receivers, which I first encountered in 1989 ... and which still looked almost exactly the same when I walked into the demo room at the company's Long Beach, Calif., headquarters last week to check out its four new affordable models.
But they don't work the same. The new receviers, priced from $249 to $599, are even more packed with technology than the generation they replace. Fortunately, though, Pioneer's taking some steps to help consumers deal with all that complexity.
Samsung’s product preview event, held on Wednesday 3/20 at NYC’s American Museum of Finance (who knew such a place existed?) was notable on two counts. First, the company announced a price for its 85-inch UN85S9 Ultra HD TV — the cover star of Sound&Vision’s April/May print issue. Second, it had another cover star, SI swimsuit model Kate Upton (fully clothed), along with Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning on hand to say how much they dig the company’s 2013 Smart Hub interface.
Of all the Bluetooth speakers introduced today, the new Nicki Minaj-endorsed Pink Pill from Beats by Dre has to be the most significant. Faithful (really faithful) readers of this website may remember Ken Pohlmann and Leslie Shapiro's review of the Pill (as well as my measurements).
You can't buy Emotiva gear like the UMC-200 pre/pro and UPA-700 amp we just reviewed in retail stores, but if you're in the Chicago area this weekend, you can see it and hear it for yourself, on Saturday, April 13 from 9 am to 5 pm.
It's tough for a new TV brand to get attention unless they launch with something really special. And in today's TV world, making something really special is really tough. Seiki Digital, a brand new to the U.S. market, seems to have done it with its very first TV: a 50-inch model with 4K resolution and a low list price of $1,499.
Emotiva has announced that it's now shipping its new top-of-the-line monoblock amp, the XPR-1. Each $1,499 XPR-1 is rated at 1,000 watts into 8 ohms and 1,750 watts into 4 ohms.
Even though Sony's one of the top brands in several audio categories, the company hasn't made much of a push with its audio products in the last few years. That all changed at an event today in Los Angeles, where Sony showed off a new A/V receiver and a new soundbar, and also announced new HTiB (home theater in a box) systems.
$2,289 for a set of headphones? Sure, we've seen big, clunky audiophile headphones selling for prices in that range, but never a mainstream product priced so high.
Speaker Standouts An old-school category sees surprising innovation
One could argue that this spring will see as much innovation in the speaker category as in headphones. But when you think about it, that’s not really so surprising. After all, speakers can be almost any size, almost any shape, almost any weight, while headphones will always have to be small and light enough to fit on your head.
Speaker Standouts An old-school category sees surprising innovation
One could argue that this spring will see as much innovation in the speaker category as in headphones. But when you think about it, that's not really so surprising. After all, speakers can be almost any size, almost any shape, almost any weight, while headphones will always have to be small and light enough to fit on your head.