NEW PRODUCTS

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Fashionably Functional: Estelon Extreme Speaker
NEW PRODUCTS, PREMIERE DESIGN
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 20, 2014  |  1 comments
Alfred Vassilkov’s latest sonic creation looks more like a sculpture than a speaker, which is why you can’t help but do a double take. But beyond its stunning looks are several unexpected—and highly practical—surprises. We asked Estelon partner Alissa Vassilkov, who also happens to be Alfred’s daughter, to tell us the story behind this unique, $239,000/pair speaker.
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High-Resolution Harvest
AUDIO VIDEO NEWS, NEW PRODUCTS
Mike Mettler  |  Aug 19, 2014  |  3 comments
Editor's Note: Following Sound & Vision's initial print publication of this article, Neil Young took the post of PonoMusic CEO, replacing John Hamm. The company also named Rick Cohen, PonoMusic's general counsel, to be its COO, and accomplished producer Bruce Botnick to be its Head of Content Acquisition.

If there’s one thing we know about Neil Young, it’s that he’s deeply passionate about how his music gets heard. As an artist who’s long championed sound quality over final-mix compromise, Young has been on a lifelong quest to make sure listeners have the opportunity to hear his music the way he intended from both the studio and the stage, whether it be via high-grade 180-gram virgin vinyl or high-resolution stereo PCM on Blu-ray. “That’s all I do now—192/24,” he tells me. “Back when I started recording, we did everything we could so that our listeners could hear the music. The more we presented and the more you were able to hear, the happier you were. We lost touch with that.”

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Polk Intros Bluetooth-Enabled Desktop Speaker
AUDIO VIDEO NEWS, NEW PRODUCTS
SV Staff  |  Aug 04, 2014  |  0 comments
Polk has introduced a stylish compact speaker system designed for near-field computer audio or stereo/home theater bookshelf applications. Dubbed Hampden, the system supports Bluetooth streaming and features an all-wood cabinet with a curved teak wood veneer offset by a white front panel with glass-filled, nylon bezels.
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A New Use for Old Wires: Intellegg Moxivo Multiroom Music Kit
NEW PRODUCTS
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 21, 2014  |  1 comments
If you’re one of the six in 10 Americans who have ditched land-line phone service to become a cell-phone-only household, Jeff Eggebraaten has a proposition for you: Use the phone lines running through your walls as a cheap and simple way to spread music around the house. The founder of Intellegg devised a set of cables that make it possible to shuttle music from a computer/laptop or iPod/MP3 player in one room to existing stereo systems or powered speakers in up to five other rooms at the same time. “It’s like plugging an iPod into a stereo, but with Moxivo there’s a phone line in between,” Eggebraaten says.
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July 2014 New Gear
NEW PRODUCTS
SV Staff  |  Jul 18, 2014  |  0 comments
Floating speakers, a light bulb that doubles as a speaker, a beefy headphone amp from a classic audio brand, and more!
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Nipping Hearing Loss in the (Ear)bud: Asius Technologies Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens
OTHER TECH, NEW PRODUCTS
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 09, 2014  |  0 comments
It’s no secret that prolonged exposure to loud music can lead to tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears) and permanent hearing loss. Any number of famous rock musicians have acknowledged having hearing problems. Hitting closer to home, the Hearing Health Foundation reports that 50 million Americans live with hearing loss, a staggering statistic that includes one in five teens, whose hearing problems are largely attributed to listening to music through headphones—especially earbuds—at high volumes for an extended period.
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May 2014 New Gear
NEW PRODUCTS
SV Staff  |  May 29, 2014  |  0 comments
An amazing stretchable soundbar, a Wi-Fi music player, a DLP projector that's so bright you need sunglasses, and more.
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Eight Great Ways to Park Your Gear
NEW PRODUCTS
Bob Ankosko  |  May 21, 2014  |  0 comments
In the world of home entertainment, prized possessions run the gamut from media players and perfectly calibrated HDTVs to sophisticated processors and hulking power amplifiers to AV receivers and cable boxes to speakers of different shapes and sizes—all stuff that needs a proper home. You do have a proper home for your AV treasures, don’t you? A home that provides unbending support (think sturdy shelves that don’t sag) and thoughtful features like casters, cable management, and ventilation.
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Immaculate Reception
AUDIO VIDEO NEWS, NEW PRODUCTS, PREMIERE DESIGN
Bob Ankosko  |  May 19, 2014  |  0 comments

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 18 Wireless Speaker System

About that headline...It’s inspired by the sheepish “Immaculate Wireless Sound” moniker Bang & Olufsen uses for the wireless system integrated into the stunning BeoLab 18 tower speaker. Actually, the phrase is code for WiSA, the standard that makes it possible to for speakers to receive uncompressed 24-bit/96 kHz audio over the air from B&O’s stand-alone transmitter or one built into the BeoVision 11 TV. We asked Senior Vice President of Product Creation Lou Schreurs to tell us about this impressive speaker.

S&V: How did the BeoLab 18 come into being? What led to the desire to “go wireless?”
Lou Schreurs: We felt the need to rejuvenate our iconic BeoLab 8000 from a design perspective and, at the same time, wanted to bring the speaker into the 21st Century by making it wireless and digital, using our proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) capabilities. The integration of a high-quality wireless system was driven by the desire for convenience without sacrificing audio quality. In some of our customers’ homes, it was not easy to run cables in a neat way, particularly rear speakers, limiting their ability to experience true surround sound...

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Thorens TD 209 Turntable
NEW PRODUCTS, PREMIERE DESIGN
Bob Ankosko  |  May 14, 2014  |  3 comments
Spinning With Style
You don’t come across many companies that have been in business for 100 years. Founded in 1883 as a manufacturer of musical boxes and clocks, Thorens started building Edison-type cylinder phonographs in 1903 and has been making turntables ever since. Although the company branched out into audio electronics in the ’90s, it remains a steadfast bearer of fine turntables. Its latest specimen is the ultra-modern TD 209, which borrows design cues from its higher-end sibling, the TD 309.
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Airborne 4K
NEW PRODUCTS
Bob Ankosko  |  May 06, 2014  |  0 comments
NanoTech Entertainment has a little something owners of 4K/Ultra HDTVs might be interested in: the Nuvola NP-1 4K Ultra HD streaming media player, a versatile 3 x 1 x 4-inch device that supports 3D game playing, Web browsing, and 4K streaming. Connect the tiny box to any network with a bandwidth of 6 megabits per second or greater—via Wi-Fi or hard-wire Ethernet—and you’re ready to go.
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Sharp SD-WH1000U Wireless Universal Player
NEW PRODUCTS
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 30, 2014  |  0 comments
From 3D to Wi-Fi to preloaded content apps, all kinds of features are packed into today’s upscale Blu-ray players, but Sharp’s SD-WH1000U is the first wireless player. A built-in plug-and-play WiSA-compliant transmitter makes it possible to shuttle 96-kilohertz/24-bit sound to up to eight WiSA-compliant speakers for a wire-free 7.1-channel surround experience.
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New Gear
NEW PRODUCTS
SV Staff  |  Apr 24, 2014  |  0 comments
An inexpensive cleaner for your TV screen, GoldenEar's latest tower speaker, an NFC/Bluetooth adapter, and more.
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Korg DS-DAC 100/100m USB Audio Playback System
NEW PRODUCTS
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 18, 2014  |  1 comments
Korg is well known among musicians for its electronic keyboards but recently introduced a high-resolution audio playback system comprising its proprietary AudioGate 3 software and one of two USB digital-to-analog converters, the retro-styled DS-DAC-100 ($600) or the ultracompact DS-DAC-100m ($350).
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Prescient Audio PATD12
NEW PRODUCTS
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 20, 2014  |  0 comments
Prescient Audio’s Paul Niedermann scowled at the trunk of his car. The supplied loudspeaker system took up too much space. He thought about it and came up with a solution: Prescient’s ThinDriver Technology, which fits a 12-inch subwoofer driver into an enclosure about one-third the conventional size.
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