Brent Butterworth

As an Android fan, it's been frustrating to me to see how many audio accessories have been made for the iPhone, but almost none for my phone of choice. As a Samsung Galaxy S III owner, it's been even more frustrating, because the GS3 has sold more than 40 million units to date, with the GS4 coming in a couple of weeks to keep the trend going. Finally, though, someone's come up with an audio accessory for the GS3. Not some tacky little plastic dock, either. It's actually the coolest portable headphone amp I've ever seen: the V-Moda Vamp Verza.

All audio experts agree that two subwoofers are better than one. With the fervor of a Star Wars nut explaining the Force, they'll tell you how using two subs makes bass response smoother for multiple listeners. But don't worry; it's easy to get the experts to clam up -- just ask them for an easy way to fine-tune the performance of two subs.

With the vPulse in-ear monitor, Velodyne managed a trick most other headphone brands haven't-it created a big-bass headphone that didn't sound dull. Now the company has launched two over-ear models: the $399 vTrue, a large, audiophile-oriented model, and the $299 vFree, a relatively compact headphone equipped with Bluetooth wireless. S&V's Michael Berk reviewed the vTrue, while I'm taking on the vFree.

If you're more than 30 years old, you may remember when almost all speakers looked like the BIC RtR 1530 featured in a recent Parts Express e-mailer: big woofers and big enclosures, with little or no effort expended to make everything presentable. Nowadays, in the interest of gaining our domestic partners' permission to buy the damned things in the first place, we demand that our speakers be compact and gorgeous.