Those who think of the Definitive Technology Mythos tower speakers as nothing more than slender lifestyle products will be floored when they hear the new Mythos ST-L. I just heard a pair of 'em at the CEDIA Expo, and the deep, defined bass these 6.75-inch-wide towers pumped out was one of the highlights of the show for me.
I've been digging BG Radia's big floorstanding ribbon speakers since way back when S&V's Al Griffin and I were running Home Theater magazine. (That's before anyone had ever heard of MP3.) But the company hadn't done any new tower speakers for years -- until the new FS-880, which the company demoed at the CEDIA Expo in Denver.
Following up on the warm reception that its original Spirit One headphone received, Focal showed two new models today at the CEDIA Expo. Both have slightly larger earcups than the Spirit One, so they should be a little more comfortable.
Cambridge Audio has been dinking around with Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers for a couple of years in its pint-sized Minx speakers, but now it's bringing BMR into the spotlight with a new line of full-size speakers built for conventional home theater and stereo applications.
Maybe this wireless speaker thing is finally going to take off. Today at the CEDIA Expo, Focal demoed the $2,799/pair Easya tower speaker, which has amps and a wireless receiver built in. The system comes with a transmitter and a remote control, so all you need to do is connect your sources and you've got a whole system.
Westone, best-known for custom-molded in-ear monitors worn by touring musicians, is revamping its consumer products line -- starting with the new W-Series in-ear headphones announced today at the CEDIA Expo. All of the designs feature balanced armature drivers, and will list for prices ranging from $199 to $499.
The sound that most amazed me during Day 1 of the CEDIA Expo came not from a $50,000 speaker, but from a cardboard box. A cardboard box supporting the Bass Egg Verb, that is. We've seen devices like this before, that turn any box or table or whatever into a speaker. The difference between those and the Bass Egg Verb is that it doesn't suck and it plays loud as hell.
Speakers are like karate. Subwoofers are like weightlifting. The quality of a speaker is determined by subtleties: well-chosen drivers, just-right crossover points and slopes, and a perfectly tuned, solidly constructed enclosure. The quality of a subwoofer is determined mostly by its muscle: the size of the enclosure, the displacement of its driver, and the power of its amplifier.