Hi-fi

The modern smartphone has quickly become an essential part of modern living. It's a powerful portable computer, a high resolution camera, and a mobile communications center. However, if you're of the school who thinks that just because such a device can also play music, there's no need to spend good money on a separate audio player - the Colorfly Pocket Hi-Fi C4 pro may well be the dedicated music player to change your mind. Hidden within a gorgeous walnut outer shell with hand-carved motif and controlled by deliciously old-school physical buttons and sliding volume pot, the black circuit board heart of this music player is home to some top notch tech with one purpose - to deliver audiophile-pleasing, Hi-Fi-quality audio. Read More

Actually it's two US$5,000 amps because these rather spectacular looking beasts are mono-blocks. They are two completely separate, but matched, mono amplifiers. Now it's no secret that the world of audiophile hi-fi sound systems can be a place of strange voodoo and esoterica - where the Law of Diminishing Returns becomes a way of life for deluded males of a certain age (never women it seems) but let's check our cynicism at the door for the moment. There is something interesting going on here and it may just turn out that at $10,000 for the pair, these amps are a (relative) bargain. Read More

Research has shown that over 80 percent of netbook owners believe that good sound is important, yet I think it's fair to say that most netbook speakers are not really very good – offering about the same audio output quality as a smartphone. Toshiba has revealed that its new mini NB520 netbook sports a pair of Harman/Kardon speakers and Dolby Advanced Audio technology, to give users the kind of rich audio experience usually reserved for much bigger devices. Read More

At the beginning of May digiZoid introduced the Zo personal subwoofer, which claimed to enhance a listener's sonic experience by offering increasing degrees of bass contouring to any audio fed through it. Over the past week I've had the chance to take the Zo for a spin. Has it lived up to the claims of its manufacturer? Read on for a full review. Read More

One of the benefits of a flat panel TV is the small amount of space it takes up depth-wise compared to CRT TVs. But many viewers don’t take advantage of the extra space saving and sleek look because they are put off from having to purchase an expensive mount and installing it on their walls. Well, what if installing a flat panel TV – up to 50kg – was as easy as hanging a picture? Read More

Bowers and Wilkins has taken its five decade's experience with loudspeakers and created a true hi-fi computer speaker, which it unveiled this week at CES. The MM-1 is a serious speaker made small, with two separate drive units including an aluminum dome tweeter, and Digital Signal Processing that uses USB streaming to bypass the computer's own soundcard. Read More

Olive, renowned maker of audiophile products including the Opus 4, has served up another addition to its impressive line of music servers with the Olive 4 HD, which the company says can play back your music at 250 times the resolution of CDs! Read More

The makers of the award-winning Zeppelin ipod dock will shortly release some true hi-fi quality computer speakers which break away from reliance on the output capabilities of a system soundcard and connect via high speed USB instead. Boasting a frequency range of -6dB at 57Hz and 22kHz, outputting audio at 4 times 18W and incorporating music studio technology, the fully active MM-1 system could be just what audiophile deskbound digital music junkies have been waiting for. Read More