Loudspeakers

Italian design is renowned for being both bold and daring, with an eye for quality too. The Teti Extreme Loudspeakers from Book of Music are no exception. Named after the Greek sea nymph Thetis, mother of Achilles, the twisted towers stand some 4.75 feet (1.45 meters) high and sport a couple of high end Scan-Speak drivers. The structure is made up of identical modules rotating about a vertical axis, and is said to be the result of much tweaking and refinement to ensure that the drivers maintain a balanced phase relationship. Read More

To take full advantage of stereo sound, many consumers will install their AV equipment to suit the room’s furniture – sound and vision pointing to the best seat in the house so you can take full advantage of that stereo “sweetspot”. That’s fine when you’re sitting watching a movie, but what happens you start playing the latest active games on Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PlayStation3 and Microsoft’s Project Natal? Researchers at the Technology University of Dresden, Germany, have the answer. Read More

The Foxl v2 is instantly impressive by its weight, it’s not made of plastic and it delivers impressive bass sounds through technology that combines the unit’s rechargeable Lithium-ion battery with a Flatmagic acoustic bass radiator. The unit's mid and high-range come at you via two patented dual voice coil 25mm (1 inch) Linear Magnetic Drive Twoofers (tweeters that also woof – tuned to 100Hz) and on-board amplification is supplied by four ultra high-efficiency digital amplifiers delivery total power up to 8W at <0.1%THD. Add in Bluetooth capabilities and this unit ticks a lot of boxes. Read More

As 3D movie projecting continues to bloom, technicians and filmmakers are exploring new ways to create a deeper interaction between the viewers and the big screen. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHi) in Berlin are bringing the immersive cinema experience to a new level with a panoramic 3.35 by 12 meters, 180-degrees high resolution display with outstanding image and sound quality. Read More

For home theater enthusiasts or gamers who enjoy the deep thud of a good subwoofer but want a little more “jolt” without the extra noise, Earthquake Sound Corp. has added to its range of tactile transducers with the Q10B and MQB-1 that, when fitted to a theater chair or platform, can virtually loosen your fillings. Along with visualizing and hearing, low frequency sound adds a third sense which brings people further into the realm of virtual reality of movies and games. Read More

If you haven’t previously heard of TuneBug, that’s because it is a new company and although its portable speaker solutions were shown at CES 2009, they are only just now making their way to market. The products are all based on patented NXT speaker technology which generate sound waves that pass through the surfaces the speakers (aka “sound generators”) rest on, effectively turning those surfaces into speakers. Predictably, there’s a desktop solution which sits on your desk. Now there’s also a helmet-top solution which sits on your helmet, giving you a kind of ambient bone dome surround sound like you’ve never had before – ideal for skateboarding, bicycling, skiing and motorcycling. Read More

Spica is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo and also the inspiration for this visual loudspeaker lamp system where sound vibrations force illuminated liquid within a transparent tube to dance to the music and makes the spectrum analyzer on my hi-fi appear somewhat dull by comparison. Read More

It seems the world has become obsessed with ‘skinny’ – watch your diet, exercise more and aspire to be ‘model thin’. But skinny isn't always better when it comes to speakers – good sound reproduction needs room to vibrate. However, at IFA, Fraunhofer scientists (in cooperation with Sennheiser electronic) presented a completely new concept for ultra-flat loudspeakers that still deliver full sound reproduction. What’s more, these speakers can be integrated inconspicuously on walls or in furniture because they're only 24mm thick (0.94-inch). Read More

French company Cabasse has redefined the notion of high-end loudspeakers with the creation of a speaker system that costs almost as much as a base model 2009 Ferrari F430. But for your UK£108,000 (US$176,000), you're buying a monumental engineering achievement - the world's only four-way, point source speaker system (more about that after the jump). This audio perfectionist's dream required a spherical enclosure - which means you also have to accept the fact that two giant, ugly eyeballs on sticks will be watching you enjoy some of the best audio reproduction, sound staging and stereo imaging the world has ever experienced. Read More