Orb Audio is roundly seen as being a company that produces decent to excellent mini speakers at a price that is, at the very least, acceptable to a wide strata of the speaker-buying public. We reviewed a set of Orb home theater speakers and our reviewer found them excellent for cinema playback. The company, seeing a niche, has just released the Orb Audio Booster kit, a $356 package with two basic speakers and a little amp, for computer use.
Installation is dead simple: you plug in the speaker wires into a port on the back and then connect the speakers using simple, push-type mounts. You can then add up to four inputs – two RCA and two mini-jacks – and an optional $299 Super Eight subwoofer. Orb, to their credit, screws the speaker wire to the small green connector cage out of the box. → Read More
Short version: A solid pair of laptop or desk speakers, unremarkable but warm and powerful, with an understated and attractive design. More attention to detail would help justify their price, though. → Read More
Sony’s Walkman may have lost the portable music player market in Japan and the rest of the world to Apple, but that doesn’t stop big S from releasing accessories for their rival. In Japan, Sony announced [JP] two new DSP speakers today, the SRS-GX50IP and the portable SRS-GM5IP. → Read More
Short version: Beautifully styled, modern, and very loud, but USB issues take this from a cool and functional device to a questionable one. (Update: TDK released a firmware update the day after this review published which fixes the USB issues. I installed it myself and it works perfectly; devices will ship with updated firmware starting now, and owners should be able to download the update at TDK’s site soon. The review has been updated where relevant, but the portions relating to the issue left in for the record.) → Read More
Pioneer announced [JP] the VMS-700-K for the Japanese market today, a wireless speaker specifically designed for elderly people. The idea here is to place the device right next to the user when watching TV so they can adjust the volume the way they like, without potentially harassing other family members. → Read More
BMW announced today the all-new BMW 6 Series Coupé with a Bang and Olufsen sound system with 16 loudspeakers driven by 1,200 watts of power. There are seven tweeters that come paired with mid-range speakers for consistent sound. The other two speakers are the two massive subwoofers mounted to the car body under the front seats. This method ensures there aren’t any vibrations or rattles from the subwoofers. → Read More
All of us at CrunchGear can testify that Logitech makes solid audio gear. The Z623s are a good deal, the G35 headset is a monster, and Greg says he’s been using the Z5500 5.1 system happily for several years now. Well, Logitech’s new Z906 is meant to replace that last one: it’s a brand-new 500-watt 5.1 system selling for the totally reasonable price of $350 not quite as reasonable but still okay price of $400 (initial press release info was wrong). → Read More
Short version: These tiny speakers are more powerful than you’d think, but still not quite capable enough for anything but casual use around the house. Gamers at the very least will be disappointed, though they’re handy for the occasional TV show or spontaneous music-sharing moment. → Read More
Distinctive yet tasteful desktop speakers are hard to come by; I was always slightly jealous of my Mac friends and their cool Harmon Kardon Soundsticks (not that they were only for Mac, but you know what I mean), since the best PC speakers from Logitech and Klipsch have always been… not ugly, certainly, but not stylish, either. → Read More
These cute little robot looking speakers are actually the Thodio iBox iPod speaker docks. The obscure looking docks offer several customizable features for your ideal setup. → Read More
A new technology called AcoustiVision hopes to put some Boom Boom Pow into your rear window. All car subwoofers rattle the entire car — rear window included — but Magna says their technology can use the rear window to make sound. AcoustiVision uses two exciters at the base of the window with power fed from amps in the trunk, which are said to boost a stereo signal from 12 to 200 volts. After the system is connected, the two exciters use the glass as a membrane to vibrate the window, moving air to create sound. → Read More
I’m not quite sure I buy the physics behind these speakers entirely. The idea is that instead of simply vibrating a driver at the correct frequencies and projecting those vibrations out into the room, you use ultrasonic waves to vibrate only the air molecules along a path, and things outside of that path won’t hear the sound. → Read More
A good pair of portable speakers is hard to find. Well, not that hard, but non-powered speakers that produce good sound and yet fit comfortably in a bag aren’t exactly littering the ground. Razer looks to remedy this with their Ferox sound system, a pair of egg-shaped speakers that open up at the top and provide “360 degree omni-directional acoustics.”
We’ll forgive them for using that phrase. They have acknowledged they have an overstatement problem, and they are going to see someone about it. → Read More
Popular cartoon cat Hello Kitty is getting another gadget treatment. This time, it’s a super-cute speaker dock for the iPod or iPhone, offered by a Japanese company called CAV [JP]. The dock is an update to a very similar model CAV started offering in August. → Read More
Short version: Simple, convenient, and sounds decent, but reception issues might limit its utility for you. → Read More
We’ve blogged about many Hello Kitty gadgets in the past, i.e. Hello Kitty camcorders, music players, cell phones or even TVs. And today, Japan-based IDEA started listing a new gadget on its online store [JP]: the Dancing Hello Kitty Speaker. Not too surprisingly, the design is very, very cute. → Read More
Pioneer announced two new speaker systems for DJs and music producers. Both systems are active reference, and product studio quality sound in a compact package. Expect to pay for this level of quality of course, the 5-inch DJ05 will set you back $899, and the 8-inch S-DJ08 will cost $1199 when they come out this January. Check out the press release after the jump. → Read More
Audio Plus Services announced their Focal Bird 2.1 speaker system, combining a unified amplifier with a subwoofer and two satellite speakers. The Focal Bird system also uses a Focal Kleer wireless dongle, which allows you to stream audio from the iPod, iPhone, or iPad. There’s even a USB dongle available for streaming audio from your computer to the Focal Bird. → Read More
Short version: A great speaker system for your desktop — as long as you don’t need surround sound. Perfect for apartment living. → Read More
