Atlantic Technology IWCB-727 THX LCR

Filed under: Home Audio > Speakers > In-wall



Atlantic Technology has released their new THX Select2 Certified IWCB-727 LCR in-wall loudspeakers. The IWCB-727 features a 2.5 way design with dual 6.5" woofers and a 1" tweeter inside of a sealed enclosure. Atlantic claims the sealed enclosure, "allows all the elements to be perfectly tuned for ideal performance by eliminating the acoustic variability of open-back designs where performance depends on the characteristics of the wall cavity. " The in-wall speakers also utilize a trio of acoustic controls for tuning.

The Atlantic Technology IWCB-727 THX LCR is currently available with an MSRP of $1000 each.

Ultimate Polyfill Subwoofer Enclosure Resource

- Image: Parts Express

Tom Nousaine wrote a great article on the use of polyfill in subwoofer enclosures 13 years ago. I have used this article as a reference numerous times as I'm sure many others have. Currently this article is only available as an archive page to a website that is no longer around. For fear of one day losing this great article, I am going to copy it here. Hopefully no one will have any issues with this, but if you do, feel free to contact me.

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Niko Bellic of Grand Theft Auto 4 Sings the Blues

It turns out the actor behind GTA IV's lead character Niko Bellic is also one hell of a Blues/Folk singer. Michael Hollick has a few of his songs on his MySpace page and they are pretty good, but unfortunately he doesn't sing with a thick Serbian accent.

Check out the link below to hear his music.
Michael Hollick's MySpace Page and Music

Neil Young on Blu-ray

Filed under: Home Audio



Neil Young recently announced that he will be releasing his entire catalog on the Blu-ray format. I've always thought that one of the great missed opportunities in audio was the record industry's decision to ignore the DVD-Video format in favor of the battling DVD-A and SACD formats. DVD has a massive, nearly universal install base, and is capable of high-res stereo audio playback. Unlike DVD-A and SACD, which were doomed to be niche products from the start, DVD had the chance to finally retire the rapidly aging CD for good. A few audio-only DVDs were produced, but they are extremely rare. (I actually own one, Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" on DVD, DD 5.1 and high-res PCM stereo). Releasing music on Blu-ray though just doesn't make a lot of sense.

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Bong Guitar - Mike Edison's ChroniCaster

Stoners are notorious for being extremely creative and coming up with some pretty wild shit. The Bong Guitar is case in point. Made with a plexiglass body, the electronics are sealed off from the smoke chamber for protection from the icky sticky.

Unfortunately you can't order your own Bong Guitar because the creator forgot to make a website.

Video after the jump.

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Elemental Designs 13Kv.2 D4 Clearance Sale

Filed under: Car Audio > Subwoofers



Elemental Designs is discontinuing their 13Kv.2 D4 subwoofer and they have just put it on clearance sale. The 13Kv.2 D4 is normally priced at $100, but is now listed at $50.

Recommended enclosure sizes are 1.0ft^3 sealed and 1.5ft^3 tuned to 30Hz for ported.

Specs after the jump.

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Montegiro Lusso Turntable

Filed under: Home Audio > Analog > Turntables



One of the most incredible looking turntables I've seen is the new Lusso from Germany's Montegiro. The Lusso features three height adjustable connected cones made from alternate layers of aluminum and black acrylic, and a central inverted cone that supports the aluminum and acrylic platter.

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Stephen Colbert's MP3 Player is Filled with Truth

Filed under: Portable Audio > Portable Audio Players


- Image: Election 2.0

If walking around with an iPod or something from Korea just doesn't fill you with enough American pride, you may want to consider the new Zvue Spirit. The Spirit comes in a decorative tin featuring artwork of a flag waving child, and is decorated with the stars and stripes. Even the navigation pad is shaped like a star. It's surprisingly small (and light) for something so intrinsically American, measuring just 2" H x 1 3/8" W x 3/5" D, with 1GB storage capacity a 1" monochrome screen. It has no problem guzzling energy though; battery life is rated at just 6 hours. The Spirit comes with 15 patriotic tracks from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Night Ranger pre-loaded. Sadly, the Colbert Report screaming eagle intro is not included. The Spirit is priced at $36 and is probably made in China, but don't think about that.

Vita Audio R4 Integrated Music System

Filed under: Home Audio > Complete Audio Systems > Stereo



Vita Audio is attempting to bring a bit of vintage style to the integrated iPod dock/CD player/Radio market with the new R4 Integrated Music System. The R4's pressed steel enclosure is available with either a Rich Walnut veneer or Dream White high gloss lacquer finish, giving it more than a passing resemblance to one of Tivoli Audio's popular table radios. The R4 features support for most iPods with remote control via the top mounted "RotoDial", a slot loading CD player with MP3/WMA compatibility, two auxiliary inputs, a DAB/FM tuner, and an 80 watt "audiophile-grade" amplifier and speaker system with an active subwoofer. The R4 will be available in June, with prices starting at £499 ($1,000) for the walnut veneer or £550 ($1,075) for the white lacquer finish.

Polk Audio PA Series Mobile Audio Amplifiers

Filed under: Car Audio > Amplifiers



Polk Audio has just released seven new amplifiers that make up their PA mobile audio line. There are three Class-D monoblocks, one 2-channel amp, two 4-channel amps and a single 5-channel. Prices range from $299.95 for the 2-channel to $899.95 for the big 5-channel.

Pics and specs for the individual models can be seen at the links below.

Polk Audio PA1200.1 $749.95
Polk Audio PA600.1 $499.95
Polk Audio PA400.1 $329.95
Polk Audio PA250.2 $299.95
Polk Audio PA500.4 $499.95
Polk Audio PA200.4 $329.95
Polk Audio PA1100.5 $899.95

Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor Elipsa

Sonus faber's new Cremona Auditor Elipsa is a bookshelf speaker that has the ability to be wallmounted. They look great, but they don't come cheap... about $5,300 per pair. A bit pricey for a small 2-way, but at least you can be confident they were made with the pretty insane build-quality that Sonus faber is known for.

The elliptical enclosures are made from hand selected maple and other wood layers that are "quality graded and oriented for carefully optimized resonances and standing waves control." The tweeter is a 25 mm ring radiator and a 6" woofer is used for the low-end. Frequency response is rated at 55-30,000Hz with the use of tuning ports, and sensitivity is rated at 89 dB SPL (2.83 V/1m).

Headphones Grow On Trees, Sort of

Filed under: Headphones



Rather than contemplate the old adage about a falling tree making a sound if no one is around to hear it, artist and designer Alex Metcalf has made it possible for people to hear the sounds that trees make as they go about their usual business of pulling water from their roots up to their leaves through the Xylem tubes found underneath the bark.

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Incriminator Audio Giving Away an 18" DP Subwoofer

Filed under: Car Audio > Subwoofers



It's spring and the weather is getting warmer. If you haven't been bitten by the car audio bug yet this year, Incriminator Audio is offering just the thing to get you going: they will be giving away one free 18" DP in your choice of dual 1 ohm or dual 2 ohm voice coil configurations.

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XBL Tweeter... At Last!

Filed under: Home Audio > DIY Raw Drivers > Tweeters



Since XBL equipped drivers first started to pick up speed amongst the DIY and OEM crowds alike, there has been on near-constant question: where are the XBL tweeters? When Adire Audio was at the peak of its success, it was pretty common to see multi-page threads full of speculation about when some XBL tweeters would be available and what they would be capable of. With the closing of Adire Audio's doors last year, the hope for XBL tweeters has hinged on them becoming available through an OEM relationship and maybe showing up in a few kits. Lucky for us, this is now a reality thanks to Acoustic Development International.

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Classe SSP-800 Preamp Processor

Filed under: Home Audio > Preamplifiers



The new Classe SSP-800 Preamp/Processor isn't skimping on channels, with a total of 10 that each offer both balanced and single-ended connections. A 64-bit Texas Instrument processor handles of the DSP duties, with the DSP being housed on a replaceable module for future upgrades. Staying on the future proof theme, the video signal path supports 36-bit Deep Color Video (Blue-ray is only 24-bit).

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