New Audiojunkies Forum

We have recently updated our forum to a new vBulletin system. We've also created a bridge system that allows us to transfer your current account to the new forum. If you had an account previously, check your email for your new pass word. If not, you can always create a new account to join the community.



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Ultrasone Edition 8 Palladium Headphones

There seems to be a bit of a battle going on lately between several high end headphone makers trying to outdo each other with new flagship models seemingly coming every other minute. Ultrasone's current top model, the Edition 8, is not exactly old, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to steal thunder from Grado and Beyer with the new Palladium Edition 8.

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Naim Audio UnitiQute All-In-One Music Streamer

Naim has followed up on last year's Uniti all-in-one with a new more affordable music streamer called the UnitiQute. The UnitiQute loses the Uniti's CD player and a few of its analog inputs, but retains the five digital inputs and built in wired/wireless networking support for music streaming. The UnitiQute comes in a much more compact chassis and with a more compact price - $1995 rather than the Uniti's $3750 tag.

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Fake Vacuum Tube Silliness Continues

For reasons that escape me, there are still several companies out there making terrible products based on fake vacuum tubes. The latest in this failure pile comes from Japan, and is called the "UMAZONe". (Um-azon-e? U-mazon-e? Uma-zon-e? Who knows?) The Brando Tube Delight fake tube/soundcard was a dumb idea, but the U-whatever takes things to a new level by being a fake tube amplifier/speaker.

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Sennheiser and Adidas Team Up For Headphones

Sennheiser has partnered with Adidas to create four new headphones designed for runners and other athletes. All of the new sports models have water-resistant, washable cables. The CX-680 ($120) is an in-ear design featuring a new twistable fin designed to keep them from falling out. The MX-680 ($80) uses the same fin system with a standard earbud.

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iRiver K1 Smart HD Media Player

Filed under: Portable Audio > Portable Audio Players



iRiver's latest portable media player appears to be a little bit iPod Touch, and a little bit Cowon S9. The K1 Smart HD's party piece is support for the popular Matroska container (.mkv), which is the format of choice for HD video. Given the support for HD file formats and the name you might expect a high def screen, but you would be mistaken. The Smart HD internally scales high resolution video files down to its native 480x320 pixel 3.5" screen.

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Running Springs Maxim Power Conditioner

Filed under: Home Audio > Power Conditioners



Running Springs Audio has released a new flagship power line conditioner called the Maxim (not that Maxim). The Maxim is designed to complement RSA's Dmitri in state of the art systems, with the Dmitri handling source components and preamplifiers, and the Maxim handling up to four of even the most monstrous power amps.

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How To Improve Your Sound Stage for $2 -

An Article on Spherical Enclosures & Diffraction

Ever wonder why the midrange and tweeter cabinets on B&W Nautilus speakers are shaped like teardrops? It's not a gimmick, or some way to differentiate their pricey flagship models from competitors. Containing the driver inside a sphere that is pulled back to a point rather than a typical wide baffle box provides significant sound quality benefits. It eliminates the usual boxy problem of standing waves, and also reduces the effects of diffraction. An article called How To Improve Your Sound Stage For $2 on the DIY Mobile Audio forum does an excellent job of explaining the effect, and suggests how it can be applied to car audio installs.

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CES: LG Sound Bar with Built In Blu-Ray

Filed under: Home Audio > Complete Audio Systems > Stereo



On display at LG's CES booth was a new sound bar with a built in blu-ray player called the LLB915. The LLB915 also features two HDMI inputs and one output, built-in WiFi, and a claimed 430 watts of power.

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CES: Sony’s latest HTIB is 3D in a Box

Filed under: Home Audio > Complete Audio Systems > Home Theater in a Box (HTIB)



At CES Sony released their new BDV-HZ970W home theater in a box system, which includes a Blu-ray player, HDMI 1.4 output, and this year's star of the show - 3D. The BDV-HZ970W is a 5.1 channel system with wireless rear speakers which use Sony's S-Air technology.

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Second Skin Damplifier Pro - Black Foil now Shipping!

Second Skin Audio is proud to announce the addition of Damplifier Pro BLACK to their line up. The anodized foil not only looks better than tradition silver foil vibration mats, but it also acts as a primer, allowing adhesive and coatings to adhere to it better.

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CES: Bel Canto’s DAC Triple Threat

Filed under: Home Audio > DAC - Digital to Analog Converters



Bel Canto has released not one but three new follow-ups to their popular e.One DAC3VB, called the DAC1.5 ($1,395), the DAC2.5 ($1,995), and the DAC3.5VB ($3,495). The current DAC3VB is staying in the range, with the new models filling out Bel Canto's line of digital processors below and above. All models feature Bel Canto's Two-Stage Master Reference UltraClock anti-jitter circuit, AES/EBU, BNC, Coaxial RCA and Toslink inputs, and 24-bit digital volume controls.

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Is That a Subwoofer In Your Receiver?

Filed under: Home Audio > Complete Audio Systems > Stereo



Yamaha has been thinking outside of the box lately when it comes to A/V receivers, and the latest result of that thinking is the YHT-S400 receiver and sound bar. In order to save as much space as possible, Yamaha has crammed a subwoofer into the receiver itself, which I don't think has been done before. The soundbar is 31.5" wide and just 2" tall, and is designed to fit in front of the TV.

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Emission Labs 10th Anniversary Tube

To commemorate their 10 years in business, Emission Labs of Prague has released a special limited edition run of their 45 Globe triode, last produced in 2003. The 45 Globe uses a floating Anode system inside the smallest possible glass bulb, with the only hard mount being two bars which serve as the electrical connection.

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Bifrostec D’Egg Speakers

Filed under: Home Audio > Speakers > Bookshelf Speakers



A Japanese company called Bifrostec has released a new compact speaker designed for use on the desktop, called the D'Egg. Bifrostec was founded by Dr Heitaro Nakajima and Takao Ihashi, who both spent several decades at Sony developing CD technology. The D'Egg speaker stands 8.7" tall, and uses a single 3.5" full-range driver designed for ultra wide dispersion.

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