Leveraging 70 years of professional theater expertise, Altec Lansing, a division of Plantronics, Inc., today introduced a new portfolio of high-end audio systems for the home theater. The new Powered Theater Series provide elegant designs and wireless surround sound for flat panel TVs.
“While digital audio plays a central role in homes today, the majority of systems are difficult to set up, involve a web of wires and lack designs that consumers want to showcase in living spaces,” said Robert Heiblim, senior vice president of Marketing for Altec Lansing. “Altec Lansing’s new home theater products provide the convenience and simplicity of wireless, without compromising great sound or designs that truly complement home decor.”
Home Theater Surround Sound, Without the Wires
Altec Lansing’s new Powered Theater (PT) Series deliver theater-quality surround sound with sleek, elegant bar-style speakers that eliminate bulky and conspicuous components. The PT speakers provide immersive cinematic audio experiences and designs that match the streamlined form factor of today’s flat panel TVs.
- PT8051:The two-speaker PT8051 system provides the ultimate surround sound experience through left, center and right channels within one front speaker as well as left / right channels included in a rear wireless speaker. The system’s matched 8″ x 1½” NXT® Digital balanced audio transducers have flat radiating surfaces that cover more sound and more room area than conventional cone speakers. Movie sound is incredibly realistic through automatic engagement of Dolby® and DTS® listening modes.
- PT7031:The PT7031 is a one-piece, easy-to-set-up speaker system that utilizes virtual speaker technology from Dolby Labs to deliver five-channel surround sound experience. The three matched 8” x 1½” NXT® Digital balanced audio transducers have an advanced surface that is virtually free of distortion.
The Altec Lansing PT8051 system (pictured) and PT7031 have MSRPs of $999.95 and $599.95, respectively. Both products are available in August at major retailers and www.alteclansing.com.
For more information about Altec Lansing’s Fall 2007 product portfolio, please visit: www.plantronics.com/launch.
If you’re looking for some sweet speakers that will handle all that bass and dance in the highs of your Chopin when it’s time to be elegant, then dude, you need to read the review on the Axiom M3 v2s we just did. We’ve had these speaks’ for a while now and man, they sound great! And for $330 a pair, these are a great deal. Read and score.
I’ve always loved Klipsch products and have owned numerous speakers from its offerings since I convinced my father to grab a pair of KG4s back in 1984 (which are still humming along just fine in his living room to this day.) Bose gets a lot of attention for its iPod dock speaker system, but my ears tell me Klipsch’s sound better. Now it’s released an even smaller version and despite its SXT model, which brings bad memories of a horrible Ford Escort, I’m sure these little guys will be pretty impressive.
Tony Ostrom, director of product planning at Klipsch, tells us, “Our smallest and most affordable iPod speaker to date, the iGroove SXT gives listeners a lot of bang for their buck.” Tony goes on to say, “Because it takes advantage of refined industrial design, premium materials, and innovative technology, this little four-pound system can easily fill a room or office with larger-than-life performances.”
The iGroove SXT is a true two-way, stereo sound system that employs dual long-throw 2.5-inch woofers in a ported enclosure and dual 3/4-inch MicroTractrix™ Horn-loaded tweeters. Klipsch is the only company in this category to utilize horn technology, a design that delivers lifelike sound as well as produces more output using less energy.
Sweet! The iGroove SXT will charge and blast tunes from any iPod with the dock connector. Universal inserts are included for the perfect fit for your iPod. On the back you’ll find an auxiliary input for shuffles or any other device with an audio out jack. Also found in the rear is an S-video output so users can enjoy their videos on a TV or monitor. Like all good speaker docs, this baby sports an IR remote.
If you’re ready to buy, then budget $169.99 and hit your retailer in May for this bad boy.
I remember years ago, heck, over a decade ago, when I was in high school reading about a new technology where some company had created some leads that stuck onto your cars windshield and it turned it into a tweeter. It was very expensive back then but, “How totally cool”, I thought while reading about it in Car Stereo Review.
Fast forward to the present day and you’ll find something very similar by Vavolo for $89…and you can put it on the wall, table, or just about any flat surface, too. The I-Mu Magic Audio Frequency Singer takes a connection from your music players headphone output, such as your iPod, and converts the surface it sits on into a speaker. At a claimed frequency spread of 70HZ-30KHZ and putting out (again, claimed) 30w of audio, this could make for an interesting speaker indeed. Visit the product page (link above) to see this puppy in action via the YouTube video. Very fascinating to say the least.
We don’t know how good this really sounds and even though the frequency range is a good one, we must admit, we’re skeptical. Maybe someone out there has heard this in action and let us know via a comment?
JBL’s the latest to add wireless speakers to its line of products. The On Air Control 2.4G wireless speaker system is a pair of wall-mountable loudspeakers that has a built-in wireless transceiver that includes an amplifier already stuffed in the speakers and ready for some fun. A handy remote control comes along with the pair for volume control. Great for surround-sound for your rear channels (no drilling holes into the wall for cable) or for an added pair in a bedroom. Using the common 2.4GHz frequency for transport for your Beethoven music waves, JBL’s transmitter can support up to two pairs of On Air Control speakers. Look for these wireless wonders in February to retail at $349.
IntelliTouch is bringing a new accessory to the world of iPods. That accessory? Wireless speakers. Not just any wireless speakers. No, wireless speakers that project stereo sound from a single speaker. Wireless speakers that mount to the wall from just plugging it into the power outlet. Wireless speakers that have an amazing range of 150 feet from the receiver. Wireless speakers that will not interfere or be interfered by other wireless devices. Wireless speakers that are as, “Good as copper wire,” so told IntelliTouch Executive VP Jeff O’Shea to SvenOnTech. Wow, those are fighting words we told O’Shea so he said he’d send us some and we hear the amazing sound for ourselves!
Until those speakers come in, we’ll tell you that Eos has a base station where your iPod docks. This station has a speaker that plays SRS WOW enhanced music from the iPod as well as transmits to the wireless speakers using the 2.4 GHz signal. Yes, heavily used air wave is an issue for others, but O’Shea told SvenOnTech that, “We don’t crowd anything out and nothing crowds us,” due to it’s propitiatory frequency hopping scheme that constantly, “Changes lanes,” when needed.
IntelliTouch set out to do things right and purchased every wireless speaker out there and found what did work and what didn’t. After doing years of research and work, Eos is ready to grace your iPod tunes wirelessly to every part of your home in amazing CD quality sound. Oh ya, there’s also a stand-alone transmitter for you to input into a high end receiver if you want to use your kick butt Denon or Yamaha system. For those that want to give that Six Flags Magic Mountain effect of music coming out of rocks in your backyard, Eos will be able to aid in that as well with its weather proof transmitter as well.
Look for the speaker system to be due just in time for my birthday in March of 2007. You pick me up the core system, which includes a docking station/transmitter with one wireless remote speaker, for a mere $299 (MSRP). Oh ya, I’ll also need a black 5G iPod to match it, too.
Latest cell phone is equipped with speakers so you can get mini cinema. Companies are making cell phone accessories that can add value to websites. The nokia phones are providing best technology to owners of website.
When I had Vonage VoIP, I loved it’s CallVantage feature. It integrated with Outlook and let me select a contact and instantly dial it. Within seconds, my phone was ringing with the call in progress. But when I left Vonage due to lack of a data centers in the 209 area code (which it still doesn’t have) for Packet8, I lost my beloved feature. Sure, there are phone dialers that work with modems, but lots of good that does me on a MacBook Pro. Thankfully, a guy named Jon felt my pain.
Not to be confused with SvenOnTech’s own contributor, Jon is another famous Jon that develops some neat applications for the Mac. You may have seen his Docktop the last time you visited an Apple Store. You know, the little collection of applications in the middle of the screen that you could launch much like the Apple Dock but it’s in the middle of the screen. Ya, it’s sweet. Well Jon has applied the same sweetness to JPT, short for Jon’s Phone Tool.
If you’re a lucky Vonage user, you’ll be able to use JPT with it much like CallVantage which is great for Mac users since Vonage doesn’t have a Mac version of CallVantage. But if you don’t have Vonage, as I don’t anymore, then you have other choices to get that number dialed from your Mac. This list is long, but I’ll be brief with it. Methods include Bluetooth (sends the number to your mobile or one of the handful home phones with Bluetooth), VoIP, touch-tones through your speaker, and good ol’ analog modem. If you’ve bought a Mac recently, then the latter won’t apply to you as it doesn’t for me. That leaves good times with those tiny speakers (or VoIP for you Cisco cats)!
I played with JPT for maybe ten minutes before I found myself at Kagi’s site making a purchase of this fine tool. Jon knows how good his dialer is since he not only mentions the competition but even puts links to them on his FAQ page! With the its ease and power, it just was too easy not to even consider looking at the other dialers. For $15, ya, I’ll feel fine slapping out the credit card numbers via 1Passwd since it’s just that good.
A couple of things I do want to tell you potential dialer users before I conclude. First, its integration with various address books is great. It tapped right into my Entourage as well as Apple’s Address Book. Since I connect to an Exchange server, the dialer took a great amount of time to find my number I was searching for; however, Address Book was instant. Since Entourage now lets you sync with Address Book, I ended up just keeping JPT settings to use Address Book.
The other feature I wanted to let you know about is the ability to dial Mnemonics directly. For example, if you see a number that is, say, 1-800-GO-BEARS, you input that and off it dials. Very, very nice!
Again, you can’t go wrong with this dialer. It’s spot on. If you make frequent calls throughout the day and need a break on the dial-pad, let Jon’s Phone Tool help you let your fingers get a break. I did.
UPDATE: Jon let us known that Docktop was inspired by the very application found on the Macs at the Apple Store and is not the application seen there as earlier reported. Thank you, Jon, for the clarification!
The iPod has more accessories and options than any other music player on the market. This is a good thing for all us iPod carrying music lovers. Today another good thing happened for the iPod (besides getting Pac-Man and a 60% brighter screen) and that would be the release of QDOSs Genesis speaker system.
The astute iPod user will immediately notice from the picture that the iPod sits inside the speaker (much like Apple’s Hi-Fi) and thus enables the iPod to be both charged and synchronized while seated in this little speaker system. The cylindrical shape of the unit allows for an iPod user to keep the speakers on an office desk or bring it along for lunch and slap it on a park bench for an afternoon retreat. Its small size of 115mm in diameter and 85mm in height makes it perfect for such trips. Just drop the 0.8kg unit in your bag and bail.
Don’t be fooled by its sized, though. Packed inside under the dock connector you’ll find a four-way sound system with each speaker putting out 3 watts of music in a 360-degree sound field. No matter where you stand or sit, music will be there enriching your experience in an almost trance like state.
“We have literally put the iPod on a pedestal! We believe that Genesis is the most chic portable sound system on the market, plus it produces the sound quality of a decent home audio system. We’ve managed to keep the price low so it really stands out as cost-effective in comparison to the competition.” said Yvan Lazareff, Director of QDOS.
This little tyke will keep your music going for 8 hours off AA batteries. The supplied DC plug will give you non-stop music while seated on your office desk. And QDOS wants to share the love to other MP3 players as well as any other device by including an line-in for such devices.
Genesis is available in the UK now (no word on any of these for us across the Pond) and has a suggested retail price of £89.99 inc. VAT. QDOS distributors include Widget (www.widget.co.uk) in the UK.
Dude, it’s almost like I’m looking at LL Cool J’s Radio album cover all over. Well not quite, but still, the look reminds me of it and the actual GE boombox I had back in high school. Man, this looks so much like it, sans the iPod and digital clock, that it’s shocking. Mmm, maybe someone at Logitech had the same wonderfully sonic filled portable radio that I too had.
Logitech calls this marvel an AudioStation and it’ll cost ya $299 this October when it is placed right next to the Apple Hi-Fi in Apple Stores across the nation. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s two 1-inch dome tweeters, a pair of 4-inch woofers, and total power output of 80W will impress enough for those to save a few bucks in change to grab it over the Hi-Fi or not. With extras like an AM/FM radio, built-in LCD for clock and radio info, along with a standard 3.5mm input, and an S-Video output for iPods with video, one may just ignore the Hi-Fi after all. Oh ya, the AudioStation also comes with a 16-button remote. In black.
Get the full dets from Logitech direct.
When Logitech sent SvenOnTech its latest portable speaker system, I figured it was just going to be another cheap sounding speaker that you wouldn’t catch me with in public. When I put in the four AA batteries and pulled the cord from the back of the unit and plugged it into my iPod, boy was I surprised! I kept looking and touching the thin single speaker “grill” to confirm that the 1.25 inch thick speaker was really producing the sound I was hearing. It was and man was I impressed.
Tom was impressed too and read what he thought of Logitech’s mm28 portable speaker system.