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Grant Fidelity's $3,200 Impression II weds CD player, tube amp and overkill

by Darren Murph posted Sep 9th 2009 at 6:58AM


See that? That's a $3,200 CD player, which will be impossible to justify for pretty much anyone not featured on Joan Rivers' newest TV show. Designed and produced by Grant Fidelity, the CD-1000 Impression II packs a high-end Sanyo CD drive, tube analog output, tube headphone amplifier and a rather basic display screen, while the "anti-vibration aluminum chassis" tries as hard as it can to look both unorthodox and absurdly expensive. It's hard to say if your burnt MP3 discs will actually sound better on this thing (okay, so they won't), but at least you can rest easy knowing that shipping on this 50 pound beast is completely gratis.

[Via OhGizmo]

Olive blesses Opus No. 4 music server with 2TB of space, charges $1,799 for it

by Darren Murph posted Jul 22nd 2009 at 6:59PM


We haven't heard from Olive in a white hot minute, but hey, given the price of its wares, maybe it just decided to take the whole recession off. At any rate, the boutique outfit is sashaying back onto the scene with the Opus No. 4, the newest member of its long-standing Opus Hi-Fi Digital Stereo family. As with the models that have come before, this ultra high-end music server packs loads of internal storage (2TB if you're counting), giving you enough room for around 6,000 CDs stored in the lossless FLAC format. There's also a handy, full-color display on the front that probably won't get much use, and 'round back, you'll find a WiFi adapter (for wireless music streaming, you dig?), optical / coaxial digital audio outputs, a left / right analog output, a USB socket and an Ethernet port (for more of that streaming stuff). Look good? You bet. Does it look $1,799 good? That's debatable.

Gallery: Olive blesses Opus No. 4 music server with 2TB of space, charges $1,799 for it

Sooloos intros $7,900 Ensemble music management system

by Darren Murph posted Nov 29th 2008 at 6:21PM


Not much has changed about the 17-inch Sooloos Control:One touchpanel you see above, but what is different about the newly announced Ensemble System is the lowered barrier to entry. Sure, the kit still demands a stuff $7,900, but that nets you the aforementioned screen and the combined storage / playback Ensemble server. In other words, this neat little package includes everything you need to digitize your CD collection and integrate it into your current home entertainment setup. The server itself includes an optical drive and USB port for importing tunes, 1TB of storage space and compatibility with other control systems including Crestron remotes and Apple's iPod touch / iPhone. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Sooloos intros $7,900 Ensemble music management system

Sony's iPod-lovin' AIR-SA20PK S-AIRPLAY music system reviewed

by Darren Murph posted Nov 26th 2008 at 5:38AM


We'll just cut to the chase: if you've been cautiously eying Sony's S-AIRPLAY system in hopes of it solving your multi-zone audio desires, you'll be sorely disappointed at how it performs in real world use. The AIR-SA20PK showcased just decent audio quality, odd design choices, unintuitive controls and a wireless range that was less-than-stellar. 'Course, the unit was being held to some pretty high standards, but given the $400 sticker, we can understand that. In the end, critics determined that the unit wasn't an outright failure, but for four bills, they'd prefer it to be much easier to use and sound quite a bit better. Good thing you didn't pull the trigger already, huh?

Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 5 controller in the wild?

by Darren Murph posted Oct 13th 2008 at 6:59AM


We're still retaining a slight bit of disbelief here, but the long teased BeoSound 5 controller could be awfully close to a formal release. Judging by scads of cryptic (and probably diluted) hints and just two images (one above, one after the break), we're led to believe that this here device will sit atop one's table and enable users to flip through multimedia and play back tunes through their Bang & Olufsen gear. The sell, obviously, is the design. Truth be told, this thing looks like something a few years ahead of its time at first glance, but considering just how ridiculous (that's a compliment, we'll have you know) the BeoCenter 2 looked over four years ago, we'd say this is just par for the course with B&O. Here's hoping some more concrete information flows forth shortly.

[Thanks, JK]

Continue reading Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 5 controller in the wild?

Sony breaks out 2.1 BRAVIA DAV-F200 home theater system

by Darren Murph posted Apr 30th 2008 at 11:34AM


Truth be told, we knew this gem was waiting in Sony's pocket, but it finally came clean and made things official over in Europe. The 2.1 BRAVIA DAV-F200 home theater system features S-Master digital amplification, which delivers a potent 135-watts of power to each speaker (including the subwoofer). The firm also threw in its S-Force Front Surround technology to help convince your mind that 2.1 is really 5.1, and as for the integrated DVD player, it plays nice with MP3 / photo / DivX discs, too. Better still, the unit includes 1080p upscaling over HDMI along with a built-in USB port for listening to WMA / AAC files, and there's even optical / coaxial digital inputs for other external sources. Regrettably, there's no word on a price nor US availability, but we can say for certain that those across the pond can claim their own this June.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Morel's Fat Lady loudspeaker thins out your wallet

by Darren Murph posted Jan 30th 2008 at 6:56AM


According to Morel, its Fat Lady floorstanding speaker is the result of two full years of R&D, and it's got the looks (and price tag) to prove it. Constructed from a unique mix of carbon, fiberglass, resin and other materials, this curvaceous loudspeaker houses a pair of 9-inch woofers, a single 6-inch midrange driver and a 1.1-inch soft dome tweeter. The former two even boast cones crafted from three layers of carbon fiber woven mat, Roahcell PMI damper and non woven carbon sheet, and the sexy exterior is kept glossy by numerous layers of protective epoxy lacquer. Mum's the word on frequency range and power handling, but considering that these are pegged at $25,000 per pair, maybe it figures only a sliver of the population needs to know, anyway.

[Via AudioJunkies]




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