Audio do-it-yourselfers rejoice! A good friend recently told me about an excellent site for information on building your own speakers: Zaph Audio. The site features detailed DIY documentation for building great speaker projects. Each of the speaker designs (which range from basic bookshelf speakers to floorstanding) has been tested by the owner. Enjoy!
For those looking for fantastic sound I highly recommend a pair of Grado SR60 headphones. The sound they produce is fantastic and, more importantly, doesn’t “fatigue” your ears. Most headphones I can stand for about 30 minutes before having to take them off. However, after receiving these as a gift recently I found myself listening to Jazz for hours without a hitch! A must buy for any audio enthusiast.
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One of the little known places on the web to find true bargains when it comes to home audio is the Cambridge Soundworks Clearance outlet. I check the site periodically and was ecstatic to see that they are once again offering the Soundworks Radio 705 (brand new) for a reduced price of $39.99! That is almost 70% off the retail price of $119.99.
I have purchased 2 of these radios and have been blown away by the quality of sound they produce. While the radio is fantastic, the sound is so spectacular that it is well worth the $40 to use as a speaker for an iPod! Grab one before they are gone!
Many of us are familiar with Gina Trapani’s popular Lifehacker blog, which features a wealth of information on software and productivity. However, if you get a chance I would encourage you to pick up the second edition of her book Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better
While the book borrows several organizational tips from another excellent text by David Allen, the additional tips are well worth the $20 bucks.
Playing downloaded video files can be a pretty frustrating experience. Instead of simply hitting “play” and watching a video, I am often stuck having to download some format specific codec or update to the media player I am using. That all ended, however, when a friend suggested I give VLC Media Player a try.
VLC (apparently short for VideoLAN Client), is a flexible player that supports playback of a number of audio and video formats including OGG, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MP3, DivX, etc. I like the fact that it is available for free at CNET’s download.com (much better than downloading software from a random website) and carries a 4 out of 5 star editor rating. I recommend giving it a try - you won’t be dissapointed.
Reef has introduced its new Stash sandals that allow you to insert a limited number of personal items (ID, cash, etc.) in the sole of the sandal. Pretty useful if you are somewhere where pockets are a problem (the beach maybe?).
This on the “heels” of a related innovation, the reef sandals with flask - which allow college students everywhere (of age of course) to clandestinely imbibe during the big game without being escorted out of the stadium by police. Consequently, these sandals are probably not recommended for those suffering from athletes foot. Yum.
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It appears that resellers of Paradigm Speakers (one of my favorite speaker brands) have finally wised up and raised prices. Don’t get me wrong - I wish they hadn’t, but I had always been perplexed by how inexpensive these speakers were. A recent visit to my local dealer (the only one in town) confirmed this, as the new lineup features a more expensive Paradigm Atom (the least expensive of the Monitor line) and a pricier Paradigm Titan (one of my absolute favorites).
But don’t despair, discriminating buyers can still find prior versions of these speakers on ebay for a steal. I recommend, for the price, the Paradigm Titan v.3 (I owned these for years and was extremely happy with them). However, even despite the recent price hike, I still think the current models are a fantastic bargain for the price.
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Here’s another find for those looking for great sound at a reasonable price. Thinkgeek has the Sonic Impact T-amp for $69.99 (if you can ever find it in stock!). The unit is a class T amplifier which, based on all of the information I have found online, has blown reviewers away ever since it was released in ‘05. You’ll need high efficiency speakers to get the most out of it - but it sounds like it is well worth it.
According to the audio reviews, the price to performance ratio is almost unbelievable. And, while I am a firm believer in “no free lunches”, this may be one of those rare hidden gems you should jump on before it’s gone.
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Here’s an awesome best buy coupon posted by one of my favorite sites, dealnews.com. It allows you to take 10% off of the purchase of 1 item (you actually can take 12% off if you are a Rewards member).
There are some minimum purchase restrictions but I found them to be reasonable (e.g., $399 for home theater products, etc.). If you are looking for a new HDTV this would be a good one to use (act fast though, it’s only good through July 28th).
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I’ve long been a fan of Cambridge Soundworks - a brand well known for creating high quality speakers (audio nerds and wanna-be audio nerds like myself will recognize the name of company cofounder Henry Kloss).
I’m an even bigger fan of the fact that the company (now owned by Creative) has decided to sell their products direct to customers again - cutting out any additional cost associated with distributors (the middle-men).
Bargain hunters will like their clearance section, where they resell open box and refurbished speakers (all of which have been thoroughly tested). I’ve already blown quite a bit of coin on some fantastic deals like a pair of the Classic Series Model Six speakers for $127.49. To be honest, these speakers sound incredible - especially given the price.
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