Introduction Like many of you, I have a plethora of electronic gear that I carry around. I typically have a cell phone, Blackberry, iPod and laptop with me on most days. Despite my efforts to protect all of my equipment from drops and other damage, I don’t think a week goes by without something hitting the deck. Otterbox provides a whole slew of cases to protect your gear, which range in price from approximately $10 to $200 dollars. The majority of Otterbox cases are made specifically for the product being protected. A perusal of their online catalogue shows that most of today’s popular devices are covered. In addition to the custom fit cases, Otterbox also offers general use cases in a variety of sizes.   Two of Otterbox’s more popular lines are the Defender and Armor series. The Defender series offers less protection ...

Introduction It is not often that a product comes along that can either make a complex process one button simple or provide the tweaker with nearly unlimited adjustments in the pursuit of perfect sound but the Velodyne SMS-1 does just that. A couple of years ago Velodyne launched their Digital Drive series of subwoofers which included a digital signal processor, microphone, parametric equalizer and digital servo controlled subwoofer. The Digital Drive subwoofers received rave reviews including from AVRev.com’s own Christopher Zell. The Velodyne SMS-1 at $749 incorporates many of the features of the Digital Drive series, except of course the servo controlled subwoofer. The Subwoofer Management System features a full suite of controls housed in a svelte 1 rack unit high black box. The unit itself measures 2 inches high by 16.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches deep and weighs 17 pounds and is rack mountable. The front panel features an LCD in the center and ...

Introduction The consumer headphone market has evolved considerably over the last 30 years. Headphones have been used for better than a half-century as an integral tool in the studio for recording and mastering due to their accuracy and immediacy. As a teen, I owned a pair of higher-end headphones that I used to defy my music curfew. They allowed me to listen to my raucous music at concert volumes without disturbing or, better yet, even alerting the rest of the household. Although the sonic pureness of headphones has rarely been in question, the fact remains that headphones, regardless of size, have always been plagued with the reputation of being fatiguing to both wear and listen to for extended periods of time. Additionally, there has been resistance from many audiophiles, who place huge stock in soundstage accuracy and instrument placement. Sennheiser is no newcomer to the world of headphones. In fact, most recognize Sennheiser as the world ...

Introduction Satellite radio has been gaining lots of attention the past few years, as millions upon millions of consumers continue to discover its benefits over traditional radio broadcasts. Nationwide availability, commercial-free music stations and vast amounts of talk shows are just part of satellite radio’s attraction. XM and Sirius are the two major companies providing satellite radio content for a combined population of nearly nine million subscribers in the United States and Canada. Many of the satellite radio products have been focused on portable and car deployments of the technology until recently, when Polk introduced one of the first home audio systems. Antex Electronics saw this vacancy in the growing satellite radio portfolio and produced a high fidelity XM radio receiver of its own. Based in Torrance, CA, Antex is no stranger to the audio industry, boasting over 20 years of experience. In fact, Antex introduced the world’s first PC soundcard with 16-bit stereo CD quality sound ...

Introduction Satellite television has been at the epicenter of the home theater boom for more than a decade and now enjoys over 20,000,000 subscribers between the two major services. Satellite radio is banking on following in DirecTV and Dish Network’s path. Anyone who watches Wall Street or has been to a car dealer lately now knows XM and Sirius are the two primary players in the satellite radio market. XM reports having over three million subscribers. Sirius recently topped one million. Many car radios support one of the two satellite radio services, if not both. Portable XM radio players, as small as the size of a deck of cards, are available to consumers at all sorts of mass market consumer electronics locations. With the unquestioned boom in satellite radio, the consumers who have been forgotten are the serious audio enthusiasts. Until now. Polk Audio has been a lauded brand name in home and ...