Sonos products are heavily reviewed so I won’t comment on the usual things like sound and set-up, even though these are well-done and fully in line with the Sonos experience.
Slam dancing to Sonos PLAY:1
What really strikes me about the PLAY:1 is the attention to fit and finish, especially the subtle design details that – I suspect – many people would take for granted. For instance, Continue reading
A walk around last week’s135th Audio Engineering Society Convention at the Javits Center New York reminded me again of how passive (non-self-amplified) speakers seem like antiques, despite their continued dominance in high end home audio. Studio monitor speakers are pretty much all self-amplified “active” designs.
At a basic level, amplified sound consists of electrical amplification, to make the electrical signal “bigger,” and speaker transducers, to turn that signal into sound waves. The first step is purely electrical; the second is electrical and mechanical. There is no law that says these must be together or separate, so why does it matter? Continue reading
From the Boston Acoustics Blog Archives (circa 2011)
OK, I have to admit, as a product designer I try many products out, including my competitor’s products. Because I try these products – like home theater gear – in my real life (a.k.a. my real living room), I am not the only test subject. So imagine what happens when I leave my wife and two kids with a new system, with a new remote, and no me to keep it running. TROUBLE! I get calls, usually when I am boarding an airplane or walking into a meeting: Continue reading
I am very proud of the new Boston Acoustics TVee One “speaker base.” I was heavily involved in the specifying and development of this product. The $349.99 TVee One functions like a soundbar, fits under the TV stand, and requires no separate subwoofer. In planning the product a year ago, we looked carefully at the competition, which at the time included just ZVOX, the patriarch of the soundbase category, and Bose, who had just entered the market with a very simple product (perfect for the masses). Bose’s product sells like hotcakes and has “legitimized” the market in a way that no other brand can. I am sure ZVOX is both flattered and terrified!
Anyway, the Boston Acoustics TVee One is built wider and sturdier than the Bose Continue reading
