From One, Many

Italian custom loudspeaker designers NACSound and Sonance have come out with the Kayak, a stunning single speaker that produces stereo sound.

Hung from the ceiling, and attached to the floor in sort of speleothem column, the Kayak looks like no other speaker. If vertical isn't your thing, you can suspend it horizontally or diagonally as well.

Audio Only, Thank You

Parasound's Halo P7 preamp shuns the world of video in favor of pure audiophile performance.

Designed for both analog two-channel and multi-channel, the Halo P7 has 10 inputs including a phono input, two 7.1 channel inputs, and both XLR balanced connections and regular RCA style unbalanced. There is a 1/8-inch stereo input on the front for a portable MP3 player, and a 1/8th stereo output for high-end headphones.

A Classic Returns

The AE1 Mk III SE is a modern update on the now 20-year-old classic AE1, and is designed and built in the UK.

Sold in a limited 100-pair numbered run the AE1 Mk III SE has a number of tweaks that Acoustic Energy claims enhances the performance over the original.

At an invitation-only event in New York City, Boston Acoustics unveiled (literally, complete with white sheets) the full line of high-value step-up loudspeakers in their new Vista series.

Definitely upscale in terms of design and performance, the Vista line has been several years in development, with four of the models available now or by the end of the summer.

THX Ultra2Plus or Select2Plus certified

Onkyo has just announced two new receivers, the TX-SR806 and the TX-SR706.

The TX-SR806 is Onkyo's first Ultra2Plus certified receiver. It has 130 watts for each of its seven channels. There are also five HDMI 1.3a inputs (one out), with scaling up to 1080p thanks to a Faroudja DCDi Cinema video processor.

Get in touch with your music

Admit it: If you’re into audio, you’ve always dreamed of having simple access to all of your music at any time. No digging through hundreds of vinyl or CD albums to find the right one, and no searching a computer hard drive or portable music player interface to create a suitable playlist.

Hand-crafted, limited-edition, high-end speakers… from China?

Pictures barely do the design of these speakers justice. Built from layers of Birch MultiPly laminate to form a look that is certainly unique in the speaker world.

Designed by owner Patrick Chu the Chagalls are built in his own workshop in China.

Canton announces new floorstanding and on-wall speakers

Two new speakers expand the Chrono line of speakers from Canton, the floorstanding 511 DC and the on-wall 501.

The Chrono 511 DCs are a three-way design, with a pair of 9-inch woofers and a 7-inch mid-range, all made from aluminum. The tweeter is Canton's ADT-25, a 1-inch dome made from aluminum and manganese.