Very Exclusive Gadgets & Gizmos

The luxurious home of a true audiophile is never complete without a pair of high-end luxury speakers. For those who are willing to spend some huge bucks on quality sound, here are the Montana WAS-2 loudspeakers from the house of PBN Audio. Priced at a whopping DKK 379,000 (approx. US $66,500), the Montana WAS-2 loudspeakers are meticulously engineered and hand-assembled, followed by auditioning and testing in real-world conditions.

Here comes the latest entrant into the family of high-end luxury speakers. The “Pnoe” from the house of Arcadian Audio are uber-cool horn speakers that enjoy a smooth and round back loaded horn design. The company’s flagship Pnoe horn speakers are a result of 10 years of effort to design and realize a horn speaker without compromises. The speakers were designed with an aim to create the smoothest and roundest path for the sound wave front, while avoiding any obstructions. The Pnoe is made of fiberglass and special damping materials in the form of a sandwich.

With the advancements in high-end audio, the new generation of audiophiles are happily trading fidelity for portability. However, for those ears that are fine tuned, the manufacturer of the wall-mounted loudspeaker systems - Artcoustic — has launched new modular speakers with upgrades in its subwoofer range. Featuring 4 new models, Artcoustic’s Modular Satellite at just H250mm x W78mm x D52mm is the smallest and most affordable speaker the manufacturer has ever produced.

Since we all have own favorites and preferences when it comes to musical tastes, but when it comes to loudspeakers, it depends whether you intend to rediscover your music collection or not. However, for all those who intend to experience the all new acoustic experience, this Cx15 coaxial three way loudspeaker form Cantico is an acoustic elegance wrapped in a beautiful real wood veneer finishes by the finest Italian woodworkers.

If we take a look at the trends in advanced loudspeaker designs over the past 10 years, it appears that the big boxes with lots of drivers spread all over the baffle are gone. So, treading along the same trends, the high-end speaker manufacturer Eclipse has refined its TD712z speaker range to create the MK2 loudspeakers. Designed for the superb and enduring musical performance for stereo music playback, the MK2s can even be used as the surrounds in a full 9.1 home cinema setup. Priced at $7750, the MK2 will be a revelation in high-end audio.

The Q-TV2 is an external speaker upgrade for your big screen telly. It’s a 2.1 setup with a big pair of 15W speakers hanging out on each side and an integrated subwoofer. The speakers just plug into the telly and there are no other speaker wires required. It even gives you 3 different EQ programs and a digital lip-sync adjustment. If you don’t need the telly but you do need some amplification, you can even plug in an MP3 player via the auxiliary input. The mounting brackets fit any 30″ – 42″ screen. Priced around £300.

If you’re into high-end audio gear, then the new exhibitor at the CES – Audience - should raise your interest. With its new ClairAudient LSA 4+4 speaker, the all new Audience speakers are based on the principle of a line-source array, in which identical, full-range drivers are positioned in a vertical column. The mouthful name refers to what audiophiles have always been after. The LSA 4+4 derives its name from two line arrays, one in the front and other one in the rear, each with four drivers for exceptional clarity and resolution of fine musical detail.

The BoomTune Bomb II Stereo is a pair of compact stereo speakers that work with their 3.5mm plug so you can connect them to your MP3 player, phone or stereo. They squish down when it’s time to pack them away and have a built-in retractable cable and a magnetic base so they stick together. They’re powered via an internal battery that’s rechargeable via USB. US$49.95 and they come in red or black.

Harman Kardon has anncouced a set of PC speakers, the Harman Kardon GLA-55 Speakers, price is for $999.99.

With the amazing crystal design, they feature "delivers with astonishing bass and clear accurate sound in any direction".

There are some good speakers, some great speakers and then there’s the “Grand Master” of all the speakers. Hansen Audio has created a 10 driver, 3 way, floor standing speaker for audio resurrection. Engineered to perfection by the Hansen Audio, the “Grand Master” has four woofers and four mid-band drivers to perfectly match the two high precision tweeters. Hansen Audio is an overachiever with respect to driver technology with their use of exotic multi-layer composite sandwich cones.