Cyber Monday Subwoofer Deals

It's pretty difficult to find a decent subwoofer at a local store these days. But you can  find the Cyber Monday subwoofer deals on Amazon starting right now. Of all the speakers you can purchase online subs have the least amount of risk. Eight percent of people can't tell a good speaker from a bad one and even less can distinguish a good sub from a bad one. 

That said most subs these days are built pretty well and perform evenly. Almost any stand alone sub will beat the daylights out of one that comes in a HTIB home theater in a box sub. So take a look at this assortment and pick one out that fits your budget and room size.

Of the ones shown our favorites would be the following

A good entry level sub from Polk audio. Great sound and a fantastic price with free shipping if you have Amazon prime
Polk Audio PSW10 10-Inch Monitor Series Powered Subwoofer (Single, Black)

Energy is one of our favorites. When we were at The Speaker Company our subs were modeled after these.
Energy ESW-M8 NA 1,200-Watt Subwoofer

iPod Dock Reviews & Tips for Christmas Shopping

Updated for Holiday 2012 - Everyone needs an iPod dock for someone on their Christmas list in 2012. Well, almost everyone. Here is a list of sites reviewing the latest crop of iPod speakers for the holiday season, and our favorites. The following list only includes sites that concentrate mostly on docks that play music from your iPod touch or iPhone. Next week we'll talk about speakers that also allow internet WiFi radio.

Things to Consider When Choosing an iPod iPhone Speaker Dock

What size are the drivers? Most will have drivers in the 1" to 4" range. In most cases bigger is better. Look for docks with a mix of high and mid drivers, with a separate woofer for better bass

How many drivers? More drivers may mean better sound. Most units with only two drivers, one for each channel won't deliver as smooth as sound as ones with multiple drivers. As just stated, at least one high and mid are required, but 2 or 3 mids, even if only 2" each may deliver a smoother mid-range. Of course a separate bass driver is critical for bass response.

Wattage and Amps - Although in most cases how many watts the amps have for iPod speakers won't matter much, look for something at least 10 watts per channel and 25 watts for the bass. Highly recommended are units that have separate amps for the subwoofer. This reduces the need for the stereo amps to be high wattage. Remember that nothing this small will create room shattering bass but you want some satisfying lows  that are smooth and cover a respectable range of frequencies.

Blue tooth & Airplay
Not every dock is a dock. What I mean is you don't need to actually connect your phone or ipod to a speaker to get the music there. With bluetooth or Apple's AirPlay you can wirelessly connect to many "speaker docks" without physically connecting your device to the speaker. This is great when you want your device with you. Keep thing to keep in mind: Blue tooth is only useful if you are within 30 feet of your speaker dock, but usually will work with both Apple and Android; AirPlay will work anywhere you have WiFi in your home but won't work with Android. Either way, no wires may be how you want to roll.

Features - Most units will not have bass and treble controls, let alone an EQ. But some will. Since your iPod has some EQ controls this should not be a show stopper. Look for a unit that can easily dock your iPod or iPhone, charge it, and offers a secondary input for non-iPod users in your home.

• Clock Radio needed? Be sure to look for ease of use as many are difficult to program.
• Need to run on batteries? Some will be rechargeable, consider these if you move it around the house frequently.
• Remote control? Most will have them but some less expensive units may not
• Speaker phone? Will the unit function as a speaker phone if you receive a call?

Size and Placement - Better sound usually means bigger size. Nothing really small is going to give you really full sound no matter what the reviews say. Expect larger units to generally out perform smaller ones in sound quality and quantity. Some may be wall mountable while others will only fit on a table or Kitchen counter.

First up also shows up on Google first, CNet's review page that was updated in August of this year. It covers some of the best docks out there by the big names.

CNet Reviews
Tech Radar - though it covers products in the EU, some are available here and you can learn about features
Top Ten Reviews - Though I find the reviews bogus since this is purely and affiliate marketing site, the charts are useful.
Amazon top Products and Reviews- Though not a review site itself, I find the reviews on Amazon to be the most reliable since they are from users. Be sure to read the reviews and not just look at the start ratings since someone may be dinging a product for not having a feature you don't want or need.

That's it. Happy shopping and Happy listening.

Is this the Most Bass from a iPhone Speaker Dock?

American's love bass. Compared to Europeans and Asians, we love bass more than anyone. Don't believe me? Go to your local hi-fi store (if you are luck enough to have one in your area) and listen to a pair of B&W speaker compared to say a mainstream brand like Polk or Definitive. You'll notice a distinct difference in the manner in which they portray the bass portion of the program. But this is for a different post.

Today we look at the Pyle Home iPhone speaker dock, meant for non-iphone 5 users. This unit packs some heavy duty specs.

• S/N: 85dB
• Weight: 13 Lbs.
• Drive Unit: L/R Channel 5.0 Inch
• Frequency Response: 150Hz - 20kHz
• Output Power: 300 Watt Max - 150 Watt RMS
• Dimensions(D x W x H): 485mm x 225mm x 210mm (19.1" x 8.8" x 8.25")

Thirteen pounds is a pretty darn heavy speaker dock. But given it looks nice and has a large amplifier complement and decent S/N ratio, it certainly should be considered by those who like their bass to have substance.  Five inch woofers are not large by bookshelf speaker standards but are killer in a device of this size.

Audiophiles need not apply. Despite the definitive boom in this box, most audiophiles will note the lack of definition in the low end according to most reviews. But most folks will just hear loud satisfying bass. And honestly, for  $108, you really can't ask for much more.

Pyle Home 30-Pin iPad/iPod/iPhone Stereo Speaker Dock With Remote Control

Denon CooCon AirPlay Compatible Speaker Dock

Denon is known for making mid level high end amplifiers and receivers. They were also first to announce AirPlay compatibility in the AVR Home Theater Receiver line a couple of year back.  What Denon is not known for is speakers.

It appears they are trying to change that. The last entry into the streaming world was a giant bust with the RCD-N7. It was cute but came with crappy speakers (go figure) and a dock, but did all the heavy lifting of steaming on its own. It was sort of a mini receiver with wifi.

The Denon Coocon is an AirPlay compatible speaker dock that hedges its bet by including DLNA, which we think is the way all such docks should be. This way iOS or Android, you're good to go.

Specs, with 100 watts of power and split 25 each for 4 drivers this unit is sure to have enough power to fill most normal size room with adequate sound. It is ported and of course like anything its size, some significant DSP goings on.

Price: $500. Is it just me of is $500 just a bit much to spend on a speaker dock? I have not yet heard this unit but for casual listening, for which even Denon would not argue this is for, there are many other AirPlay compatible spekaer docks that are much less expensive which will sound either as good, or almost as good.

That said, if you're a big Denon fan then this might make a great addition to your kitchen, bedroom or porch.

Google Nexus Q Triad Bookshelf Speakers

Though I've not found a review of the new Triad Bookshelf Speaker that are paired witht the new Nexus Q streaming amp from Google,  Triad, the company making these speakers is a very high end speaker manufacturer. For reference their other bookshelf speakers come in and $2,400 and $3,500 a pair. Yes you read that correctly. No matter what you think of spending this much money on a pair of speaker with 6.5" woofers in them, they certainly would be a waste with a feed from a streaming source, especially a phone.

Better Choices Available

Many folks will surely think they need to purchase these $400 speakers in order to get good sound out of the Nexus Q. Call me crazy but more likely than not you get get much better speakers than these for the source you're using. Then again, can a super high end speaker company make a speaker that is only $400 and not make a piece of crap? Triad speakers likely come with a 300% margin for the company. Apply that to a $400 list price set and you quickly see that what you're likely buying here is a set of $100 speakers with a fancy pedigree.

Instead, consider 8 ohm speakers for Boston Acoustics, Polk and the like and save some money. Will you notice the difference in sound quality? Not likely.

Triad Bookshelf Speakers for Nexus Q Preview — Reviews and News from Audioholics

On wall speakers that will look good next to your TV

These days most folks want their speakers to be heard and not seen. Bose was one of the first companies to capitalize on this trend many years ago. For those of us who don't really want Bose due to let's say, compromised low end, we're starting to see a greater selection of speakers that don't disappear, but at least look nice next to our high-end TV.

The Shadow 25 from Monitor Audio is only 4 inches deep and is designed to be used as front, rear, and center channel. With sensitivity of 84 to 87db it should put out a respectable amount of sound paired with a quality amp or receiver, and look nice doing so.