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Upgradeable speakers--everything old is new again

You can't make your Nikon D200 DSLR into a D300. If you want the new one, you must buy it.

Even Steve Jobs can't transform last year's iMac into the latest, greatest iMac. And you can't add HDMI switching to your 4-year-old Sony receiver. But...that's exactly the sort of upgradeability that some high-end companies offer.

Take Zu Audio. The company offers an upgrade kit that'll transform any Druid speaker built from 2001 forward into the current Druid Mk 4/08 model for $600 ($800 upfront, with a $200 refund with return of original drivers). Since a pair of new Druid MkIV/08 go for $3,400, the $600 fee seems very reasonable to me. Complete new Zu speakers are sold factory direct with a 60-day money-back guarantee. They are manufactured by Zu Audio in Ogden, Utah.

Last year, I raved about the Druid MK IV speakers and dubbed them Speaker of the Year. So I was eager to install the kit and see for myself if the smart folks at Zu could actually improve this great speaker.

The upgrade kit includes a pair of new woofers and tweeters and all of the necessary tools to get the job done. Examining the quality of the parts and build integrity of the Zu's designs from the inside of the speaker only increased my respect for the design.

Zu even produced a how-to DVD that shows the installation in real time. Druid owners who'd rather not roll up their sleeves can ship their speakers back to Zu and have the pros handle the job--for free--but the owner pays for shipping. I needed around 50 minutes to complete the upgrades, and I was taking my time. I wanted to get the job done right. The first time.… Read more

AT&T claims to be the fastest U.S. 3G network provider

So the iPhone 3G is coming out tomorrow. Are you ready? OK, that's more of a rhetorical question that those who've been lining up in front of Apple and AT&T stores in NYC and San Francisco would call me crazy just for asking. (Though, in fact, it's they who are crazy). The real question is if AT&T is ready. And it looks like it is.

It's only fitting that AT&T announced today that it offers the nation's fastest 3G network, by a significant margin. The claim was made based … Read more

Homemade plasma speaker puts on a light show

Cruising around YouTube, I found "Plasma Speaker/Singing Arc," an intriguing little video of a homemade "speaker" that makes sound by directly ionizing air.

It's not exactly high-fidelity, but it shows there are still a few tinkerers out there thinking about something other than the iPod.

The person behind the video describes the process: "This is a prototype of a FM modulated plasma arc speaker/tweeter. Have since built this circuit on a custom PCB & made an improved vertical discharge setup, using tungsten-tipped electrodes (see my other videos). This stops the plasma hopping … Read more

Making sense of Israel: A 60-year-old start-up

TEL AVIV, Israel--Watching the news from Israel over the last several years, it sometimes seems that the political culture in the country is broken. Yet at the same time, the economic and entrepreneurial trends seem stronger than ever. I've never been able to explain that contradiction. Now that I'm back in Israel, a country where I worked several years in the 1980s, that contradiction is more striking than ever.

As always, the "matzav" or the security situation, dominates discussions here. Just prior to my arrival, the Israeli cabinet OK'd a controversial prisoner swap with Hezbollah … Read more

Gadgettes 96: The Childhood Bliss Episode

In the spirit of Kelly Baby Watch, we explore the many reasons why now is a really good time to be a child. Us grown-ups can still have a little fun too. Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 96

Sega Dream Dog DX http://dvice.com/archives/2008/06/sega_dream_dog.php

Edible legos: Yay or nay? http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/5775

Ultimate Star Wars Lego Death Star http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_ultimate_star_wars_lego_death_star_10257.asp

Go ahead kids: Draw on the fridge http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-9976657-32.html

Swim-Ring amphibious PC pool toy http://www.popgadget.net/2008/06/amphibious_pc_p.php … Read more

Former rock engineer designs fab high-end audio gear

If you're not in the "club," high-end audio might look like a bastion of elitist snobs and the idle rich, so it may come as a shock to note that some of high-end audio's greatest engineers started out in rock and roll. Take John Curl, in the early 1970s he worked his magic on the Grateful Dead's concert and recording sound systems and later kept the Jefferson Airplane aloft. That was just before he tackled film sound in Hollywood. All of that led to collaborations with high-end pioneer Mark Levinson; together they raised the stakes, considerably, with the JC 2 stereo preamplifier in 1974.

It didn't matter that the JC 2 was two or three times more expensive than any other component in the nascent high-end market; a lot of folks lucky enough to hear it and afford it bought it. The JC 2 had that effect on people. Curl and Levinson soon parted ways and over the next few years Curl designed a long run of cutting edge electronics for other companies. Levinson eventually departed the company that bears his name, and his old company now designs car audio systems for Lexus. High-end is in the big time now.

When I heard that Curl had finished work on an all-new Halo Series JC 2 stereo preamplifier for Parasound I had to check it out (it's like hearing that Carroll Shelby just built a new AC Cobra). Better yet, for this review Parasound sent along a pair of the matching Halo Series JC 1, 400 watt mono power amplifiers. I reviewed the all-new JC 1 & JC 2 combination for Home Entertainment magazine, you can read the review here.

The JC 1 is a seriously powerful amplifier, its output stage employs nine pairs of high-current bipolar transistors with massive heat sinks to insure long-term reliability. Each amplifier can deliver 400 watts to 8 ohm rated speakers, and 800 watts to 4 ohm models, and if your speakers ever dip as low as 2 ohms, the JC 1 will happily serve 1,200 watts! The JC 1 sounds potent, even when listened to at merely moderately loud levels, and maintains its composure at lease breaking, call-the-cops volume. … Read more

Battery-operated mascara does the work for you

Disclaimer: unless you're a makeup-wearing male (or a woman who loves both gadgets and makeup in equal measure), stop reading here.

It's seems like a guaranteed way to poke yourself in the eye, but that hasn't stopped Estee Lauder from introducing what is believed to be the first tube of vibrating mascara, according to beauty and fashion magazine Women's Wear Daily.

Estee Lauder claims there is "a relationship between vibration, length, volume, separation and curl." Stifle your laughter or raunchy jokes.

The battery-operated mascara brush will vibrate at 125 micropulses per second and has … Read more

Is technology ruining children's lives in Colorado?

I have never been terribly fond of adults.

Somehow, the older people get, the more venal, calculating and, therefore, swathed in self-denial they become.

I have tried hard to have sympathy with Rochelle Hoins of Castle Rock, Colorado this week. I have struggled.

Ms. Hoins was stunned more swiftly than Mrs. Lot of Sodom when she discovered that eighteen students in a middle school attended by her twin sons had taken photos of themselves using their cell phones. The photos, having been emailed, took on something of a larger life in the ether of the web.

"We did dumb … Read more

Amazon goes high-end, now sells speakers a true audiophile could love

MartinLogan, based in Lawrence, Kansas, maker of highly regarded curved panel electrostatic speakers announced yesterday that its Design Series models are now available through Amazon (Amazon is the only authorized Internet retailer of MartinLogan speakers).

MartinLogan's unique technology produces sound with far greater detail than conventional "box" speakers--it's high-definition for the ears. I think MartinLogans are also beautiful and elegant, which doesn't hurt. M-L's technology was also used to create stylish in-wall, on-wall and floor-standing speakers, and many of the speakers qualify for Amazon.com's free Super Saver Shipping or free two-day shipping (… Read more

Pathos Acoustics: Italian hi-fis with real curves

If you think high-end audio has to be boxy and/or kinda masculine, check out Pathos Acoustics wares. We think it's hot stuff, and when we've heard it at shows the sound was always pretty impressive. Pathos gear combines vacuum tube and solid-state technologies to eke out the very best from both.

Pathos Acoustics was founded in 1994 by three engineers, Gaetano Zanini , Gianni Borinato and Paul Andriolo in the Italian city Vicenza. Pathos developed a new amplification circuit they called INPOL (Inseguitore a Pompa Lineare = Linear Pump Tracker). All Pathos products are still handcrafted in Vicenza. They … Read more