Audio/MP3

Get a Pioneer Music Tap AirPlay Music System for $99.99

This is an update of a deal I wrote about earlier this year.

If you own an iDevice, you've got access to an embarrassment of music-streaming app riches. To name a few: Pandora, Slacker, Spotify, and my new favorite Songza, which streams music based on your mood or activity.

(And don't forget SiriusXM Internet Radio. That deal from Friday is still active, provided you remove the promo code from the form and leave that field blank.)

Of course, to really make the most of those kinds of apps, you need a powerful stereo to which you can beam … Read more

Do you remember when Sony was Apple?

There was a time when Sony was the first name in consumer electronics. The company's Trinitron TVs dominated the TV market for decades. In 1975, Sony's Betamax was the first widely adapted consumer video recorder format. The Walkman hit the market in 1979 and changed the way people listened to music, creating the personal audio market category. In 1982 the CD, which the company developed jointly with Philips, changed the way we listened to music even more. Sony extended its reach when it purchased CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, and scored a triumph in … Read more

iPhone 5 vs. the VPI Traveler turntable

Face it, most of today's shiny new gizmos will be hopelessly out-of-date in a few years and taking up space in landfills not so long after that. The iPhone 5 may be a marvel of engineering and marketing genius, but like iPhones of years past it's doomed to be cast aside when legions of Apple fanboys and girls stand in line to buy the iPhone 6 sometime next year. And so it goes.

Four years ago I wrote about my friend Gene and his Linn LP 12 turntable, the one he bought 30 years earlier.… Read more

Freebie Friday: Get a free year of SiriusXM Internet radio

I love Internet radio. Pandora, Slacker, Spotify -- they're all wonderful in their own ways, and not simply because they're free.

But SiriusXM? That's the satellite radio service for cars, right? Turns out there's also SiriusXM Internet Radio service, one you can enjoy on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or the like.

It normally costs a somewhat laughable $14.49 per month (a Pandora subscription runs $36 per year), but right now, you can get a free year of SiriusXM Internet Radio. Just click the link, supply your name and e-mail address (the CHEVY1YR promo code should … Read more

Three-deal Thursday: 25-cent Android apps, any song for a nickel, and a free defragger

Being a cheapskate can get expensive. If you're anything like me, you're intimately acquainted with the phrase, "too good a deal to pass up." And so you end up spending a lot in order to save a lot. Oh, the cruel irony.

Today, I'm going help you get a lot without spending a lot. I've rounded up three pretty sweet deals, and the most you'll pay for any of them is two bits. (That's 25 cents for those of you not familiar with old-timey vernacular.)

1. 25-cent Android apps.

To help celebrate … Read more

CNET Exclusive: Gogroove BlueSync STX Bluetooth Wireless Stereo over 50% off

Liza Maloy isn't a CNET editor, but she has a pretty fun job: She's the CNET Marketplace associate partnership manager, which means she hunts high and low for tech bargains to bring to the CNET audience. Each week, she blogs about deep discounts she brokers. Whenever she can, she gets discounts on products CNET editors love.

This week we have teamed up again with our friends at Accessory Genie to bring the CNET Exclusives members an awesome deal on a great budget Bluetooth speaker system. The Gogroove BlueSync STX Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Speaker System pairs easily with most … Read more

Desktop and hi-fi speakers, what's the difference?

Judging by the number of e-mails I get on this subject, a lot of folks don't understand the difference between computer and hi-fi speakers. For example, how is an Audioengine A5+ ($399 a pair) functionally different from a PSB Alpha B1 speaker ($300 a pair)?… Read more

Five-deal Friday: iPads, Roku boxes, Vudu movies, and more!

Well, yesterday was kind of a train wreck, huh? Believe me that I get just as frustrated as you when a vendor suddenly jacks up the price on a product, as TigerDirect did yesterday on the Vizio sound bar. It's worse than a sellout, because it smacks of bait-and-switch tactics (even though the company's own promotional e-mail showed it at the higher price, so that accusation doesn't hold water).

Anyway, I still feel bad about it, which is why I'm giving you five -- count 'em, five -- deals today. Without further ado:

1. Wal-Mart has … Read more

Get a Vizio VSB200 sound bar for $29.99

This is an update of a deal I've posted before.

Most HDTV speakers sound pretty crummy. In their defense, there's just not a lot of room for cones and whatnot inside those skinny LCD and plasma panels. But it's disappointing! Here you spend all this money for a beautiful screen, and your ears pay the price.

One affordable way to improve the audio situation: a sound bar, which is a speaker/receiver combo that sits above or below the screen and does the work of two or more standalone speakers.

While supplies last, TigerDirect has the refurbished … Read more

CNET Exclusives: A chance to win a PS3 and much more

Liza Maloy isn't a CNET editor, but she has a pretty fun job: she's the CNET Marketplace associate partnership manager, which means she hunts high and low for tech bargains to bring to the CNET audience. Each week, she blogs about deep discounts she brokers. Whenever she can, she gets discounts on products CNET editors love.

Picture this -- you are sitting down with a bowl of popcorn to watch your favorite movie on a home entertainment system, hand-selected for you by the CNET editors. I know it sounds too good to be true, but for one lucky … Read more