Home Audio

Best Buy has released the Rocketfish wireless whole home audio system. Available only at Best Buy, the system sends audio wirelessly throughout your home, and at an affordable price. The product line consists of a Wireless Amplified Audio Receiver, a Wireless Sender/Receiver, a Wireless Outdoor Speaker and a Wireless HD Audio Starter Kit, which includes both a sender and receiver.

The products use the new Rocketboost wireless technology which uses standard connections for speaker line and line level inputs, so it can work with almost any brand of equipment you already have at home. Read more

We have always been huge fans of the Sonos product line. The company first caught our attention with the Sonos Digital Music System back in 2004. Now, they have added a new wireless music system for the iPhone loving crowd. The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 is a wireless music system controlled via iPhone (or Sonos controller) that brings music from your computer to any room in the house.

Priced at $399, with the new S5 you can control and play your iTunes library and online streaming services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster, and SIRIUS Internet Radio. Plus, more than 25,000+ Internet radio stations and podcasts are free of charge and pre-loaded on Sonos. The S5 also includes an analog audio input so you can connect to an external audio source (such as an iPod, CD player, TV, DVD, radio) and play music on all ZonePlayers in the system.Read more

McIntosh has been around for 60 years, and to celebrate, they have introduced the 60th Anniversary MXA60 Executive System, the company's first standalone integrated audio system. This tabletop system features a high-performance 75-watt-per-channel amplifier, CD/SACD/MP3 player, vacuum tube preamplifier, as well as an AM/FM/RBDS Tuner and high performance, two-way bass reflex loudspeaker system.

McIntosh President Charlie Randall noted: "Our concept in creating the 60th anniversary MXA60 Executive System was to bring together 100% McIntosh performance in a single convenient and compact package, giving audio enthusiasts the opportunity to enjoy renowned McIntosh performance in a system that's ready to play right out of the box. The result is a unique McIntosh audio system with an amazingly big sound that defies its small size."

Not for the cost-conscious, the MXA60 Executive System is available for pre-order now with an MSRP of $7500. Just remember, McIntosh has a 60 year legacy of providing discerning customers the best. And if you want the best, expect to pay for it. Find out more information on this beauty at www.mcintoshlabs.com

In time for the holiday season, Pioneer is introducing its first line of iPhone Sound Docks. Available in November, the XW-NAS3 and XW-NAS5 will feature a 2.1 channel digital amplifier with included subwoofer. Fine tuned by Pioneer speaker designer and engineer, Andrew Jones, the audio system is complete with a component and composite video output to play stored movies, TV shows and streaming A/V entertainment on a television.

Both sound docks are Bluetooth ready so they can receive wireless music from PCs and cell phones, including the iPhone 3GS with optional BT-100 accessory. For the audiophile, the XW-NAS5 also features Pioneer's proprietary sound enhancements including Advanced Sound Retriever and Auto Level Control.

The ZW-NAS3 has an MSRP of $399 and the XW-NAS5 is $499. Both will be available in November 2009.

The Olive Opus No. 4 is the latest offering in Olive's Opus Hi-Fi Digital Stereo line. This high-end music server has 2TB of internal storage, giving you room for around 6,000 CDs worth of lossless digital quality music.

Targeted at the home entertainment enthusiast, the Opus lets you easily digitize and consolidate music in high fidelity through the built-in CD drive - music is automatically imported and categorized. Simply insert your CD, push the record button, and a few minutes later the CD is in your music library, tagged and categorized. Have music on your computer? Transfer it with a simple drag-and-drop to your Opus.Read more

The rock band, Queen just announced that they are releasing their new album, Absolute Greatest – a compilation of the band's most popular songs – on November 16 in Europe and November 17 in the U.S. Want it before anyone else? You can get it (at a cost) by purchasing the new Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi music player. Queen has teamed up with Logitech to offer Absolute Greatest on the player. As of today, Logitech Squeezebox owners can listen to the new Queen album before it hits the stores in November, along with viewing Queen photos and hearing track-by-track audio commentaries recorded by the band. All you need to do is select the Queen application found under the Squeezebox Radio's new Apps menu.

Launched earlier this month, the Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi music player lets you listen to Internet radio from around the world, from online subscription services such as Last.fm, Napster and Pandora, as well as your personal music collection. The Squeezebox Radio also features a color screen and access to Facebook and Flickr. The Logitech Squeezebox Radio is available now for $199.99.

Press release:

Queen Makes Music History with Launch of Absolute Greatest Album

Logitech and Queen To Distribute New Album and Exclusive Content on New Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi Music Player Read more

Sennheiser just announced several new full-sized HD headphones for portable players. But not just for your MP3 player, the HD 428, HD 438 and HD 448 also are good enough to use on your home hi-fi system.

All models have soft padding for comfort and a closed-back, around-the-ear design. And, for moving around without getting tangled up, the headphones feature a single-sided cable. Each headphone also comes with a gold-plated quarter-inch stereo adapter, so you can get great sound on a home stereo system.

The top-of-the-line HD 448 model offers a lifelike sound experience and includes a 5.2 foot extension cable. It sells for $129.95. The mid-range HD 438 also offers natural sound and comes with a 4.6-foot and 10-foot detachable cables. It is available for $119.95. For those wanting powerful bass, look no further than the HD 428. It is more focused on lower frequencies. The MSRP for the HD 428 is $99.95.

The HD 428, HD 438 and HD 448 are available online from J&R and will hit Best Buy stores in late October.

In the works for almost two years, Sony and Best Buy just announced that they have joined forces to create a new line of home audio products. The new ALTUS line will feature wireless music systems, speakers, and home theater products.

First in the ALTUS product lineup are two iPod docking systems. The ALT-SA31iR multi-room iPod package features a docking station for iPod/iPhone, two high-output wireless speakers, an AM/FM tuner and S-AIR remote with an LCD display. On the display, you can see the album being played, artist, and track information. The ALT-SA31iR system can also be used to transmit audio to all other S-AIR compatible receivers. The ALT-SA31iR system will have an MSRP of $700 and will be available in September.Read more

Proficient Audio just announced that their new M80 receiver is now in production and is expected to be available in September 2009.

The M80 has everything you need for accurate reproduction of Blu-ray Discs, video games and other media. It features DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD lossless audio, four HDMI inputs, Faroudja DCDi Cinema video processing, and seven 130-watt high-current Class AB amplifiers. Best of all, the M80 is priced at $1,250 – not bad for a top of the line AV receiver!

The M80 includes features that custom installers need, such as a full set of line outputs and an optional iPod dock. The M80 also has cool-running amplifiers that are designed to operate in a ventilated equipment cabinet. Menu controls on the front panel let you make setup changes without using a remote control.Read more