Gizmodo: Amplifiers

Fi-Hi Speaker Bags: Boombox Backpack Made Real

Kit Eaton — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:45:04 EDT

Remember we laughed at the concept Reppo2 boombox backpack, and its ability to aurally assault those you walk past with your choice of tunes? Well, yes: something similar is now real, courtesy of these Fi-Hi novelty bags with built-in speakers and amp. What's there to say? Well, we don't know how powerful the audio system is, we don't know if they're weatherproof (though we'd hope so.) But we do know you can connect up your MP3 player, that they're in a wide range of different sizes and styles, some looking very much like the Reppo2, and that they're fascinatingly nasty. No word on pricing or availability, but expect to hear one soon. [Aving]

Scientists Discover that Moose Antlers Act as Amplifiers

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:00:53 EDT

The secret of a moose's exceptional hearing is down to its antlers, apparently. Scientists have discovered that those cool, gnarly things that look so fabulous perched atop the furry freaks act as amplifiers, allowing Mr Moose to be able to hear things up to 2 miles away. Added to the animal's already acute hearing—it's to do with its large ears that rotate in almost every direction, apparently—antlers improve the beast's audio capacities by as much as 19 per cent.

The father-and-son team of George and Peter Bubenik used an artificial moose ear that had been created by TV special effects team, and mounted a pair of antlers on top of it. A microphone and sound meter were placed in the ear canal, and a speaker set up 30 feet from the ear, which was rotated into different positions.

When a sound was played through the speaker (something by The Rasmus springs to mind) the sound meter recorded 59.5 decibels when the ear was facing the source of the sound, and 57.5 decibels when it was facing backwards. But when it was moved into a sideways position, and where the antlers worked as an amp, the level came out at 61 decibels. [Daily Mail]

Hovland Stratos Amp: Sell Your House, Kids and Organs for Rock'n'Roll

www.gizmodo.com — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:10:45 EDT

To the un-rock'n'roll like me, the object above looks like a TV cabinet, or a disco oven - but, like I said, I've never had much of a fever for cowbell. This is the Stratos from Hovland, an amp that was 20 years in the making. And this is the price: $50,000. More on what it has and what it does (and doesn't) after the jump.

400W of power into 8 ohms, 625W into 4 ohms and 800W into 2 ohms.
Measurements are 356mm x 244mm x 476mm
Weighs in at a hefty 41kg per channel.
Will give you more cowbell (probably), grief from your other half (definitely), but no 11 on the volume. Shame. – Ad Dugdale

Product Page [Hovland via Tech.co.uk]

Pioneer Car Audio Collections

kthompson — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 17:07:40 EST

It's a Pioneer Christmas for the car audio world today, as Pioneer has announced a boatload of new speakers, amplifiers and subwoofers. The TS-A line of speakers start at $65 and are optimized for compressed audio like MP3. In the amplifier realm, the new GM line (GM-3300 through GM-7300) are priced from $100 to $200 and promise strong audio, while the PRS line is a bit pricier ($200+) and uses ICE technology to maximize efficiency and decrease power usage and heat generation. Two new subwoofers, the PRO line TS-W3001D4/2 and TS-W2501D4/2 are 70% smaller than previous generations but pack more beat than ever. All this gear is used by Pioneer's record-breaking audio teams that have pushed over 180dB out of their vehicles. Their moms must be proud. – Karson Thompson

Zvex Nano Head: Tiny Tube Amp Packs Punch

Charlie White — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 15:14:08 EST

The Zvex Nano Head is the world's smallest tube guitar amplifier, bound to be a favorite of electric git-box pickers and grinners all over the guitarisphere because of its unique distortion characteristics.

Classic rock & roll guitar playing is all about the distortion, where you're actually using overmodulation to your advantage. This .5-watt baby can't put out so much volume that it introduces unwanted artifacts in microphones, but still gives plenty of controllable distortion and great sound, so recording guitarists will be quite interested in this little pocket rocket.

Plus, it's probably a kick to hold this mini-firecracker in your hand, turning it up to 11 and feeling the heat as it strains against its screaming cargo. Go ahead, rock & roll ain't noise pollution. – Charlie White

Product Page [Zvex Amps]

More Vacuum Tubery: Vincent Audio Headphone Amp

Gizloco — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:50:17 EST

Far be it from me to question all the rampant vacuum tubery that's been going on in the past few weeks, but companies keep making 'em for a reason. Vincent Audio is the latest such company to subscribe to the theory that "vacuum tubes = sales" and have released a headphone amplifier employing the outdated technology. Sure, they expect you to throw down nearly $800 to amplify headphones, but at least the company promises "audio bliss." Audio bliss... Hmm, I wonder if that's anything like being told that your gal's pregnancy tests came back negative?

There's two headphone jacks on the front for some dual-amplifying action. Honestly, though, if you need an $800 headphone amp powered by vacuum tubes, you may need to reconsider your priorities. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Audio Adviser via The Red Ferret Journal]

Pyp Bomb Amplifier For iPod Or Guitar

gizmodo.com — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 09:31:23 EST

Perhaps the terrorism marketing approach now works best when selling a new iPod product. The Pyp Bomb is a unique little amplifier made out of PVC piping and plastic made for either your iPod or guitar. An odd combo, but the Pyp Bomb has bang (pun not intended) for the buck with 18 watts of power. Not too shabby. When something (like an iPod) is plugged into the 3.5mm phono input jack, sound is optimized for clear, crisp audio for music. Plug a guitar into the 1/4" jack though, and you can switch between electric and acoustic channels to rock out Roy Smeck-style. The Pyp Bomb gets days of battery life too via an internal liquid acid battery. It's available now for $150 but don't blame us when the ATF wiretaps your phone for buying it.

PyP-Bomb iPod/guitar amp available [iLounge]