Dubbed as being ultra-portable, these speakers come in two magnetized halves and connect to PCs via USB. I wonder if they'd also double up as one of those fake eggs to convince chickens to lay? [S&J via Coolest-Gadgets]

The TH-BA3 system is a 280 watt 5.1 home theater that doesn't let any wires get in the way. The sound bar has a built in power-amplifier, one analog and two optical digital inputs and decodes Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals. Also new today is the 180 watt TH-BS7, a 4.1 channel system whose centerpiece is mountable sound bar that's a scant 1.4" tall by 1.2" deep, with a wee 6" wireless subwoofer to match.

The Yamaha YSP series is still our pick for best-in-class because of its sonar-like sound steering, but these two JVC systems do tickle our fancy. Both systems will be available this month, which I hope anyone with my Christmas list in hand picks up on. The TH-BA3 runs $550 while the TH-BS7 will set you back $600.

JVC LAUNCHES DUAL WIRELESS AND SUPER-SLIM SOUNDBAR SYSTEMS

New TH-BA3 includes wireless rear speakers; TH-BS7 features a slender soundbar and slim, wall-mountable amplifier.

WAYNE, NJ, December 14, 2009 - JVC today introduced a pair of soundbar home theater systems, offering consumers a home theater sound solution to meet a range of budgets and needs. Among the two new systems is the world's first dual wireless soundbar system that features a wireless subwoofer and wireless surround speakers. The other is highlighted by a super-slim soundbar and a thin, wall-mountable amplifier.

JVC's new dual wireless soundbar system is the TH-BA3, a 280-watt, 5.1-channel surround sound system that includes a sound bar, wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speaker kit comprised of wireless left and right surround speakers and a wireless receiver. The sound bar contains four speakers - one each for the left and right main channels and two for the center channel. Also built into the sound bar is the power amplifier, surround decoding, system controls and the transmitter for the wireless surround speakers. It offers one analog and two optical digital inputs and decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals.

The new JVC TH-BS7 system is designed to match the slimmest of flat panel HDTVs. It includes a sliver of a soundbar that measures just 1.4 inches (36mm) tall, an even slimmer wall-mountable amplifier/control unit and a wireless subwoofer.

The 180-watt, 4.1-channel TH-BS7 owes its slim design to JVC's own Direct Drive speaker technology that uses a unique voice coil design and strong neodymium magnets to deliver outstanding sound quality and a broad soundfield from a super-slim speaker. The design allows the TH-BS7's soundbar to boast a frequency range of 200 - 20,000 Hz that falls to just 200 - 10,000 Hz at 360 degrees off-axis. The soundbar features four JVC Direct Drive speakers - left and right main channels and left and right surround channels - each driven by 20 watts. The two surround channels are processed using JVC's Front Surround technology to provide a surround sound effect without the need for rear speakers.

Complementing the slim design of the soundbar is the system's amplifier/control unit. It measures just 1.2 inches deep and can be wall mounted. It decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II, and offers one analog and three optical digital inputs. The system's wireless subwoofer features a six-inch woofer powered by a 100-watt amplifier.

[JVC]

Not only does it play your Mario soundtrack out loud, but it also charges your DSi when it's plugged in. There's even a little hole on the top half of the case so you can continue using the camera. It's like they thought of everything—except how to continue using the shoulder buttons. On sale in Japan now, it's ¥3,990 (around $45). [Datel Japan via Tiny Cartridge]

Your cat/dog/ferret may get peeved if it detects their thermal temperature and follows it about playing drum 'n bass, but I would love a roving music tank that I could control using any Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled device. Mint claims its Mintpad is the perfect partner for the Music Tank, but you can control it with your PC if you so desire.

If it ever comes up against the effeminate Sony Rolly, our money is on the Mint Robot Music Tank. Just look at those tracks! [Mint Pass via DVICE]

The $57 NXT speaker, probably better suited to sitting on your desk, can be powered by three AAA batteries (which can keep it running for up to five hours) or plugged into a power source. [AkihabaraNews via UberGizmo]

At one point today, Mordacil will also probably claim he's not a virgin in the comments. [Deviant Art via Hawty McBloggyvia Technablog]

The ClearAudio Statement: At $100,000 the ClearAudio Statement, seen above, is everything that is wrong with the audiophile culture, combined into one four-foot, 770lb, variously suspended, NASA-electronics-adorned turntable (check out a full-length shot here). But it's a design triumph, coaxing a polished, demure aesthetic out of what should by all means be an ostentatious CNC-machined mess.

Speak-er: Spawned by a playful concept that nobody honestly expected to get made, the Speak-er isn't fancy, powerful or technologically impressive. It's a dead-simple desktop speaker in a fantastic shell, which opens up a slew of design possibilities for your office, room, or live-action comic book troupe.

Sonnance Freewheeler: Continuing the simple-but-perfect theme, the Sonnance Freewheeler is a wireless speaker disc, about the size of a car's wheel and able to run for about 8 hours on a full charge. It's also $21,000, but that neither here nor there, "here" being "within the range of you to buy" and "there" being "at all worth it, even if it was." But, pretty!

BeoSound 5: It's somehow heartening to see so much design go into a remote control. That's what the BeoSound 5 is: a 1024x768 screen with a brushed aluminum control wheel that serves solely as an interface for the BeoMaster 5, a giant B&O media server.

Montegiro Lusso Turntable: Apparently designed in the Towers of Hanoi tradition, this conical turntable is adorned with enough expensive-sounding features for even the most credulous discerning audiophile. It's just under $50,000, but really, you can't put a price on tying a room together, can you?

Sony Sountina: So, it's a speaker in a glass stick, but it's also one of the rare speakers that would work in virtually any setting. As a bonus, it can be illuminated in blue, amber or purple light, though I think it looks best without any at all.

V-Moda Vibe Earphones/Headsets: This is one of the few items on this list that people actually buy, and with good reason. They're capable (though not outstanding) earphones, on which V-Moda has shown extreme attention to design. The corrugated bodies, Mont Blanc-esque pen-tip wire accessories and (sometimes) fabric wire casings make for the most stylish earbphones on the market today.

Harman Kardon Soundsticks: You've seen this at Apple Store and Best Buys for years, but they're due some credit: they bring a stunning transparent aesthetic to mainstream buyers, perfectly complementing a generation of Apple hardware while being generally gorgeous enough to be appealing to the PC crowd too. You'd still be hard-pressed to find a lovelier set of speakers for under $200.

Opera Sonora Speakers: Every once in a while, questionably scientific theories of audiophilia result in extremely handsome products. That's the story of the Opera Sonora line of speakers. The theory: Bolting little speaker driver on to the back of tonewood—the same stuff used in high-end violins—will provide a rich, warm sound. The result: Speakers that look like they were designed by a reanimated Antonio Stradivari, with a sound—well, not many people have actually heard them yet.

Sony Qualia 010: Priced at over $2500, slapped with a painfully pretentious name and jinxed forever to be rejected by mainstream-averse audiophiles, these futuristic headphones were doomed from the start. But whatever, these are subtly good-looking cans, blending in for day-to-day use but revealing meticulous design and construction on close examination. (Image from Head-fi)

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

Price: $419

How it Tastes: The speaker system is loud enough to share music with those in close proximity on the slopes, or a couple of seats over on the lift. The 3AAA powered pack sits in a pocket and sends up wires to the little flatish egg like speakers on both sides of the hood. They seem very weather resistant, from the cloth covering to the small speaker holes. Battery life is 10 hours, but good news— when your battery pack dies, your ipod or whatever you've got plugged into the mini jack, will still be as loud as a set of headphones, without amplification. At this volume, only the people next to you will hear the sound, about the volume you get when you're on the bus and a person's headphones are cranked. This is a far better and simpler solution — things necessary on the mountain — than the old complicated ribbon cable and bluetooth motorola audex jackets which basically unplugged when you moved too much and ran out of batteries and died on you often.

The jacket itself is down filled, and waterproofed on the outside. It's very very warm and better for slow movers on cold blue bird days where you don't have any chance or worry about sweat building up. There are pit zips for cooling, of course, but down is hot, and this jacket is no exception. You'll have to deal with the drafty pits and the heat build up on your core in certain places wearing this jacket, like with any down shell. The waterproofness and breath factors are rated at 10,000mm 5000g, which is mid high on waterproofing, using Burton's 3 layer dryride shell but the breathability, as I said above, is not as great as you'd get on a unlined shell. There's a zip and snap jacket to pant interface to avoid snow wedgies on pow days. I love riding in storms, when the tourists go home and the overpriced waterproof outdoor jackets I have are tested, so this one isn't breathable enough for me. It also makes me look even more like a teddy bear than I do naked. But if you need to stay warm and listen to tunes on the mountain, there are very few jackets that do audio so well.

[Burton]

Snowmodo is our snow sport winter meet up at Lake Tahoe, with prizes, discounts, tons of fun snow activities, a party and GADGETS. If you can make it (and people are coming from TEXAS) please RSVP. I'll let you wear my hat (below).

Apart from the weird look, the home theater speaker is particularly interesting as it can run for months without needing a recharge.

I'm not so sure about the indoor fuel charger, however. Would it be cheaper than just connecting your devices to your computer or power plug? []

The speaker, which is made out of stainless steel, is fully functional and was designed by Tord Boontje as part of the "Digital Explorers: Discovery" exhibition at Metropoliton Works center in London. Pretty cool, huh. [Art Daily via Design Boom]

Pretty much just a computer speaker cleverly shaped as a word bubble, it's the most tactile way we've found yet to make it seem like John Mayer was really singing just to us (although, we already have reason to suspect that such is the case.) Sized at 4"x6"x2", a pair will run you $120, allowing your deepest desired to be fulfilled in stereo. [Think Of The via Newlaunches]

It has numerous LED light sources, moving parts and sound effects, and along with awe, inspires some sort of Godzilla-like instinctual response to crush it's little buildings and trains right down into its wooden pedestal. And smack down a giant moth. [Bandai via Akihabaranews]

Here are some extra details. It's going to be $449 in June, and will come with the speaker fan, a transmitter and the remote, which controls not just volume, but the brightness of the lights.

It's pretty damn good. Even though it only has one channel playing out of one speaker, shit, it's still a speaker IN YOUR CEILING FAN. You can sync it up to the other Soundolier speaker lamps (Hunter's fan is also using the same technology) for a more well-rounded speaker setup. But supposedly the sound gets blasted in a 360-degree spread so the entire room gets covered in that single channel of sound.

As a fan, it's got Hunter's fan experience, so although they didn't turn it up full blast, there was a decent amount of breeze. But, again, it's a fan with a speaker, so how could you not like it? This IS Gizmodo.

The Boom Bench features eight 60-watt co-axial speakers and two subwoofers that can be accessed through Bluetooth. The Boom Bench in a way is a super-sized Docking Station. Connect your player to the amplifier and take control. Now you can play your music with 95 dB high quality sound. A Bass Shaker in the seat transforms the deep sounds into vibrations that enhance the physical sensation of your tunes.

Great, so now only you can shake your bootie good to your favorite hip hop, but the bench itself will do it for you. My dog Jones would love it. For him to poop on (since it won't work with his iPhone). [Dezeen]