‘Tis the season for gift guides and while our gift guide is the best, there’s nothing wrong with getting second opinions. CrunchGear recently looked at high-end consumer audio equipment for several different categories, doing a fine job in its own right. The “winners,” so-to-speak are:
•Wireless Audio: The Sonos ZonePlayer ZP80 and the Olive Opus.
https://gizmodo.com/hands-on-with-the-sonos-zp80-bundle-166303
•Headphones: The Shure E500PTH and the UltimeEars triple.fi 10 Pro.
https://gizmodo.com/relative-isolating-giveaway-win-shure-e500pth-earphones-216314
Some of the other winners… meh, a little impractical, methinks.
•Too Big For Its Own Good: Open Labs MiKo Portable Media Workcenter. Now, I saw one of these during the summer, and while it’s definitely got a “Wow!” factor going for it, it’s entirely too large to be even mentioned in the same sentence with the word “portable.” Better have a giant desk with plenty of room on it for this guy.
https://gizmodo.com/open-labs-miko-watch-out-oakenfold-190534
The rest of the round-up is fairly spot-on, so if you’re itching for some audiophile info, it could be worth a few seconds of your time. After you’re done with our own efforts, of course.
Holiday Buyers Guide 2006: Audiophile Gear [CrunchGear]
