July 2011
Consider, if you will, the top of the world, Everest, where the air is thin, the view Godly, and getting there and back the stuff of deadly legend. At the top of Velodyne’s subwoofer world is the Digital Drive 1812 Signature Edition, a monstrous edifice with two long-throw drivers measuring 18” and 12”, twin 1250W amplifiers, and enough cojones to be heard, well, at the top of the world. Just below the DD-1812 is Velodyne’s Digital Driveplus series -- think K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, and so on -- each of which scales dizzying heights, but doesn’t quite summit at the top of the world. The driver sizes and model names of the DD+ series are four: 18", 15", 12”, and 10”. We’re going to have some fun with the 10-incher, which, unless I miss my guess, is, despite its size, one special sub.
Last November I waxed rhapsodic about the Velodyne Optimum-10, by any measure a subwoofer of outstanding attributes and a great value. Its remarkable performance was enhanced by its built-in equalizer, which adjusted the output profile by taking the sub’s placement and your room into account. Of course, this is a variation on the theme originally developed in Velodyne’s SPL series and, later, the first Digital Drive series, with customizable equalization that could be visually managed by connecting the sub to a TV monitor -- an extreme multivariate experience not for the unadventurous or weak of character. The only drawback to the Digital Drive equalization methodology was deploying the subwoofer in an audio system that didn’t have a TV handy. In that case, the user had to schlep a TV monitor over to the audio system to use the sub’s customization features. The Digital Driveplus series solves that problem by offering a Windows-based PC interface that doesn’t require use of a TV.
I do most of my headphone listening at home using a dedicated headphone amplifier and full-sized cans, but when I’m listening on the go or at work I prefer in-ear monitors (IEMs) -- a type of earphone that is inserted into the ear canal. Not only do their small sizes make IEMs more convenient than regular headphones, but I appreciate the level of isolation that most of them provide. I also like the fact that IEMs can be adequately driven directly from the output of an iPod or other portable device. 
Ever seen a Citroën DS19/21/23? It looked like something out of a science-fiction flick when it was introduced in 1955, was still in that category when it finally went out of production in 1975, and offered high-technology features well ahead of its time. Or the Renault Twingo, possibly the greatest little sub-mini now made in Europe?
Sony reinvented portable music reproduction with its Walkman cassette player in the early 1980s, and in no time at all Walkmen appeared on waistbands around the world. But while the Walkman was a smash hit, it didn't spur an entire new line of accessories, as has the Apple iPod. Apple didn't invent portable music, but it sure gave a lot of companies a reason to do some innovating of their own.
I’ve been doing a lot of headphone listening over the past few months, and I’m not talking about portable listening. I’m talking about sitting in a quiet room, connecting the 'phones to the best equipment I have, and letting the music wash over me. Relatively little space in the high-end press is dedicated to headphones, even though they can offer an astonishing level of fidelity and musical enjoyment for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent loudspeaker-based system -- but we at the SoundStage! Network have decided to devote to them a few more words than we have in the past. After being impressed with the 
Cambridge Audio, based in the UK, has a long history of building affordable two-channel gear that puts far more costly components to shame. But if affordable is Cambridge’s middle name, it could just as easily be innovative. Take, for one example, the Azur 840A two-channel integrated amplifier -- its power-amp stage is unique in being class-XD, a hybrid of class-A and class-B that promises low levels of distortion. Another is their DAC Magic D/A converter, with its switchable proprietary filter algorithms. 
Axiom Audio, based in Ontario, Canada, has thrived despite the cooling of the global economy. There are several reasons for this, including their products’ affordability, and a lean business model of selling only via the Internet -- no middleman. Perhaps the biggest reason for Axiom’s success is that they make fine-sounding equipment, something I’ve experienced firsthand with a number of their models. 
In the face of smart phones, iPods, and iPads, few companies these days are making portable TVs. Vizio has tried to make their offering seem like a more contemporary product by using a backlit LED display and adding at least a couple of bells and whistles, but the facts remain: The VMB070 doesn’t connect to the Internet, it has limited adjustments, and its design seems to have been focused more on style than on use. It does, however, receive over-the-air digital high-definition signals at resolutions of 780p and 1080i.
For years now, we've trekked to North Carolina's Outer Banks for an annual week's worth of sun, surf, and relaxation. The one truism common to all the vacation houses we've rented -- at least in our price range -- is that the "Stereo-CD player" feature in the specs invariably overstates the junk that an owner would dare leave out for a renter's use. We quickly learned that if we wanted music, we needed to bring our own gear. So, for years, along with the boogie boards, beach chairs, and kites, we've also packed RadioShack's compact Optimus STA-300 receiver, Celestion 3 speakers, and whatever portable CD player we had on hand. Recently, the STA-300's right channel gave up the ghost. The Optimus had cost only about $100, and having its bad capacitor replaced would have cost more than that, so lately we've made do with a Sirius boom box -- it got whatever baseball we wanted, but we were slaves to the sound quality of whatever station we tuned to. If we craved, say, the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall, we were out of luck. And, well, it's a boom box -- hi-fi it ain't. We lusted after a small amplifier or receiver that could do the vacation-audio lifting.