Devialet’s Hi-Tech “Phantom” Implosion Stereo Sounds Better Than Speakers 20X Its Size

You need a big sub-woofer for big bass, right? Wrong. After 10 years of research, French acoustic engineers as Devialet just unveiled a giant step forward in audio that’s just one foot long. The Phantom is a petite, spherical, all-in-one amplifier and speaker that delivers what audiophiles think may be the best sound in the world for around $2,000.

Of course, $2,000 is pretty steep, and that’s just for one of these things. But it’s about the same as a 5.1 stereo system from Sonos or a traditional set of hi-fi speakers, sub and amp.

When Sting from The Police heard the Phantom, he said “I want people to listen to my music on this.” Hip-hop producer Rick Rubin was amazed by the depth of its bass. And former Beats Music CEO David Hyman said: “This small beautiful object will create a sound in your house that is just staggering. I’ve heard it. Nothing comes close. It can knock your walls down too.”

demo-phantom-full

Devialet has been awarded 77 patents, and has racked up 37 awards for sound and design since its first line of amplifiers launched in 2010. It tells me it sold 3,500 units in 2014 to rake in $15 million. But now it finally built a self-contained speaker and amp. It’s a mesh of art, science and sensation.

The Phantom sounds so sweet because of a technology called ADH. This combines the rich, pristine sound of analog amplification with the raw power and compactness of digital. It excludes the impractical size of most analog amplifiers and the signal pollution of digital. The result is a tiny machine with crystal clear sound you can pump up to extraordinary volumes.

Another advanced Devialet calls “Heart Bass Implosion” gives Phantom speakers the thump of much bigger subwoofers. The Phantom sphere’s dome drivers protrude from the side, wobbling in and out to generate enormous sound from the vacuum inside its closed box architecture.

Devialet says this makes the Phantom “four times more powerful than the best
woofers on the market of an equivalent diaphragm size, yet 6 times more compact and 6 times
lighter.” Plus since the drivers are symmetrical, their vibrations cancel each other out so the device stays still and won’t rattle around.

You can see how a Phantom looks in motion with its components teased apart. Normally they’re all interlocked like in the other images here.

Read More

Comments

Build Your Own Awesome Personal 3D Avatar with Avatara

Do you use social networks and want to build your own awesome 3D avatar? Maybe you want to send someone a cute cuddly image of yourself (kind of)? Or maybe you have your own ideas of what you would do with an Avatar… Well look no further than Avatara which I discovered from the MakeUseOf directory . You can create 3d avatars out of pre-set up templates or create your own from scratch. To start, visit Avatara’s homepage . You will see this screen: Click Get Started to umm, get started! That will take you to this screen: You see that you can build your own Avatar using an uploaded head shot like the Obama one above (just an example, guys). Or roll with one of their awesome avatars. I chose to start with a blank avatar by clicking Start with a blank avatar at the bottom of the screen. That takes you to here: I clicked on the filter at the top and told it to filter out everything but male characters and then I saw this: I rolled with Buck and continued. You need to click Select...

MoviePass drops pricing to under $7 per month, if you opt for the annual plan

MoviePass, the subscription service that lets consumers pay a monthly fee to see unlimited movies in theaters across the U.S., is slashing its prices yet again. The company announced today it’s now offering its service for $6.95 per month, down from the current price of $9.95 per month, when customers commit to a one-year subscription plan. That works out to a flat fee of $89.95 annually. The deal is a limited-time promotion, as opposed to a permanent pricing change, but MoviePass didn’t say how long the offer is valid. However, it is open to both new and existing subscribers – the latter who would receive a 25 percent savings on their current subscription if switching over to the annual plan. This is not the first time that MoviePass has dropped its pricing. When the company introduced its $9.95 per month, one-movie-per-day plan this August, down from $15 for 2 movies per month (or more in select markets like L.A. and NYC, and going as high as $50), it saw so many new sign-up...

ASUS VivoBook X202E Windows 8 Touchscreen Laptop Review And Giveaway

It wasn’t very long ago when prices of touchscreen Windows 8 laptops soared beyond $1000. Thankfully, those days are behind us, and portable computers can easily be purchased – touchscreen and all – for under $500. That’s precisely the demographic in which the ASUS VivoBook X202E falls. When compared to a high-end laptop, its specifications might seem modest, but for laptop buyers just looking for a way to browse the web, watch videos, use basic apps, and not spend too much money, something in this budget is perfectly suitable. The question is, of course, how does the ASUS VivoBook X202E compare to others on the market, and is it the one which you should be spending your hard-earned money on? Well, you’re just going to have to keep reading to find out. Best of all, we are giving away an ASUS VivoBook X202E to one lucky winner. Keep reading for your chance to take home this Windows 8 touchscreen laptop! Introducing the ASUS VivoBook X202E Laptop The ASUS VivoBook X202...

Kiran Upadhyay

Search This Blog