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A couple of times a year Fry’s Electronics drops the prices on their entry-level Polk Floorstanding speakers. This happens to be that time of year and the Polk R300 and R50 models are cheap enough to build a surround sound setup for peanuts. Keep in mind you will need a subwoofer to take care of the low-end since both of these models are known to have lackluster bass reproduction. One of the inexpensive powered Dayton subwoofers from Parts Express would be perfect.

POLK R50 SPECIFICATIONS
POLK R300 SPECIFICATIONS

- Polk R50 at Fry’s for $69.99 each
- Polk R300 at Fry’s for $49.99 each

- Polk R300 at Crutchfield for $134.99 each

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Trends designed their new UD-10 USB Audio Converter to keep it isolated from computer devices that are prone to causing signal interference. The UD-10 works as an external sound card with various formats of digital output and decoded headphone output.

The Trends UD-10 can serve four different functions:
1. Audiophile USB Transport (provide a digital interface to connect to your own DAC)
2. External USB sound card for PC and Mac
3. PC/Mac USB Headphone Amplifier
4. PC/Mac USB DAC

The USB and headphone jacks are on the front panel (can convert to a pair of RCA audio output with the bundled adaptor). The back panel is mainly the digital outputs (optical x1, coaxial x2 (RCA & BNC), AES/EBU x1) and the external power supply socket.

FEATURES:
- High-end Burr Brown PCM2704 IC for USB audio conversion.
- Proprietary dual power regulation circuits.
- Separate digital/analog grounds.
- Option to use USB bus power [convenient] or external power [better sound].
- High accuracy 4pin crystal clock (±10ppm).
- Applied RS422 driving IC to concurrently drive 4 groups of balanced & non-balanced digital outputs.
- Proprietary impedance matching circuits for AES/EBU(110ohm) and Coaxial(75ohm) digital outputs.
- Specially designed pulse transformers for each AES/EBU and Coaxial outputs to further isolate interference from UD-10 to the external DAC.
- Plug-and-play without driver installation for most PC/Mac operating systems.
- Audiophile grade materials and electronic components, including the high-quality Japanese/Korean precise SMD resistors and capacitors. The power filtering and decoupling is done using Sanyo OS-CON solid-state electrolyte capacitors. The analog signal decoupling and coupling utilizes ELNA Silmic electrolyte capacitors and WIMA MKP10 film capacitors.

Price on the UD-10 will be $109.

- Tends UD-10 USB Audio Converter
- Source: 6Moons.com

For more audio news go to AudioJunkies.com

I’ve seen some big towers in my day, but this system is utilizing multiple towers in which many weigh over 1,000lbs each and the total weight is nearly 8,000lbs. For use in a home that borders on complete insanity and instantly evokes a sensation of awe and bewilderment. We love it.

* Each of the three 9’4″ front channels consists of:
- Twenty-four Scan Speak 7″ Kevlar cone mid bass drivers each in their own sealed baffle.
- Four Bohlander Graebner RD-50 planar mid range drivers operating in a dipolar configuration.
- Forty Panasonic EAS 10 Th-400a leaf tweeters, thirty facing to the front and ten facing rearward, and wired out of phase for dipolar radiation.

* Each of the four 7’4″ surround towers consist of:
- Six scan speak 8″ Kevlar cone bass drivers operating from 60 to 500Hz thru a Krell KBX crossover at 12dB per octave.
- Six Scan Speak 5″ Kevlar cone mid drivers operating from 500 to 3500Hz at 12dB per octave. – Six Scan Speak Revelator tweeters from 3500Hz and up at 12dB per octave with a passive crossover between the mids and tweeters.

* 8′ Center Channel:
This horizontal D’Appolito array speaker is identical to the four surround line arrays with the exception that it is in a horizontal configuration at the rear of the room 8 feet above the floor.

* Pair of subwoofer towers:
The two identical subwoofer towers each contain eight 15″ high-excursion, metal cone drivers made by TC Sounds. A pair of Krell FPB 600′s are utilized to drive the towers (one each) with four woofers driven by each side of the amplifiers. The subwoofer towers handle everything below 60Hz for the 3 front and 4 surround towers, and a Krell HTS 7.1 processor provides a 24dB slope.

The creator of these behemoths states, “I feel the possibility still exists to build what you cannot buy, at least in the field of loudspeakers.”
[Cue James Earl Jones voice]If you build it they will come.[/cue]

The creator worked more than 5400 hours over a period of three years from start to finish for construction of the loudspeakers only. That would be 7.5 months if he were work non-stop 24 hour days.

- Audiogon: Not exactly off the rack

For more audio news go to AudioJunkies.com

KEF will be making the US debut of their newest Reference Series additions late this week at the Home Entertainment Show in New York. Using KEF’s latest technology, there is no doubt that the 207/2 two-channel speaker and the Reference 203/2 floor standing two-channel system will be solid performers and continue in the tradition of KEF’s flagship Reference Series.

We will have more on these once we see and hear them in person later this week.

- KEF Reference Series

For more audio news go to AudioJunkies.com

Samsung’s new YP-U3 MP3 Player has been leaked onto the net. Nothing ground-breaking about these units, but they do have a pretty blue flashing light on top if you like that sort of thing.

* Capacity: 1, 2, and 4GB
* 1″ OLED display
* Audio: MP3, WMA, and Ogg
* FM Radio RDS Tuner
* 15 hours of battery life
* Dimensions: 25.4 x 80 x 11mm

No price or release date yet.

- Source: DAP Review

This DIY write-up was posted on the AVS Forum not too long ago and is great for those who want “high-end” speaker wire without having to pay an arm and a leg. The design calls for the use of Cat5 cable that is woven and terminated at the end with high-quality banana plugs. The assembly is fairly simple and doesn’t even require soldering.

- AVS Forum DIY Cat5 Speaker Wire Thread

A Winntech Scorpion car audio display has made its way onto eBay. These things are not cheap and typically sell for $25,000 to $35,000 new depending on options. The bidding starts at $5,900, but watch out for that $700-$1,700 freight shipping.

- Four seats
- 16 feet long
- Ability to switch between 6 head units, 4 speakers, 4 subwoofers, 2 video overheads, 1 video head unit and 2 headrest monitors.

- Winntech Home Page
- Winntech Scorpion Ebay Link
- Source: Crave

Velodyne Acoustics has introduced a new 10-inch, powered subwoofer that features a Class D switching amplifier with 1000 watts continuous power. The MiniVee 10 also features Velodyne’s exclusive Dynamic Drive Control System. Measuring only 12.75″ high and 14.5″ deep, the MiniVee 10 utilizes a sealed enclosure for a small overall package size.

- Velodyne’s MiniVee 10
- Source: Electronic House

Parts Express currently has some crazy prices on the Dayton Powered Subwoofers in 8″, 10″, and 12″ sizes. These subwoofers come in preassembled enclosures with plate amplifiers.

Don’t forget, if you place an order over $99 with Parts Express before midnight May 13th shipping is free. That makes these subs even better of a deal.

Pictures are of the Dayton SUB-120 12″ 150watt Powered Subwoofer.

“The front firing, dual ported bass reflex design uses a long throw woofer to produce deep, clean bass in a small space. The amplifier features gold-plated high and low level inputs/outputs, a phase switch, independent volume control, an auto on/off switch (activated by an input signal) and a variable 12 dB electronic low pass filter. Includes a high pass filter output for satellite speakers.” - Parts Express

DAYTON SUB-80 8″ 80watt Powered Subwoofer $89.88*** (Normally $149.99)
DAYTON SUB-100 10″ 125watt Powered Subwoofer $124.88 (Normally $199.99)
DAYTON SUB-120 12″ 150watt Powered Subwoofer $148.88 (Normally $249.99)

***Be sure to add something to your order for the 8″ so the total is over $99 to get free shipping.

- Parts Express
- Dayton Audio

Connection Audison has released two new signal converters, the SLI 2 and SLI 4. The two converters are designed to have a 4:1 ratio attenuation capability and to allow the use of factory head units with any amplifier and/or processor installed in the system. The converters feature an automatic turn-on device as well as die-cast aluminum heat sinks. The SLI 2 and SLI 4 both have separate grounds from the devices being connected in order to prevent interference in the system.

- Connection Audison
- Source: Fhrx Studios

Bluebird Music has announced their new entry level preamplifier and power amplifier from Chord Electronics. The new Chord CPA 2500 pre-amplifier comes equipped with two pairs of balanced and one pair of unbalanced outputs and a full function remote control. The output stage has been specially designed to perfectly match any Chord Electronics power amplifier. Six pairs of RCA phono style unbalanced inputs are configured for two CD players, one VCR or DVD player, one Radio or Tuner and two recording output monitors.

The matching new SPM 650 entry level power amplifier delivers 130 watts per channel into 8 ohms or 170 watts into 4 ohms. The output from the power supply uses a “Dynamic Coupling” technique in which the positive and negative rails are mutually coupled by a strong magnetic flux. When a high demand is put on one rail, the energy required is actually drawn equally from both rails. Magnetic current sensors provide electronic shutdown, and the SPM 650 comes fully loaded with both balanced and unbalanced input connections. Gold plated speaker binding posts on the SPM 650 accept both spade and banana cable connections.

US retail price is $6,495 for each unit.

- Chord Electronics
- Source: SixMoons.com

Walgreens has the Meizu 4GB media player on sale for only $99.99 ($105 shipped). Not too shabby of a deal considering all of the features on the Meizu.

FEATURES
* Movie playback on a high-resolution 2.4″ vibrant TFT-LCD screen.
* Superior Audio Quality – Full EQ, 3 EQ user memories, Various EQ Sets
* Up to 20 hours of playback time with built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery.
* Feature Packed – Voice Recorder, Calculator, Games, Photo Album, FM Tuner with recording capabilities, Calendar, Clock with Alarm feature, E-book functions, USB Storage device, Synchronized Lyrics Display, etc.

- Meizu Media Player At Walgreens
- Source: Gizmodo

The CSS SD12 subwoofer is currently on sale at Acoustic-Visions for $155 ($183 shipped). The driver was built to have great sound quality with impressive output. Home audio guys take note, the SD12 would be great for a budget HT setup.

Features:
- Fiberglass/Nomex woven cone with NBR surround
- Low inductance design for extended top range
- 2 layer, 3″ copper voice coil
- Large shorting ring in the magnet to reduce inductance
- Forged and machined T-yoke
- Top plate with larger radiused pole vent for low aerodynamic noise
- High excursion spider with integrated lead wire
- Attractive cast aluminum basket design with cast aluminum trim ring
- Long Xmax and a “bottomless” basket design

SPECS:
Fs 23.3 Hz
Re 3.6 ohms
Qts .387
Qms 2.87
Qes .447
Sd 490 cm^2
Vas 83.3 liters
BL 14.6 N/A
Xmax 19.5 mm one way
Continuous Power 500W

- CSS SD12 At Acoustic-Visions

At a mere 0.34 inch thick, the MiniBox-D is claimed to be the thinnest portable headphone amplifier around. You can purchase the battery powered amplifier for $69 shipped which is a steal for a decent headphone amplifier, not to mention a pocket-size one.

Product Details
* Portable headamp
* Ultra light and thin
* Very Powerful output
* AC Charger and USB charger Cable
* Nice leather carrying case and bag

Technical Details
* Battery: 500mA Ni-H “chewing-gum” battery*4
* Output: 70 mW at 16ohm; 130 mw at 32ohm
* THD+N: 0.009%；
* Output impedance:16-300Ω；
* Battery time: 70hrs
* Dimension: 3.64*2.2*0.34inch(91mm*55mm*8.5mm)

- MiniBox-D Product Page At Head-Direct
- More Pictures At The Head-Fi Forum