Category: General

The Ferrari Art.Engine is surely the most extravagant and accomplished compact audio system to date.

For music lovers, the Foxl could, on its own, make the difference between a dreary business trip and a great one. At 5.

The Pro-Ject Debut III USB combines a time-honored, high-quality turntable design with a USB output stage, making it one of the easiest and best ways to transfer sound from vinyl records to a computer—and from there onto an iPod. No mass-market USB turntable can match its sound quality.

The LP12 was perhaps the first high-end record player—it was introduced in 1972, in an era when no one thought the turntable mattered. A simple yet smooth bearing design and massive components ensure stable playback of your cherished LPs.

The sleek aluminum chassis of the Zeppelin is not purely to advance its looks—its elegant curves also enhance the product’s acoustics. Pop an iPod into its dock, turn up the volume, and you will enjoy sound vastly better than that of any mass-market iPod speaker system.

Audio enthusiasts revere electrostatic speakers, even though the rest of humanity seems baffled by these tall but slender creations. The best-known proponent of electrostatic speakers is MartinLogan, which celebrates its 1983 founding with the ,000-per-pair MartinLogan 25th Anniversary CLX. Like other electrostatics, the CLX eschews the usual cone woofers and dome tweeters in favor of a large polyester membrane of vanishingly low mass; many audiophiles feel the lightweight diaphragm better reproduces the faint details of high-quality recordings. However, while most electrostatics rely on a conventional woofer to reproduce bass tones, the CLX uses electrostatic panels exclusively. This unusual configuration ensures that bass instruments and deep-voiced singers receive the same natural reproduction as higher-pitched tones. The 25th Anniversary CLX has an aluminum frame, while the standard CLX has a veneered frame and retails for ,000 per pair. (785.749.0133, www.martinlogan.com)

—Brent Butterworth

In July, Danish camera manufacturer Phase One announced a new camera that will surely be one of the most highly sought after professional-grade digital cameras when it hits the market by the end of this year. Phase One’s P65+ is the world’s first digital camera based on actual full-frame medium film format. It captures images with an astounding 60.5-megapixel resolution, creating files as large as 180 megabytes and at speeds as quick as one frame per second. With an image viewing screen nearly two square inches in size, the ,990 P65+ provides the largest live-capture digital back available—a feature for which Phase One cameras are known. Established in 1993 by a Danish inventor, Phase One is a household name amongst professional photographers, though discerning amateurs are quickly catching on. (www.phaseone.com)

—Bailey S. Barnard

Photo credit: Peter Svenson

For a baseball fanatic, only a natural disaster could be less welcome than being pulled away from the TV when the home team is playing. With the Liveboard, baseball fans can keep track of the big game regardless of distractions. The 9 Liveboard uses Bluetooth wireless technology to pull up-to-the-minute data from an Internet-connected Windows or Mac computer up to 60 feet away. An alphanumeric display shows the home cities of the teams and the current score, while lights count balls, strikes, and outs, and also indicate which bases currently host runners. The unit can be set to show scores during your home team’s games only; to show scores of other teams when yours is not playing; and to cycle through the scores of all major-league teams currently playing. No data fees are required. Fittingly, the Liveboard’s chassis is crafted from white ash—the same wood used to make baseball bats. (877.320.9649, www.myliveboard.com)

—Brent Butterworth

The Krell Evolution 707 may represent the first truly high-end product designed to meet the technical demands of the dazzling new Blu-ray movie discs. The ,000 Evolution 707 surround-sound processor serves as the “brain” of an elite home theater audio system. It can decode all of Blu-ray’s advanced surround-sound formats, including Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. It also upconverts all incoming video signals to 1080p resolution and outputs them through its HDMI 1.3 digital video circuitry to ensure that all of the movies, TV shows, and even home videos you watch will look their best. Although any audio amplifiers can be used with the Evolution 707, it is best mated with Krell’s own Evolution amps. The processor can be linked to the amps through Krell’s proprietary Current Audio Signal Transmission (CAST) technology, which the company says eliminates signal degradation caused by cabling. (203.298.4000, www.krellonline.com)

—Brent Butterworth

When it comes to photography, Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad is the alpha and the omega. Originally established in the mid-19th century during the early developmental stages of the camera itself, the company will release a digital single-lens reflex camera in October. It epitomizes high-quality picture taking by generating a 50-megapixel image resolution. Hasselblad’s H3DII-50 is the company’s fifth-generation medium-format camera and will deliver 33 captures per minute and produce image files as large as 150 megabytes. The ,995 camera will house a two-gigabyte CompactFlash card capable of holding 30 images. The camera will offer users the ability to capture images from eye- or waist-level with interchangeable viewfinders. Hasselblad’s Natural Color Solution and Moiré Removal technologies—not to mention the company’s vast array of software and accessories—grant users the capabilities necessary to capture images as a professional would, regardless of experience. (www.hasselbladusa.com)

—Bailey S. Barnard