Areaware's 2B table radio was created by Frog Design creative director Jonas Damon, likely inspired by his time working with Braun's minimalist genius Dieter Rams. It features a trio of vacuum tubes, monaural AM.FM reception, an aux input, a recording output, one largish knob, two smallish knobs and...

Over the years there have been lots of expensive noise-canceling headphones. The first were invented by Dr. Amar Bose (yes... THAT Bose) in the late 50's, so the tech has been around for a while. I've bought a couple here and there (some from very reputable audio brands, I might add), and they've ne...

I'm always on the lookout for a bargain, a character trait that goes back to when I was in high school and was trying to make my summer job money last all year. When the Walkman hit big, I could only ever afford no-name copies. Occasionally I'd luck out and get a decent sounding unit (especially in ...

My third generation iPod will soon celebrate its 5th birthday, which ought to qualify for an old age pension in the electronics world. I keep casting a lustful eye at Apple's newest offerings, but the truth is that my scratched and abused old player still does everything it should. Its biggest downf...

Nagra has a long history producing tape recorders for professional film and video recording. Perhaps that explains their deranged quest to produce the most overengineered CD player on earth. The Swiss company borrowed the high-end industrial aesthetic of their classic tape machines for this top of t...

One bleak winter weekend in early 1979, my family drove down from Canada on a shopping expedition to Minot, North Dakota. It was something we did a few times a year. I vividly remember gorging on a smorgasbord of Saturday morning cartoons on the three major networks. Most Canadians will reluctantly ...

The $299 RetroSound Model One neatly solves the problem of adding modern digital sound to your classic vehicle. It includes an Infinimount system that allows you to space the control knobs as required to fit virtually any console. The distinguished-looking front panel is removable and features a min...

Pioneer made a name for themselves long ago as a maker of somewhat higher end audio and video gear.  I'm sure that there's a lot of room to dispute just how great or near great they were, but personally I never associated them with a youth-oriented product like a boom box. True to the Pioneer n...

When you go to a record fair or a thrift store, it would be really great to be able to test out records before you buy. Listening rooms are sadly a thing of the past, so you'll need to roll your own. We've done articles on several affordable portables, but here's one that we overlooked. There were a...

The Tape Project was founded to bring "master tape sound" into the living room. Each release is recorded onto 1/4" half track analog reel-to-reel tape at 15 inches per second. They claim, "You just aren't going to get any closer to the original master, short of buying a record la...