Audio Video News

The month of July brought us additional fireworks in the form of seven products worthy of Sound & Vision’s Top Pick designation — ranging from a unique in-wall subwoofer and cost-no-object speaker system to high-end headphones that promise a Utopian experience and a hi-res-capable AV receiver that can be had for $600. Will one of these make your late summer shopping list?

JL Audio Fathom IWS-SYS-1 In-Wall Subwoofer System: $4,500

If serious bass is a priority but you have no place for a hulking subwoofer, the audio gurus at JL Audio have you covered with a monster sub that lives in your wall. The ingenious IWS-SYS-1 system comprises a 1,000-watt amplifier with automatic room optimization and a custom 13.5-inch woofer mounted in a shallow 70-inch-tall cabinet that fits between the studs and vents into the room through a paintable grille cover. Most impressively, the enclosure is suspended on a “hanging rod” to minimize vibration transfer. As reviewer Darryl Wilkinson put it, “It’s a sub that makes no acoustic compromises, nor does it force you to make the lifestyle compromises that a typical in-room sub would.

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Enclosure designed for walls with standard 2 x 4 construction
13.5-inch low-profile driver
1,000-watt external amp with Automatic Room Optimization
Minus
Retrofit install can be difficult
Expensive

Full Review Here

 

Focal Utopia Headphones: $3,999

It takes courage to name a product Utopia but Focal has done it and managed to live up to the title with super comfortable, impeccably built headphones that deliver a near-Utopian experience. “The Utopia has an extraordinarily refined top end and a carefully detailed midrange that equals or beats that of any headphone or speaker I’ve heard,” wrote reviewer Steve Guttenberg, adding that “bass is deep and unexaggerated.” High praise from a guy who reviews dozens of headphones a year.

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Beryllium diaphragm
Rock-star cosmetics
Fine-tuned highs and timbre
Minus
Expensive

Full Review Here

Solus Audio Entré II Speaker: $1,795

The Entré II looks different than your garden-variety bookshelf speaker because it is different in obvious and no-so-obvious ways. Instead of the usual dome tweeter, it relies on a folded planar-magnetic driver to deliver the highs. What you can’t see is the unique multi-chambered structure inside that coaxes big bass out of this relatively small speaker. We’ll let veteran audio reviewer Mark Fleischmann take over from here: “Solus Audio’s Entré II is a well-rounded loudspeaker masquerading as a one-trick pony. It does that trick — producing carefully proportionate amounts of extended bass — handily. Yet it also sings in the midrange and top end, and it can give you the feeling of being in a good hall with an orchestra…a unique and gratifying experience.”

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Unique I-PAShd interior cabinet design
Planar magnetic folded tweeter
Minus
Bass extended but not slammin’
No matching center speaker
Low rated sensitivity

Full Review Here

1More Quad Driver Earphones: $200

Chances are you’ve never heard of 1More and might even be inclined to write them off as just another startup cashing in on the headphone boom. That would be a mistake, as headphone maven Steve Guttenberg quickly discovered. More than just marketing hype, the Quad Driver moniker refers to an innovative — and proprietary — multidriver design that truly makes a difference. Which is why Guttenberg opened his review with a declarative statement: “There’s something really special happening here” and went on to describe the Quad Drivers as “the most transparent, best-imaging headphone I’ve heard for $200.”

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Truly innovative tech
Proprietary quad-driver design
Highly transparent sound
Great value
Minus
Cables aren’t user-replaceable

Full Review Here