It is always a welcome sight to see yet another tech product jump on the Bluetooth
bandwagon, especially a speaker system. This time it comes in the form of Yamaha’s
new NX-B02 Bluetooth Wireless Speakers. These speakers are small, lightweight, and
are available in black, white, and red. The best part? They are completely
cable-free. Now you can finally walk to class with Lil’ Wayne blasting from within
your backpack.

The speaker itself is small and rectangular, and very simple in design. It is 3.25
inches wide, and 6.75 inches high – barely bigger than a few books on your
bookshelf. This feature adds a great deal of convenience, especially if you live in
a college dorm room and don’t have much space available. There are only four buttons
- Bluetooth activation, volume up/down, and power. On the left and right sides, the
NX-B02 houses two 1.75-inch titanium cone driver and a bass port. The back of the
NX-B02 reveals a headphone audio jack and power supply connection, but here’s the
thing – if you want to, you can use AA batteries and bluetooth! Truly wireless
sound at last. The instructions recommend you stay within 30 feet or so, which
allows your mobile phone or laptop ample freedom about your house.

So how does the NX-B02 sound? Considering the unit is smaller than a Merriam
Webster dictionary, pretty good. It has crisp treble, which can easily fill an
entire room. The Bluetooth enabled playback was free of any distortion. Even at
full volume, the music still sounded the way it should. Obviously, the low-end
frequencies were significantly lacking. This is understandable and forgivable. The
only drawback to the entire experience was getting the Bluetooth working. Some
Bluetooth phones require a password for the unit, which I could not find in the
manual. This, of course, could all be my fault (I’m not that experienced with
Bluetooth).

Overall, these speakers emphasize convenience. Its pretty cool to hold a cube of
sound in your hand, free of any cables or wires. In the future, Yamaha should keep
expanding upon this idea. I would love a high-end home entertainment center in the
living room that I could control from my Bluetooth phone or laptop upstairs in my
room. A man can dream.

• You can review special pricing on the Yamaha NX-B02 speakers by Clicking Here
• To get your own Yamaha NX-B02 Speaker Click Here

 

Ferrari and Meridian have teamed up to bring us a top-quality home entertainment center that not only looks great, but sounds great too.  Lately we have been seeing Ferrari’s logo on many things besides automobiles, but this one feels justified. Ferrari knows their way around a sound system (check out the Ferrari F430 Spider’s system), and they have certainly done an exceptional job on the F80.  Lets begin with the features.

The F80 has two front mounted speakers and one rear subwoofer.  These deliver 80 watts of sound, which is pretty good for how small it is.  It does feel a bit heavy, but I doubt anyone would buy something this expensive to bring to the beach.  Which brings me to the price.  Last time I checked, the F80 is $2,995 and with the i80 iUniversal Dock for iPod the system price is $3,390!  Ferrari is definitely marketing the F80 to the same people who buy their cars.  This is a good thing – I would hate to see the Ferrari brand get diluted to the point of losing brand value.  The F80 can play CD’s,  DVD’s, Ipod’s, and AM/FM radio stations.  It has antennae, optical, headphone, RCA and Video inputs – all very important for home entertainment.  The F80 comes with a stylish remote, and is available in five different actual Ferrari paint colors.  The one I tried was Modena Yellow, which is very sleek indeed.

Yet once we get past the legacy of Ferrari, the bevy of important features, and its overall aesthetic, does it actually sound good?  For how small this thing is -yes.  Obviously it won’t be competing with anyone’s 5.1 Home Surround Sound System, but this thing gets loud.  Its volume can easily rise above the noise of even the loudest party, mainly thanks to its rear subwoofer.  Yet at full volume the music becomes distorted, and starts to clip.  Overall, however, this is a great centerpiece of any room.  Think of it as the Swiss army knife of the bedroom and living room.  Would it be worth approx $3k if it wasn’t made in part by Ferrari?  Probably not.  If you have money to burn and are a Ferrari fan, this one’s definitely for you.  The Meridian Ferrari F80 will definitely garner its fair share of attention if you place it high on your living room mantel, but then again, thats what Ferrari’s are designed to do.