And now for something completely different: Musiblocks. Combine something as simple as children’s blocks with some innovative audio technology and what you end up with is one of the weirdest speaker set-ups we have ever seen. Musiblocks start with a central control block which acts as the base and houses a force sensor and 6 circular connectors. To boost the volume, just drop another block on top and then another, like building blocks. At least until you annoy your girlfriend, the cat attacks it or your kids decide they want their turn. In fact, we can see this becoming the next ‘TV remote’ battleground. To change track, or audio source, just twist the block on top of the base block. Ingenious, and while it is a working concept, we may never see it in our shops. A shame really since it certainly beats the hell out of a lot of the mundane speaker dock rubbish on our shelves today. See some photos below.-Martin Lynch [Yanko]

Have you heard of DTS Surround Sensation? Well, you may soon as Kenwood is aiming to be the first to deliver surround sound from your humble bedside CD player. Well, pseudo surround to be exact but what can you expect from just two speakers? The forthcoming CD player, as yet unnamed, was previewed sometime ago but has yet to see the light of day but at least now you can see what it looks like and its launch date seems imminent. DTS Surround Sensation [announced way back at CES 2008] comes from the famous DTS surround sound squad, and promises the “most realistic, three-dimensional sensation of being completely surrounded by sound — when listening with just two speakers or stereo headphones”. DTS explains:”Humans perceive sounds in three dimensions. Localization of sound depends on the way that sound waves from the same source differ from each other as they reach the left and right ear. Examples of these cues include such things as variance in spectral frequencies, intensity of volume, and time differences between sounds arriving in either ear. Without any outside influence or assistance, traditional two-speaker sound systems and headphones are not designed or equipped to accurately reproduce these direct and indirect cues. Therefore, the soundstage is one-dimensional, flat, and lacking depth, and allows only limited width. DTS Surround Sensation rises to meet this challenge.” How? We’re not sure but Kenwood will launch its surround CD player in Japan first this April.-Martin Lynch [Crunchgear] music CD

Despite the fact that most modern surround sound setups are pretty stylishly designed to coordinate with a flashy TV, they’re not for everyone. If you’re taking a minimalist approach to your home cinema arrangement then the idea of combining some of the essentials with other furniture seems like an interesting alternative, and was the motivation behind these concept speakers from two Polish designers. They are called the ’soundshelf’ and are intended to double up as other household items, specifically in this case a DVD rack and a bookshelf.Sure, these things are likely to pale in comparison with a dedicated setup acoustically, but for the casual user who just wants a bit more punch than your average TV speakers can offer could suit quite well. If they ever do get made and don’t command a ridiculously high price due to their innovative nature we reckon they could amass a tidy little niche following. - Paul Lester [Technabob] speakers home cinema audio

The consumer electronics business has gotten off to a terrible 2009 with UK chain, Empire Direct going into administration and the second largest US electronics chain, Circuit City, shutting its 567 stores. Empire Direct, which sold everything from TVs and surround sound systems to hi-fi equipment, is to shut its 14 UK stores as well as its established online operation with the loss of 350 jobs. The 25-year old company’s company website is down, displaying the administration notice and that KPMG have been appointed as administrators. The notice reads: “The business is unable to trade in administration due to low stock levels and operating losses and accordingly the stores have been closed. The administrators are working hard to assess the position for customers who have made payments and not received goods. We will endeavour to contact these customers over the next few weeks.” The decline of Empire Direct follows the collapse of Woolworths and ZavviThe scale of the recession is even more pronounced in the US where Circuit City has gone into liquidation, shutting 567 stores with the loss of more than 30,000 jobs. The company filed for bankruptcy last Autumn and has $2bn in debt. It will now attempt to sell off its assets. James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president and chief executive officer for Circuit City said in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed by this outcome. The company had been in continuous negotiations regarding a going concern transaction. Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders to structure a going-concern transaction in the limited timeframe available, and so this is the only possible path for our company”.-Martin Lynch shopping news recession

Were you thrifty this Christmas? Did you save your pennies to snap up some January sales bargains? Well, meet the new Sennheiser HD 800 headphones which, we can safely say, are not going to satisfy your bargain hunting needs. Priced at a penny under £1,000, they are positioned right up there near the tippy-top of the headphone pile in terms of design, functionality and price. They are pretty indeed but it’s what inside that will make audiophiles sing for joy and happily empty their wallets. They are built around a 56mm ‘RING Driver’, the largest transducer yet in a set of headphones, “with total harmonic distortion of less than 0.02 percent, the HD 800 has brilliant treble, precise bass, astounding clarity and spacious imaging”. Frequency response is outstanding at 6 to 51,000 Hz, which no doubt offers a very clear sound image and spatiality. The modern design, using stainless and aeronautic plastics, looks well but has a purpose also. The ear cups, for instance, are designed to direct soundwaves at the ear at a slight angle, so you hear it like you would from speakers. Axel Grell describes the basic idea: “We perceive acoustic signals to be natural when we experience them with a spatial extension,” is how “Today, most music is made to be reproduced by two loudspeakers, which form an equal-sided triangle together with the listener. This results in a sound field close to the ears that is at a slight angle to the head. When the sound field reaches the ears, the sound is reflected into the ear canal and to the ear drum by the structures of the external ear with slight time differences. It is precisely these differences that are a key factor in spatial hearing and in the localisation of the sound event outside the head.” “With its large, inclined transducers, the HD 800 generates a sound field that corresponds to the listening experience with loudspeakers, but far exceeds loudspeakers in the purity of the sound reproduction.” Since we don’t have a spare £999.99 to spare on anything, barr rent and food, we’ll have to take his word. Or you can chedck what the experts think here.-Martin Lynch headphones hi-fi

A week after Sony said it would be raising the UK price of its products by up to a third to combat weak currency exchange rates, the consumer electronics giant has just announced plans to cut 8,000 electronics jobs. The 8,000 jobs - around 5% of its workforce - will go by April 2010 as Sony reacted to a sharp drop in the Japanese economy, which declined four times more than predicted for the last quarter. The company wants to save £730m by the end of the next financial year. In a statement, Sony said: Particularly within its electronics business, where Sony has been most affected by the acute downturn in the economic climate, the company has already undertaken certain short-term measures, including adjusting production, lowering inventory levels, and reducing operational expenses. Going forward, Sony intends to adjust product pricing to mitigate the impact of the appreciation of the yen, curtail or delay part of its investment plans, and downsize or withdraw from unprofitable or non-core businesses. Furthermore, Sony plans to realign domestic and overseas manufacturing sites, reallocate its workforce and reduce headcount. Production will end at two overseas plants by the end of the year, one of which is Sony Dax Technology Center in France, which manufactures tape and other recording media. Sony is also making cuts in its mobile phone business and said it will be concentrating, going forward, on businesses that make money. We assume that doesn’t include the PS3 though, which has yet to break even.-Martin Lynch business gadgets sony

Sony products have always come at a premium but things may be about to get a whole lot worse as the company has confirmed plans to raise the prices on UK products by up to 33%. The move by the consumer electronics giant flies in the face of tough trading conditions for retailers and cash-strapped consumers but, Sony said the weakening Sterling has forced its hand. Gamers may sigh with relief though as the price hikes will not be applied to the Ṕ. A Sony spokesman told The Telegraph: “Sony UK can confirm that in the past 48 hours it has communicated to its trade channel that due to adverse changes in the Yen/Euro & Euro/Pound exchange rate over the last six months, and with this uncertainty set to continue into 2009, Sony will increase the trade price of a number of products over the coming months.” “The precise level of price increases has not yet been agreed, but it is likely that the vast majority of products affected will see increases of significantly less than 33 per cent. As these testing trading conditions continue, Sony does not believe that it will be alone in taking this form of action.”Some retail experts believe that many of the price increases will be absorbed by retailers, who are already struggling to get shoppers spending in the run up to Christmas. Krishan Rama, a spokesman for the British Retail Consortium, said: “I would be surprised if the price rises were passed on to customers because retailers recognise customers are under great pressure. I can only imagine that margins will be squeezed even more as they try to tempt customers to come in to shop.” If you notice some of these price hikes, then let us know.-Martin Lynch [Source] shopping gadgets sony

Hands up if you’re tired of Sony launching new disc formats [I'm typing one-handed here]? OK, Blu-ray may have won the day but what about the PSP’s UMD movie format, MiniDisc (MD) or SACD? Today, the company is announcing ‘Blu-spec CD’ and yes, you guessed it, Sony has figured out a way of bring some of that Blu-ray magic to music CDs. It also allows it to name something else with the heading ‘Blu’.Right now all we have is a dodgy Google-translated Japanese-to-English release to go on but it seems that Blu-spec CDs will have far better sound than typical CDs and, despite the fact that Blu-ray discs require devices with blue lasers to read them, the new CDs will be compatible with CD players that use red lasers. Just don’t ask how. The company is launching 60 ‘classic’ CDs in the Blu-spec CD format for Christmas including Mile Davis′ A Kind Of Blue, The Byrd’s Mr Tambourine Man and ELO′s Discovery. And they won’t be cheap either - surprise, surprise - with prices ranging from £19 to £26 - and that’s before they get the usual UK price bump.-Martin Lynch CD music blu-ray

iPod speaker docks are becoming as common and, to be fair, as uninteresting as USB toys these days. Everyone has got one and there are so many poor quality ones out there that you sometimes have to look a little harder to find one that stands out a little bit from the crowd. Some companies go for new technology and others go for shape. The Maxell MXSP-4000 Time Domain Speaker goes for both and succeeds somewhat, but not completely. Looking like a fat cigar, or Zeppelin, on a stick the MXSP-4000, is certainly different looking. Those used to rectangular docks may be put off but this is a striking looking number that will certainly have people asking you: “What the hell is that?” We’ve seen some Zeppelin shaped docks before, namely the B&W Zeppelin, which is a much bigger affair at 2-feet long and is designed to blow a hole in your wallet at around £400. TheMXSP-4000 is designed for those on a more modest budget of just under £100 and is small enough to stand discreetly on most household shelves and counters.Apart from the looks, Maxell’s ‘this is different′ pitch is that it uses Time Domain theory to provide better sound. In a nutshell, Maxell maintains that the Time Domain Technology works differently to other audio technologies by revealing all the sounds recorded at the source and conveying them “exactly as they were recorded to deliver a pristine and complete audio experience”. “The theory reproduces original audio waveform, which contains the amplitude/phase frequency characteristics, and emits the original waveform through the speaker unchanged. That’s why the Time Domain theory is considered an effective way to truly attain truly original sound reproduction.” So, does it revolutionise the iPod speaker dock listening experience? No, not really, but that doesn′t mean this is a bad dock. Despite the 2 x 5W speaker limitations, the MXSP-4000 is well able to knock out a tune. It may not fill a large living room but it will provide enough grunt to amply keep you jigging in the kitchen or bedroom. The odd shape is not just for fashionistas either but designed to support the Time Domain ‘theory’. The curved surfaces are there to allow sound to expand naturally along the length and let you listen to it happily from any position. And it’s true, stick this in the middle of the room and walk around and you hear the same thing, with the sound firing pretty much equally in all directions. Like many speaker docks, the spatial audio arc head-on is not that wide but it won′t matter in smaller spaces. The sound itself is clean and crisp, if somewhat over energetic. This is not a laid back speaker, with sound bursting from it rather than emanating. Vocals are well picked out from the wide array of tracks I tested it with - from pop/rock to metal - but there is some muddiness in the midrange with certain elements sounding a little tinny the louder you crank it. Again though, compared to a Creative Zen dock I have in my kitchen, it kicks its ass in quality and presence. And for around the same price too. Still, at a shade under £100, there’s no avoiding the fact that the MXSP-4000 is a little on the pricey side. But then, how many of your mates have Zeppelin-shaped iPod speaker docks that look this sweet?-Martin Lynch Verdict: A solid iPod speaker that looks great and performs adequately as long as you don′t push it too much. Could be cheaper though. ipod music mp3