11/17/2008, 3:45pm, EST
Monday, November 17thfrom: www.electronista.com
Logic3 bows tube-based, rotating iPod speakers
Britain-based accessory producer Logic3 has launched a pair of new iPod speaker docks that each are said to bring something rare to MP3 player audio. The Valve80 combines both a stereo speaker setup and a vacuum tube amp that both creates a pseudo-vintage look and reportedly adds a layer of accuracy and warmth to the sound that doesn't occur with usual audio systems. Logic3 promises 80W of total power, a 20Hz to 20kHz frequency range, and an 86dB signal-to-noise ratio.
The system accepts most dockable iPods up to and including the iPod touch and carries both dual audio inputs as well as RCA and S-video outputs to pipe video from supporting iPods out to a TV. The Valve80 should be available in December for £300 ($451) after tax.
Mid-range buyers picking the second system, the i-Station Rotate, adds a unique rotating dock system and is specifically designed to accommodate the accelerometers of the iPhone, fourth-generation iPod nano and iPod touch. Users can rotate the player sideways in the dock to watch videos or use Cover Flow without having to install a new adapter or otherwise change the dock's setup. The one-piece system outputs at a more modest 10W and has a single aux-in jack for non-Apple sources. It arrives in January for £80 ($120) after tax. [via Pocket-lint]
Valve80
i-Station Rotate
Filed under: iPod, iPhone, peripherals, audio
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I Call Shennanigans!
No way is 80W of TUBE power coming out of that box!
This is FRAUD, pure and simple. I would imagine the "tube" on the top isn't even in the circuit. Or maybe it is. But that stinking little tube (12AX7, maybe?) is NOWHERE NEAR capable of 5 Watts, let alone 80!!!
Oh, and where's the OTHER tube? This is presumably a STEREO amp, right? In fact, there would usually be THREE other HONKIN' tubes. I think that FOUR KT88 tubes would be required (two for each channel) for that 80W claimed output power. Oh, and where's the OUTPUT transformer? Even if you replaced the power supply with a SMPS (switch-mode-power-supply), you'd STILL need a BIG-A** OUTPUT Transformer!!!
BTW, here's a picture of a KT88-based power amp:
http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR169139
FRAUD, FRAUD, FRAUD...
Cheap Chinese Junk!
Here's the REAL manufacturer of that piece of sh** Chinese tube amp, Transonic Industry, Ltd. :
http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11490928/VacuumTubeAmplifier.html
And notice that it lists the output power as a much more believable 15WRMS/channel from the same 6N1 output tubes that Logic 3 is claiming FORTY watts/channel from.
As I said previously, FRAUD, FRAUD, FRAUD!!!
I call ... learn to read
Does anybody bother to read? First of all they clearly say that it's a hybrid amp which mean tube (15 watt) and solid state which puts out 50 watts to speaker (Logic3 says 40). Yes it's Chinese... as is almost all of the low cost (and not so low cost for that matter) electronics these days. Have you even bothered to listen to these little boxes??? For most people out there spending over $2200 US for an iPod amp is a little nuts. I got the ROTH MC4 (a measly 13 watts) yet it provides excellent warm sound of a tube amp for the $550 I spent and it's more than loud enough for the sitting room it's in. No it's not equal to my old Carvers in my entertainment area but then it was a fraction of the cost too.