May 2012
Dynaudio began building speakers in Denmark in 1977, at first building their own crossovers and buying drivers from other companies. By 1980, though, they’d come to the conclusion that they could build better speakers by designing and manufacturing their own drivers; ever since, Dynaudio has built its legacy primarily on the high-quality drivers they make in-house.
Many audio enthusiasts are familiar with Dynaudio’s many lines of consumer-oriented speakers, from the entry-level Excite to the cost-no-object Evidence series, but Dynaudio also has a large presence in professional audio. There’s a good chance that, at some point in the creation process, many of your favorite albums were mixed or mastered using Dynaudio monitor speakers.
Dynaudio’s studio monitors are mostly active designs, so it’s somewhat odd that the company’s consumer lines contained no active models. That has changed with the subject of this review, the Focus 110 A ($2450 USD per pair).
Headphones are by far the fastest-growing segment of the audio marketplace, and it’s no surprise that many leading loudspeaker manufacturers want a piece of the action. Over the past year we’ve seen new headphone models from Bowers & Wilkins, Klipsch, Paradigm, and Polk, to name but a few. In many cases, it’s not clear how much of the design was done by the company whose brand name appears on the product, and how much was outsourced to others with more expertise -- or, at least, experience -- in headphone design. Into the fray come the M4U 2 headphones from Canadian speaker maker PSB ($399 USD). I spoke with PSB’s chief engineer, Paul Barton, about their development.
NuForce Inc., based in Milpitas, California, is probably best known in the audiophile world for their innovative switching amplifiers, which have been favorably reviewed throughout the SoundStage! Network. In addition to their higher-end, higher-priced side, NuForce has two other product lines: desktop audio (computer desktop speakers, small amps, etc.) and portable audio (earphones, portable DACs, headphone amps). The subject of this review is the uDAC-2, a combination headphone amp and digital-to-analog converter, which retails for only $129 USD.
I’ve long felt that the folks at Audioengine understand better than most the needs of today’s audio consumers. They made their mark years ago with compact, powered desktop speakers at low prices -- perfect for the growing number of audio enthusiasts who wanted good sound in small spaces. Seeing the need for increased convenience, they came out with the W1 wireless adapter, a product I’ve used for years to send decent-quality sound from my computer to anywhere in the house where I have an audio system. It works perfectly. The subject of this review, the D2 24-bit/96kHz wireless USB DAC ($599 USD), is perhaps Audioengine’s most significant product for the true audiophile who wants the freedom made possible by wireless transmission. 
When Polk Audio announced its UltraFit line of sports headphones, a glance at the spec sheet told me right away that I’d have to try them out. It seemed that Polk, which has earned great respect for its high-quality loudspeakers, had really thought out and corrected many of the problems that plague headsets designed to be worn during sports activities. I chose the UltraFit 2000 on-ear model ($69.95 USD) because it suited my needs for my athletic endeavors; the UltraFit line is filled out by the 500 ($49.95) and 1000 ($59.95) in-ear models, and the 3000 in-ear-canal model ($99.95). All are moderately priced and offer features not usually found in the everyday sports headphones I’ve seen.
