Bill Henderson

Creative Director for a large Children's publisher. I play all day and they pay me for it.

Thonet and Vander multiplies the Kürbis speaker by 2 and calls it Hoch

TandV Hoch 1

When I reviewed the Thonet and Vander Kürbis Bt Bluetooth speaker, I was impressed how such an inexpensive speaker could sound so good. Thonet and Vander are new to the U.S. market and are expanding their product selection with the new Hoch speaker. The Hoch and Kürbis speakers are identical looking except the Hoch is […]

Thonet and Vander multiplies the Kürbis speaker by 2 and calls it Hoch Read More

A-Audio Legacy Over-Ear Headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) review

A Audio Legacy 4

I’ve had an interesting time testing the A-Audio Legacy Over-Ear headphones. While they have active noise canceling and a bass enhancement mode, I had trouble with the $300 asking price. They are every bit as good as equally expensive Beats headphones, but comparing any headphones to Beats in both quality and price is asking for

A-Audio Legacy Over-Ear Headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) review Read More

FiiO X3-II (2nd Gen) portable high resolution lossless music player review

Fiio X3 2ndGen 2

A little over a year ago, I reviewed the Fiio X3 digital audio player (DAP). I liked the sound (still do) and its ability to play higher resolution files than my trusty iPod Classic. However, its interface suc… left a lot to be desired. Plus the arrangement and purpose of buttons was confusing at best.

FiiO X3-II (2nd Gen) portable high resolution lossless music player review Read More

The new and improved Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin leaves the dock behind

BW zeppelinwireless

A few years ago, Bowers & Wilkins set the bar on speakers designed for the (then) new digital music age with their iconic Zeppelin speaker. Nothing looks like it—then or now. It’s a design standard in form and function. Time marches on and the new Zeppelin ditches the dock and goes totally wireless incorporating Apple’s

The new and improved Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin leaves the dock behind Read More

Braven Balance Bluetooth speaker review

Braven Balance 1

It’s no secret I really like Braven speakers. Their small 600 series of speakers were sonic wonders which Braven eventually replaced with the newer 700 series. However, it was the 850 the knocked it out of the ballpark for me. When new, this large and heavy Bluetooth speaker blew away every other Bluetooth speaker I

Braven Balance Bluetooth speaker review Read More

Thonet and Vander Kürbis Bt Bluetooth speakers review

Thonet and Vander Kürbis 13

Over the past couple of years, I’ve become a fan of small (and not so small) portable Bluetooth speakers. Yeah I know, they don’t have the audio chops to qualify as anything near “audiophile” and stereo separation is almost nonexistent. But despite all that, they are portable and that counts for a lot. But what

Thonet and Vander Kürbis Bt Bluetooth speakers review Read More

V-MODA presents the Crossfade Wireless with uncompromised Bluetooth audio

V MODA Crossfade Wirekess 3

V-MODA has been kinda quiet for a while. Their headphones are still popular, but now V-MODA has entered the wireless world with the Crossfade Wireless Over-Ear headphone. V-MODA  states that they worked years to get the wireless sound equal to analog (wired) with no compromises. Their dual-diaphragm 50mm driver is a refined version of the

V-MODA presents the Crossfade Wireless with uncompromised Bluetooth audio Read More

Bowers & Wilkins T7 Bluetooth speaker review

BW T7 1

One of the fun parts of buying Apple products is the unboxing. You just know that any company that spends that much time and effort on packaging will spend even more effort on the product inside. Bowers and Wilkins products are like that. Unboxing their many headphones is almost as much fun as using them.

Bowers & Wilkins T7 Bluetooth speaker review Read More

RHA Audio goes small after years of going bigger

RHA S500i 1

Leave it to RHA (Reid Heath Ltd) Audio to continually surprise us with new products. After years of going upmarket with model after model at dizzying speed, RHA has dialed back a bit by releasing an extremely affordable earphone, the S500i. The 500i aluminum shell is ultra compact in size partly because of its micro

RHA Audio goes small after years of going bigger Read More

Sonic Unity Encore Rockmaster Headphones review

Encore Rockmaster 6

Sonic Unity may be new, but its founders are two veterans with a lot of experience in Audio. Rick Hopkins has a background in concert design, consumer and pro audio. He’s worked concert events for Bryan Adams, Rush, Van Halen, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones. Ian Lim co-founded NuForce, a high-end audio brand that helped popularize

Sonic Unity Encore Rockmaster Headphones review Read More

RHA turns it up to 20 with the T20 in-ear headphone

RHA T20 1

Reid Heath Acoustics (RHA) is a an audio company with a problem. They can’t seem to let a new earphone be their signature product for more than a few months before they come up with one that tops that. Don’t these guys ever rest? Apparently not, because their excellent T10 earphone released less than a

RHA turns it up to 20 with the T20 in-ear headphone Read More

Focal focuses on in-ear headphones

Focal Sphear 3

French company Focal makes some stunning, but outrageously expensive speakers, but they also make way less expensive headphones that not only sound great, but are well built and extremely comfortable. Now Focal has focused on the in-ear market with the new Sphear. Sphear was designed to have Focal’s “Spirit of Sound” signature that’s incorporated into

Focal focuses on in-ear headphones Read More

Celsus Gramo One open-back in-ear headphone review

Celsus Gramo One 11

I can almost guarantee you have never heard of Celsus Sound or its CEO, Jason Lim. Mr. Lim is the person behind NuForce, whose excellent—and affordable—earphones and digital audio converters have been reviewed by The Gadgeteer over the past few years. Last year, NuForce merged with Optoma freeing up Lim to start Celsus, which is

Celsus Gramo One open-back in-ear headphone review Read More

Bowers & Wilkins has cut the cord on their P5 headphone

B W P5 Wireless 2

Some say that true genius is making something difficult look easy. Bowers &Wilkins’ repeatedly prove that point. They may not be the first high-end speaker company out of the gate with products such as bluetooth speakers (T7) or headphones (P3,P5,P7), but when they decide to tackle something, people notice. Case in point: the new B&W

Bowers & Wilkins has cut the cord on their P5 headphone Read More

Phiaton Chord MS 530 Bluetooth headphone review

Phiaton Chor MS530 5

Last year, I reviewed the Phiaton Bridge MS 500 headphones and found them to be stylish (if you like red), well-made, comfortable, and sound quite good for the price. At a slightly higher price, Phiaton offers a wireless Bluetooth headphone with active noise canceling. The Chord MS 530 is more comfortable, lighter and yet still

Phiaton Chord MS 530 Bluetooth headphone review Read More

Torque Audio t096z earphone and t402v headphone review

Torque t096z t402v 1

When a company has a successful product launch and needs funding for follow-up products, more and more of them are turning to funding sites like Kickstarter. Kickstarter has been responsible for many successful product launches; the most famous probably being Neil Young’s PONO music player. In 2013, I reviewed the Torque t103z in-ear-headphones and was

Torque Audio t096z earphone and t402v headphone review Read More