A few episodes back during an otherwise tense episode of Mad Men, Pete Campbell was grinning ear to ear while showing off a brand new console hi-fi stereo system and the "tiny orchestra" playing inside the basketball player length setup. For the most part, in the era of mobile audio, these type of setups have gone way of the tail-finned Caddy... More

I've got a friend who still swears by the analog sounds of an old timey dial-style AM radio even in this era of Bluetooth and Airplay audio devices. He says he likes the quality of the mono sound, and probably more importantly, he holds a flame for a bygone era where audio equipment borrowed many the stylings cues from home furnishings. But even a time traveling day dreamer like my friend owns an iPhone and listens to MP3's, thus he might be a candidate for one of these elegant retro-styled radios engineered that look like yesterday, but work with today's mobile music devices... More

I'm in the market for new iPhone speakers and a charging dock, but this time around I want function and style. Really, with so many products flooding the market, there's no reason you can't have both. I'm drawn to simple, sleek wooden wares — hopefully they will be as functional as they are pretty. Here's a roundup of products for the iPhone or iPod that fit the bill. More

Audyssey Audio Dock Air
• $349.99
• The Ghostly Store

If you're invested in Apple audio, Airplay enabled options have finally expanded enough to the point there's a healthy selection of wireless speakers to choose from. The Audyssey Audio Dock Air is notable for a two-sided design where dual 3/4" tweeters, 3" woofers, and 4" passive bass radiators that can serve uncompressed, wireless streaming sound to two sides of a room at once in unassuming fashion from your iTunes library (from your computer or iOS device). And unlike some Airplay speakers, the Audyssey BassXT brings the low end with enough bump in the trunk for bass heavy tunes, perfect for spring-summer BBQs...

ARIS Wireless Speaker
• $499.00
• Aperion Audio

Aperion Audio's SLIMstage30 sound bar was a fairly impressive apartment dweller-friendly home theater solution we tested about a year ago. And now they're back with a wireless wi-fi audio speaker designed for Windows 7 and 8 users, designed with music appreciation in mind. A full 100 Watts RMS total power for two 1" Neodymium and two 4" woofers means the ARIS speaker system should be more than sufficient for everyday listening...and then some. Visually, I particularly love the black brushed aluminum cabinet with dramatic angled red steel stand, a design statement communicating the ARIS is to be noticed both aurally and visually.

The Beoplay A3 is a three-in-one combination of case, speaker and stand, with a triangular design allowing the iPad to be oriented in landscape and portrait modes. Inside an integrated 2.1 stereo system augments the iPad's normally tinny sound (3 x ½'' tweeter, 1 x 2'' woofer). B&O rates the Beoplay A3 for 5 hours of playback, available soon for around $729 More

"Mums" been the word the last week, as I was tipped off about the impending Jawbone upgrade to their stylish and popular Bluetooth speaker, the Jambox, was on its way. In fact, if you keep an eye out, you may see a few promotional photos of the Big Jambox over at the Jawbone Pinterest site that were taken at my apartment (for no compensation, as it was a favor for a friend who is a photographer). So by chance, I got an early hands-on peek at the big brother addition to Jawbone's wireless speaker offering... More

I like to tease my better half for her affinity for collecting what seems like an ever-mounting collection of jars (she's studying to become a master food preserver, thus our closets are filled with sodas, jams, jellies, pickled foods, etc). I think I may surprise her and mention I too would like to get into this jar business...all with the plans of building myself some audio speakers! More

Equipped with seven drivers, a subwoofer, two additional surround speakers in the rear and dedicated USB audio dock, these two laptop dock desks from La Boîte Concept are sort of a small space dweller's laptop dream desk come true. More

Hats off to designer Konstantin Grcic for sharing the DIY plans for your very own Boom iPod-docking speaker with handle. If you've got a workshop and a little wood working skills, it seems like an easy enough project to see through. Plans and materials list below... More