Macworld Forums: Vanatoo Transparent One speakers offer flexible input, clean sound - Macworld Forums

Post your comments for Vanatoo Transparent One speakers offer flexible input, clean sound here

not really in the market right now, but based on the amount of thought that went into these (the extra plug, priority on the inputs, and a way to flip L/R) I think these guys are worth watching.

"…this description will likely enrage audiophiles by its vague subjectivity…"

Not enraged, but definitely disappointed. If you're going to review speakers, make some actual measurements and report them, please. While speaker "features" are fun and all, they really shouldn't make up most of a review.

Now a days we have family rooms, dens, studies, media rooms, game rooms....does anyone still have a rumpus room?

Here's a link to the Amazon product detail page - just released this morning (8/4/12) :

http://www.amazon.co...eywords=vanatoo

Partied all night (outside) with a set of Vanatoo speakers two weeks ago. My husband listens to country, I listen to hip hop. Both sounded great!

I'm not interested in any speaker with a passive radiator in the back (or a bass port). It just muddies the bass by bouncing it off the walls. It fools people into thinking the speaker puts out more sound than it does, but the sound is less clear.

Been listening to these for about a month and really enjoying them. I love having 3 inputs hooked up and not having to select which one I want to use with a switch. Easy to hook up, worked great out of the box. Powered monitors that only require one speaker cable, a power cord, and the inputs you want.

My 3 input setup :

1) USB - straight from my iMac
2) Digital Optical Audio - from my Airport Express 2 (allowing streaming from iPad or iPhone)
3) Analog in - from a mixer board which is hooked up to guitars and keyboards

The Transparent One's switch automagically (after a 15 sec. period unless inactive, then immediately) to the input where the signal is or in a priority hierarchy if there is more than one input active.

Sound :

I turned them up quite loud on a classic album I've used for decades to compare systems (of course, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon). I was very impressed with all levels of tonal reproduction (highs, midrange, and bass). As mentioned in the article you won't get over the top bass from a speaker this small but I did hook up my high quality Velodyne 10 inch sub-woofer and it not only worked flawlessly (regarding auto cross-over sensing) but it sounded truly amazing. The combination (of Transparent One and subwoofer) is a well balanced full range speaker solution for those needing deep bass. The mid ranges and highs were very clean over the tight bass from the Velodyne. Also impressive is their low volume definition, the highs remain crisp and lows tight even when played lightly.

Overall, I'm very happy with the speakers and highly recommend them. They are great value for the money.

Ed