Getting Better All the Time
Starting in the 1990s, vendors began to offer higher-quality computer speakers. Similar to home theater and stereo systems, many computer speaker systems include a pair of small speakers for the midrange and high (treble) frequencies and a large subwoofer for the low end (bass). The small speakers are placed in a left/right stereo orientation, while the subwoofer can be located anywhere on the floor because bass signals are omnidirectional. See sound card and subwoofer.
![]() | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Photos: Top 10 reviews of the week
- Here are CNET Reviews' 10 favorite items from the past week, including BlueAnt M1 Stereo Bluetooth Speaker, Monster Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, and the unlocked Palm Treo Pro. by CNET News.com
- Image galleries 2008-08-29
- Live Webcast: Enterprise Search Architectures of the Future
- Businesses today increasingly recognize the benefits of universal search, the ability to search all corporate content sources from a single secure search box. Many enterprises have heavily invested in developing content management systems and their associated processes. These systems and portals hold valuable information; however, lack of quality search...
- Webcasts 2008-08-28
- Palm Treo Pro (unlocked)
- Photo gallery:Palm Treo ProWhile not the best-kept secret in the technology world, with leaked photos and videos all over the Net, we were still amped over Palm's official unveiling of the Palm Treo Pro. And why wouldn't we be? The smartphone looked pretty sharp, both inside and out. However, now...
- Product reviews 2008-08-27
- BlueAnt M1 Stereo Bluetooth Speaker
- Most Bluetooth speakers we see here at CNET are of the speakerphone variety, which you can pair up with a phone to make and receive calls. Since the rise of stereo Bluetooth, however, there are a few companies that make stereo Bluetooth speakers without the ability to handle phone calls....
- Product reviews 2008-08-26
- Sony Ericsson TM506 - amber (T-Mobile)
- The Sony Ericsson TM506 marks a couple of "firsts" for T-Mobile. Not only is it the first Sony Ericsson to land at T-Mobile in several years, but also it's the carrier's first 3G cell phone since it launched its 3G network in May. Though it doesn't offer a streaming media...
- Product reviews 2008-08-26
- Purebuds
- Of almost all gadgets, earbuds have the least surface area to work with, which means external design innovations are often incremental and minute. Color and style are the most noticeable physical characteristics that manufacturers tweak, but neither has an effect on the performance of an earphone. So, what's a new...
- Product reviews 2008-08-26
- Text Speaker (exe)
- Text Speaker will convert any text document to MP3 audio. Create your own audio books. To hear text, just open a Microsoft Word, Rich Text RTF, HTML, or text TXT file. Click Speak to hear a clear, understandable human-sounding voice read the document, or click Convert to Audio to create...
- Software downloads 2008-08-26
- Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP
- The $2,000 Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP is a beautiful-looking display with a ton of features. Because of its 117 percent NTSC color gamut, however, we encountered many more color problems than we expected during DVD and Blu-ray playback. Be prepared to do a lot of color tweaking if you plan to...
- Product reviews 2008-08-25
- Office 2.0: 'Conversations' prevent IT failure
- Cultural issues are among the key drivers causing acute IT problems. Project failure rates remain high in large part because these drivers are difficult to identify and diagnose. Many organizations accept information silos as a cost of doing business, despite the clear negative impact of these boundaries...
- Blog posts 2008-08-25
- Google and Sirius XM: Build my "Dream" Handheld
- The current rumor-mongering seems to indicate that HTC's "Dream" will soon be making landfall in the US. Based on the initially leaked specs of this device, it still sounds like it doesn't do what I really would want it to do in order to replace by Blackberry 8820. ...
- Blog posts 2008-08-24
- M-Audio Studiophile AV20
- We recently auditioned the M-Audio's Studiophile AV 40 stereo speakers, and found a lot to like. Those big, beefy monitors were great for audio from a PC or any other stereo audio source. However, with 4-inch woofers and speakers weighing 14 pounds each, the AV 40s required a design and...
- Product reviews 2008-08-22
- Belkin GoStudio
- If you're a musician, amateur podcaster, or college student looking for a way to capture CD-quality recordings on your iPod, the Belkin GoStudio is an all-purpose solution with some impressive bells and whistles. The GoStudio is not without its flaws, but at $120 you're likely to take its shortcomings with...
- Product reviews 2008-08-22
- Are we ready to declare the "time of death" for the enterprise data center?
- Are we ready to declare the "time of death" for the enterprise data center?CheapHow is cloud computing cheaper for huge corporations?No enterprises are using...the cloud for things like this. Only individuals and small companies that don't want to pay for there own internal IT.In fact, bloggers are the only people...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-22
- Vizio SV470XVT
- Budget flat-panel powerhouse Vizio is breaking into the lucrative realm of high-end HDTVs with its XVT line, comprised of a 50-inch plasma we detailed at CES and a pair of LCDs, including the model reviewed here, the 47-inch SV470XVT. Equipped with a lot of glossy black, a slicker menu system,...
- Product reviews 2008-08-21
- 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring 4dr SUV AWD (3.7L 6cyl 6A)
- Photo gallery:2009 Mazda CX-9 Grand TouringAfter spending a week with the top-of-the-line 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring, we found much that we liked; however, we also found almost every positive thing we had to say about the SUV came with a caveat. Inside, the CX-9's leather seats and ambient lighting...
- Product reviews 2008-08-21
- A Wii Legal Action: Publicity For Simplicity
- Finally, a fight over remote controls that rely on hand motion, more than buttons. Oh, Nintendo's Wii has about a half-dozen buttons, plus a four-cornered "plus sign" for directional instructions. Well, Hillcrest Labs of Rockville, MD, can top (actually, undercut) that. It markets...
- Blog posts 2008-08-20
- iHome iP47BR (black)
- SDI Technologies has released some of the better affordably priced clock radios in recent years under its iHome brand, but the iHC5S wasn't among them. It wasn't for the lack of trying, however. The 2007 product did double duty as a clock radio and a Bluetooth speaker/speakerphone. In other words,...
- Product reviews 2008-08-18
- DEFCON 16: List of tools and stuff released
- Guest editorial by Rob Fuller DEFCON, the 9000+ attendee hacker conference in Vegas has become a sort of hydra conference. It has become more like a global fair than what most people think of conferences; even the badge is highly...
- Blog posts 2008-08-18
- Sanyo Katana Eclipse - silver (Sprint)
- The Katana series of phones have changed quite a bit since the original Katana, which was nothing more than a Razr clone with its slim and wide style. Two years and a couple of Katana models later, it appears that Sanyo has decided to go in a very different design...
- Product reviews 2008-08-17
- Edirol R-09HR
- When Edirol introduced the original R-09 in 2006, it was one of the smallest, lightest, high-quality stereo audio recorders made with swappable SD flash memory. In the wake of the R-09 came many handheld audio recorders boasting slimmer designs, enhanced features, and lower prices. To keep pace, Edirol has come...
- Product reviews 2008-08-15
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Which solar technology will survive?
-
At the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, Todd Glass of Heller Ehrman moderates a discussion, among tech execs, on the various solar technologies making a difference in the green movement.
- Watch the video >>
- Demo: Virtualization with the Intel® Xeon® Processor
-
In this Flash demo, you'll learn about virtualization performance and features ideal for consolidation, load balancing, and disaster recovery with leading enterprise reliability.
- Watch how the Intel Xeon processor can increase performance and reliability of your servers >>

- Visit the all new ZDNet Enterprise Mobility Hub sponsored by Verizon Wireless. It has the latest news, commentary, and resources for your mobile strategy development.
- Read the latest from Matthew Miller's The Mobile Gadgeteer Blog
- Five steps to protect mobile devices anywhere, anytime
- Watch a video about Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS)
- Learn how you can fetch your email from anywhere
- All this and more on the ZDNet Enterprise Mobility Hub




