TDK's four-speaker Sound Cube (above) features an AM/FM radio, plus USB, 3.5mm and auxiliary ports that connect MP3 players and USB drives

There's also a belt-drive turntable,
which has an integrated pre-amp that connects directly to speakers. The device features a USB output socket and software that allows users to convert their vinyl collection into MP3s

The Life on Record range includes two pairs of headphones, the WR700 (top), which is a wireless can, and the ST800 High Fidelity (below), which comes with an in-line equaliser that allows users to easily tweak bass and treble

Hi-fi launch

Audio systems

TDK Boombox /
Life on Record range

TDK's new range of audio gear revisits the '80s for inspiration

TDK, a company better known for analogue cassette tapes, is launching Life on Record, a glossy black range of products made with the help of Portland-based design house Ziba. "Digilog" — a mixture of "digital and analogue" — is the term coined to encapsulate the design philosophy of these retro-tinged products.

This gear is, in the marketing-speak of Ziba, targeted at "music prophets": record-buying fans who "love the convenience of digital music... but miss the warmth of analogue." You can see this mixture of new and nostalgia in the range's flagship product, the three-speaker Boombox (below).



The Boombox, which also comes in two-speaker form (above right), unmistakeably resembles an '80s ghetto blaster, but there's no tape deck in sight. Instead, it has an AM/FM radio, plus USB, 3.5mm and auxiliary jacks for connecting MP3 players and flash drives.

In a stylistic nod to old-school stereos, the Boombox's features a digital equaliser besides its input display.

"The power of creative thinking" is TDK's slogan and the firm's certainly been creative with its reworking of iconic hi-fi 

© 2011 Commercial Break

Info

Prices (approx.)

Three-speaker Boombox
$499 (£305)

Two-speaker Boombox
$399 (£244)

Sound Cube
$299 (£183)

Belt-drive turntable with USB
$399 (£244)

Belt-drive turntable without USB
$299 (£183)

WR700 headphones
$115 (£70)

ST800 High Fidelity headphones
$249 (£152)

Websites
TDK Performance
Ziba