Phonofone II: An Old School Way to Listen to Tunes

Sure, iPhone and iPod docks are a dime a dozen. But what about retro docks? Actually, this is the first time that I heard about this concept, even though we posted an image of this a year and a half ago, this newer version comes in black and has a few new features. The trick is that it uses the technology of old phonographs in order to play music in a neat way.

It's quite retro and kind of an accessory, but it's still cool. The Phonofone was designed by Tristan Zimmerman for Charles & Marie, and he's made significant changes to his device. It's now all black. All you have to do is to put your iPhone, iPod or MP3 player in its dock with the earphones. The Phonofone uses this sound and amplifies it using acoustic engineering at its most basic form.

It's looks great and I just wonder how it sounds. DJs and record aficionados know that vinyl records have a really great sound, better than the cold digital sounds that we are used to thanks to MP3s. Using this old style tech with something as modern as an iPhone is really a stark contrast. It's a beautiful object and it looks great. [Geek & Hype via DesignYouTrust]

Comments (1)

They had one of these in a store over in Noho in Manhattan that I was in the other day. Can't remember the store but I think it was between Prince and Spring east of Broadway. Anyway, I plugged my iPhone into it, turned it full blast and you could BARELY hear it. I was standing right in front of it. I practically had my head in the horn. Sounded like a whisper. Useless other than as ornament. Too bad.

posted by spicynuts on March 2nd 2009 at 3:00pm
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