Generally loudspeakers for your personal computer don't excite. One can only hope for something that will do justice to your mp3 collection, and serve the occasional movie without too much disappointment.

The Audio Insider has a new multimedia 2.1 system that will hopefully fit the bill at a price that doesn't break the bank. The Swan M10 active desktop loudspeaker system is a magnetically shielded 2.1 system comprised of a sub and two monitors. The monitors sport 3 inch aluminum alloy woofers mated with 25 mm soft dome tweeters. The subwoofer houses a 5 inch aluminum alloy driver. The system reproduces a frequency range of 42Hz-20kHz, which is respectable for a desktop system.

This lightweight 11 pound system will only set you back $109 direct from The Audio Insider. The M10 system comes with Audio Insider's 30 day in-home satisfaction guarantee, and is sure to provide greater sonic satisfaction than similarly priced chain store offerings.

Pioneer is releasing a new AV amplifier in Japan this December.

The Pioneer SC-LX90 is an HDMI 1.3a compliant device that eschews the FM/AM tuner section that would classify it as an AV receiver. Details are sparse, but the SC-LX90 will pump 200 watts into 7 channels, and supports 140 watts spread over ten channels. No pricing details are available, and at this time it isn't known what audio codecs the unit will have onboard support for, or what type of room equalization features it will possess.

Hopefully there will be an announcement from Pioneer soon regarding their intentions for a global release.

JL Audio is now shipping their flagship Gotham subwoofer.

The Gotham subwoofer uses two of JL Audio's 13.5" drivers, and is housed in an enclosure made of one inch thick, ultra stiff fiberglass. Every enclosure produced requires a brand new $200 CNC drill bit. The Gotham tips the scales at an incredible 360 pounds, so you'll need a friend to help find optimal room placement. The Gotham also features a DSP system with automated room equalization for that last bit of fine tuning it's integration into your system. The Gotham is flat to 19Hz, and is powered by a 3800 watt amplifier. All this can be yours for a mere $11000. JL Audio has a tradition of outstanding automotive audio products, and their home audio subwoofers have been received with unanimous approval.

If your home audio budget allows, you should stop by a JL Audio dealer to see what the critics are raving about.

A new speaker company has been established by former Scan Speak engineers.

Scandinavian Audio Research consists of Lars Goller, former Director of engineering, and designer of the revelator and SD series patents, Ulrik Schmidt, former senior engineer, Frank Neilsen, former senior mechanical engineer, Torben Sondergaard, former president of Scan Speak, Benny Frank Pedersen, Alan Hydel Jensen, and David Stephens, VP and director of Sales and marketing for VIFA and Scan Speak in North America from 1995-2003. The initial offering of drivers will be sold under the SB Acoustics brand, and will consist of a 1" soft dome tweeter, 5" Midwoofer, 6" Midwoofer, 10" Woofer, 12" woofer and 15" woofer. The new drivers are designed from scratch, and utilize a new, proprietary cone material, low distortion magnets and a new chassis design. A new driver manufacturer with such impressive credentials is certainly welcome.

We look forward with interest to see which manufacturers choose these drivers for their designs. Drivers by SB Acoustics will be available at Madisound and other retailers on December 7.