If you’ve ever been acquainted with an audio nerd, you’ve undoubtedly been subjected to a long-winded explication of the 1,348 reasons why tube amps sound better than transistor-based ones. And if you’ve seen that person in the last ten years, you’ve probably also endured plenty of pontificating on the subject of MP3s and how they’re killing “real music”.

Assuming you were able to refrain from strangling him, or committing suicide out of sheer boredom, now you can utterly confound that audiophile blowhard with the Acoustic Research AR4131 blackVault 2.1 Speaker System. It’s a portable speaker set that’s driven by a vacuum tube, right out there where everybody can see it…AND it features an iPod dock, along with an input for other MP3 players!

Watch him contort and cogitate to comprehend this contradictory collision: the exquisite warmth and responsiveness of a tube amp delivering the cut-rate parody of sound that MP3s offer. Will the tube amp make the MP3s sound better? Will the MP3s defile and mock the tube amp’s majesty, like a demon wearing priestly vestments? Will anyone honestly be able to tell the difference? Questions, so many questions. The Acoustic Research AR4131 blackVault 2.1 Speaker System will blow his mind harder than the remastered 180-gram vinyl reissue of Tubular Bells (sold separately).

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