There's a plethora of different media streaming boxes on the market, and even more Bluetooth speaker options. But unlike the TubeCore Duo, few of them are handmade, and none of them include a vacuum tube pre-amplifier.
The TubeCore Duo, currently fully-funded on Kickstarter, is a hybrid device in a hand-built hardwood cabinet. Primarily, it's a hi-fidelity speaker, packing two 50-watt drivers and a subwoofer into a cabinet not much larger than a breadbox. The speaker is powered by a solid state amp and two single-phase vacuum tube pre-amplifiers. This aggressively analog system takes both old-school inputs and Bluetooth audio from your phone.
But the TubeCore duo's real secret power comes in the form of an embedded Raspberry Pi that runs XBMC, the open-source media center software that was born on the Xbox. Run an HDMI cable from the TubeCore Duo to your HDTV and you can stream movies or watch MKVs from a hard drive. Not only does the TubeCore Duo replace your media center's soundbar, it replaces your Roku, too.
The TubeCore Duo includes some nice design touches not commonly seen on cheaper commercial speakers, like a big chunky volume knob, exposed vacuum-tube pre-amps, and a magnetic cloth grill–the exact kind of details perfect for a speaker you want to show off.
TubeCore Duo is currently a Kickstarter by Jason Perkins, with the first units shipping this fall. Born out of the Baltimore Hackerspace, the TubeCore retains a strong suite of hacker-friendly features–when you buy one, you're also buying the schematics and plans. When the Raspberry Pi inevitably starts to show its age, you can replace it.
Currently, the least you can shell out to get a TubeCore Duo in the first run is $375 – and you won't even take delivery of it until December. But good things take time, and that's especially true in the world of handmade artisanal electronics.
All images courtesy of TubeCore Audio.
