Hark the Squeezebox Duet sings

Ideal for: Digital music enthusiasts, simplifying AV racks, keeping the PC out of the lounge room

Price: $799.95

More info: Click here to read the GadgetGuy review of the Squeezebox Duet (link will open in new window)

Until Logitech bought up SlimDevices and massively improved the Squeezebox’s user interface, network music players were always rather technical. The Duet hugely simplifies the business of streaming digital music off your PC into a proper AV rack, without having to bring the PC into the lounge or rely on its rather lacklustre DACs.

Despite the diminutive box, the Duet has a high quality 24-bit DAC, and most importantly the remote can work with multiple Squeezebox players. This means you can use the little player on a kitchen or family room stereo, while splurging on the hardcore Transporter ($3,799) for the lounge room.

The Squeezebox system is designed to be open, so it can accept nearly the full range of possible audio formats, including most importantly uncompressed and lossless codecs.

Quick and easy multi-room audio is the name of the game with Squeezebox, and if you have the technical nouse to get the most out of this system, you’ll be richly rewarded.