Tube Core Duo is a Compact, Tube-driven Bluetooth Speaker

Over the last 15 years as music has gone completely digital, we have (for the most part) left behind the richness and quality of analog audio equipment in favor of the convenience of iPods. Thanks to the ubiquity of smart phones, there are a zillion bluetooth speakers, and for the most — in spite of what their marketing wants you to believe — these are no more interesting from an audio quality point of view than electronic-amplifier powered boom boxes from the 80′s. There’s plenty of rubberized neon an anodized aluminum finishes to choose from but we’ve lost the warm vintage wooden speakers.

So here comes Tube Core Duo (launched about an hour ago on Kickstarter and already 62% funded out of a $20,000 goal) with something that stands out. Have your cake and eat it too: a bluetooth-enabled, Wifi capable speaker that’s powered by dual, single-phase vacuum tube pre-amplifiers and sports a vintage design handmade from hardwood and hand-stretched speaker cloth.

So what do you get by combing the internet with vintage analog audio? Amazing sound quality, something that’s beautiful to look at and the ability to stream a movie from your iPhone that plays on the speaker and outputs to your TV in HD (Tube Core Duo has an HDMI output and support XMBC.)

If that all wasn’t enough, it’s a completely open design and uses a Raspberry Pi under the hood.

TubeCore is dedicated to the celebration of sound. All TubeCore systems feature our signature Tube Pre-Amp and Solid State Hybrid System. This combination delivers the purest analog sound, while drastically reducing the energy waste of “pure” Class-A Systems.

Designed around a balance between classic analog Hi-Fi and computer control, TubeCore systems can be hacked, networked and modified in countless ways, all to the benefit of the audiophile community.

Check out Tube Core Duo today on Kickstarter