It’d be great to be able to listen to music in your pool, hot tub, or bath, but what if the speakers get wet? That’s not really a risk worth taking. But music can add a lot to any aquatic adventure, so you shouldn’t give up on the dream too easily.

The Grace Digital Aqua Sounders Floating Speaker is not only waterproof, but it floats! It’s designed to float around in your pool or hot tub, pumping out tunes while you soak or swim. It has batteries that gives it up to 10 hours worth of juice, and it can be heard from up to 150 feet away. It wirelessly streams music from afar, letting you set up a playlist in the house and have it beam out to the pool where you can enjoy it from your inflatable floating lounge chair. It doesn’t get much better than that.

While being a DJ used to involve buying a huge number of records, toting them around with you, owning a PA system, a couple of record players, and a mixer and then, on top of it all, learning how to scratch and mix records, those days are over. Now, being a DJ is as easy as selecting a couple of files and playing with the crossfader. So what’s stopping you from getting in on the action?

You simply need a Hercules DJ Mobile MP3 Wireless Controller for Mixing Computer Tracks and you’ll be well on your way. Simply plug in the USB radio receiver key that comes with it into your computer and you’ll be able to wirelessly load up and mix your MP3s on the mixer itself. It’ll let you practice your skills and, when you’ve got what it takes, bring your music to a party and mix songs there, as long as it’s hooked up to a decent audio system. So what are you waiting for? Get on board and become a DJ!

The Squeezebox Duet carries on the tradition of excellent high fidelity of the previous generation Squeezebox at an affordable price. It really is a wonderful solution for people who have a lot of music files on their computer. With portable players being the rage these days, the vast majority of people’s music collections are on their portable players and computers. However, the most popular file encode for most people is the mp3 format. Mp3’s are lossy compressed encoded formats. In other words, the sound quality is sub par and it leaves a lot to be desired for anyone who cares about audiophile grade quality.

Thankfully, lossless audio codecs ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec), FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), WavPack and WMA lossless (Windows Media Audio) just to name a few have been gaining popularity and the Joe six-pack music lovers are beginning to realize what audiophiles have known for years: the quality of the source material matters and lossless audio should be the rule and never the exception.

The Logitech Squeezebox Duet works by syncing with your computer network either via wi-fi or Ethernet and will play whatever audio file you have on your computer. Simply connect the Squeezebox to your receiver or processor. It’s that simple. It will play back lossless files like ALAC, FLAC, WMA lossless and Wav files. You can also use it for podcasts, Internet radio and subscription based music services. The beauty of the Squeezebox Duet is that it can be used in as many rooms as you desire. Simply purchase an additional squeezebox receiver and place it in whatever room you want. The user interface is easy and navigating is a breeze with the wireless handheld controller that is also equipped to a 2.4” LCD screen.

The Squeezebox Duet was an Editor’s Choice at CNet, and for good reasons. It’s perhaps one of the best deals going around for a device of this sort. Many other high-end esoteric devices that do what the Squeezebox is capable of doing will cost you a pretty penny.

Nothing beats having some way to listen to music in the kitchen while you cook and eat. But you usually don’t have the space or desire to hook up a full stereo in the kitchen, so you end up with a small, mediocre boom box or nothing at all to listen to. There’s no reason it should be like that.

If you get yourself a Sangean WFR-1 Black WiFi Internet Table Radio, you’ll have access to thousands of internet radio stations as well as any music you have stored on your computer or iPod. It connects to your home’s wireless network and automatically gets online, allowing you to choose an internet radio staion by genre, country, name, or from a list of your favorites. You can plug an iPod directly into it to play music from that, or it can stream audio from your shared files on your computer. It’s the ultimate selection of music for the kitchen or anywhere else in the home.

iPod docks are incredibly popular accessories to the ubiquitous portable audio players, and with good reason. They allow you to both charge your device and play music from it from speakers at the same time. Who wouldn’t want that? But what if you live with someone, say a spouse, and you each have an iPod? You don’t want two iPod docks kicking around cluttering things up, do you?

That’s why this JVC NXPN7 Dual iPod Clock Radio exists. It’s able to hold two iPods at once, clearing up your nightstand and charging them both at once. You can play music from either iPod while they’re plugged in, and it has an alarm clock function that’ll play a song from either iPod to wake you up. Just because you’re a two iPod household doesn’t mean you’ve got to be a two iPod dock household, after all.

Headphone cables can be a real pain, especially when you stuff them into your pocket. By the time you’re ready to rock your headphones again, you’re guaranteed to have a tangled mess on your hands that’ll take a good five minutes to work through. And by that time, you’ll probably be too fed up to want to still listen to music.

That’s why Bluetooth headphones are so promising. Models such as these Kensington 33436 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones with microphone cut cables right out of the equation, instead connecting wirelessly with your Bluetooth-enabled phone or portable audio player. They have a whopping 66-foot range, letting you leave your audio source sitting on your desk while you wander around the office, the sound staying crystal clear the entire time. You can even control the audio from afar, with controls right on the headphones for easy access. Why deal with cable clutter? It’s the 21st century; you don’t have to deal with that kind of annoyance anymore.

If you’re looking for a compact, fully featured MP3 player that’s a fraction of the price of those fancy pants iPods, you really should take a look at the Trekstor 73710 1GB i.Beat xtension MP3 Player. This diminutive player comes with 1GB of on-board storage that you can easily extend using a miniSD memory card.

In addition, it has a screen that allows you to choose what you want to listen to, which is a feature that’s woefully unavailable on a number of cheaper MP3 players (such as the iPod shuffle, for example). It also has an FM tuner built in if you feel like listening to the radio when you get bored with your own music, and it’ll provide you with 8 hours of operating time on a single AAA battery. So why spend more for the fancy Apple iPod when you can get something that works just as well for a fraction of the price? You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re a smart shopper every time you see someone with an iPod on the train.

If you’re looking to set up a home theatre system in your living room, you’ve got a lot of options. You could go piecemeal, buying speakers and components individually (read the J&R Home Theater Buying Guide). But then you might not have items that work the best together or even look right when placed together in the same room.

A much easier and safer bet is buying everything in a set. This Bose Lifestyle V30 Home Theater System gives you everything you need to set up a home theatre that you’ll be proud to show off to your friends and annoy your neighbors with. It has the surround speakers, center channel speaker, and subwoofer that provide your audio, all in stylish, small designs. The surround speakers can be tucked up in corners of the room to save floor space without sacrificing sound. It also comes with a receiver that’ll allow you to hook up your HD devices, such as a Blu-ray player, and get the best performance possible out of it. Why buy one item at a time when your entire shopping trip could end with this?

Most people opt to get a case for their iPod, something that’ll protect their investment from the inevitable drops and scratching. Many people also want an external speaker for their iPod that’ll let them share their music with their friends. Doesn’t combining the two seem like a natural idea? It’s a wonder it hasn’t happened before.

But hey, it finally has. Take a look at the Portable Sound Labs iMainGo Portable iPod Speaker & Case. All it needs is 4 AAA batteries to give you 30 hours of music playing from the built-in speakers, which have enhanced bass and huge sound for the tiny package. It’s all tucked away in a rugged case that’ll protect both your iPod and your speakers from bumps and drops. And with the iPod docked in the speaker, you can set it to have an alarm to wake you up, which is a great additional feature. So why have both a case and speakers? You can get them together in one elegant package.

If you’re in a band that’s been fiddling around, writing some songs and talking about playing some shows, it’s time to take it to the next level. Summertime is fast approaching, which is the traditional concert season, and it’s time to get out and play your music in front of an audience. But in order to do that, you need some way of amplifying your instruments. You know, like a PA system.

This Samson Audio EXL250 Expedition Express Portable PA System with iPod Dock is a great PA, and it has the added bonus of having an iPod dock built right into it. This will allow you to easily play music off your iPod between sets or, heaven forbid, as a backing track to your music. But really, don’t do that. You can just as easily run all of your instruments into it and have them sound just great, finally taking your band out of the basement and into the public view where it’s belonged all along.