Samsung goes retro with vacuum tube speaker dock

In case you haven't noticed, Samsung had quite the year in 2012.

The consumer electronics giant has gained massive market share in a number of categories, including televisions and Blu-ray players, smartphones and tablets, cameras and camcorders, and even home appliances like fridges, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers.

And the now the Korean company is looking to wow music lovers with its new line of speaker docks for the home — and they're looking to the past as they set their sights on the future.

Specifically, the top-of-the-line Samsung Audio Dock (model # DA-E750; $527.99) houses vacuum tubes, which many audio enthusiasts believe offer a warmer, fuller and more natural sound than today's digital technology; many say the same thing about the "warmth" of vinyl records compared to CDs and digital tracks.

From my time with the unit and with the genres I've tested with it -- including jazz, rock, reggae, pop and classical -- it certainly sounds clean, full and well-balanced.

Vacuum tubes use a heated cathode inside glass bulbs to amplify sound, plus this desktop unit also has a digital amplifier for 100 watts of loud and distortion-free sound.

In fact, this product — which is meant to compete with higher-end speaker docks like the Bose SoundDock and perhaps Bowers & Wilkins' Zeppelin family — is an interesting fusion between what's old and what's new. On one hand, the heavy speaker dock is made from wood (with either a piano black or cherry wood finish) and has a small window on top to see the retro vacuum tubes.

But on the flipside, this 2.1-channel speaker dock offers support for wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 3.0 (or older), AirPlay or AllShare, as well as a docking tray that ejects out of the back for both iOS and Galaxy devices. But keep in mind it's the 30-pin Apple dock, therefore it won't work with the new 8-pin connector found in the iPhone 5, iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, nor will it work with the new iPod touch and nano. Sigh.

Playing music from your smartphone or tablet wirelessly, however, is more convenient as you can still use the device while listening to music — though you'll want to dock it when you need it charged up.

The DA-E750 also includes analog (composite) input for older devices, as well as ports for a USB thumbdrive, hard drive or MP3 player. A small, matching remote is included, if needed.

There's also the less expensive Samsung DA-E570 Audio System With Dual Dock ($119.99), a 10-watt wireless speaker system.

Yes, I know it's confusing: the DA-750 and DA-570. Couldn't Samsung pick better product names or numbers?

Samsung also has other products with its patented vacuum tube technology, including a home theater in a box (HTIB) solution called the HT-E6730W ($729.99). This 3D Blu-ray Home Entertainment System is a 1,330-watt 7.1-channel system with twin tower speakers and four additional speakers, including a center channel, subwoofer and wireless rear speakers.

More info on these wireless speaker docks can be found at the official site here.