14 DAY TRIAL // At CES 2012, accessory maker Griffin has released its Twenty digital audio amplifier, which allows users to play digital audio from iTunes to an existing set of speakers via Apple's AirPlay wireless audio/video protocol.
The device requires an Airport Express wireless base station to work but, according to the makers, the result is “a zero-configuration audio set-up, streaming Apple Lossless sound from iTunes to the user's speakers via a low-profile digital amplifier.”
It’s pretty simple, really. Your Apple Lossless-encoded audio library (or an AirPlay-enabled iOS app) uses AirPlay to stream music to the Twenty Audio Amplifier. The hardware then uses your Airport Express to capture and decode the AirPlay. It then sends the sound through your speakers, amplified.
It’s not only designed to work with the Apple ecosystem, but also to look like it belongs there.