British audio brand Orbitsound is known for making soundbars and Bluetooth speakers with affordable price tags. However, the company’s latest product is a complete departure from its usual offerings and enters into the world of high-end speakers, competing with the best. Meet the all-new Orbitsound Air D1, a single-unit active wireless speaker system that is priced at a whopping £12,000 (about $15,500). Described as the world’s only high-end one box luxury loudspeaker, the Sonos-rival is designed to be an object of art with a beautifully finished wooden box held in place by an industrial grade stand. The father-and-son duo Ted and Daniel Fletcher, Orbitsound’s chief audio engineers, have been working to improve Airsound – proprietary technology that allows a single enclosure to produce an omnidirectional stereophonic image. For the Air D1, Orbitsound has taken the technology to the next level. Through a combination of front and side firing drivers, it presents a spatially wide stereo image without a sweet spot, no matter where you stand.
The speaker unit also uses a ‘transconductance’ amplifier design, which is dubbed Airamp by the company. What it basically does is reduces distortion and improves clarity by dynamically monitoring the output of the loudspeaker in relation to input voltage. To match the speaker’s high-level of audio engineering and top-level performance, it’s been equipped with a full suite of connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for streaming music, along with a single optical and three aux inputs. It also has an Ethernet socket to allow users to manually connect to the home network through cable. The Air D1 will be available exclusively through Harrods in the UK during initial phase. Orbitsound says its in talks with global retailers currently and will expand to other international markets soon.
[Via:T3]
