Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-01-27)

75

THEONE Bloomberg Pursuits January 2 7, 2020

TheAurorastereosystem

soundsjustasgoodasit looks—

andthat’ssayinga lot

PhotographbyTedand

Chelsea Cavanaugh

Wirelessspeaker

systemsaren’t

necessarily meantto

be seen—justheard.

ButBritishaudio

companyIFi,one

ofthetopmakers

ofdigital-to-analog

converters(DACs),

has createdthe

$1, 400 Auroratobe

asstrikingvisually

asit is aurally.

Inspiredbythe

workofJapanese

architectShigeru

Ban, it’scladinpale

bambooslatsand

appearstolevitate

at a rakedangle

insideanaluminum-

beamedpyramid.It

canstreammusic

via Bluetooth;for

high-resaudio,

useWi-Fiorthe

phalanxofinputs

ontheback. A

tube-powered

preampthatglows

orangethrough

thefrontwindow

givesthesoundan

addedboost.

THECOMPETITION

• Justover 8 inches
  longand6 inches
  across,thepill-
  shapedDevialet
  PhantomReactor
  (startingat$1,090)
  pushesa room-
  rattling 95 to
  98 decibelsof
  crystallinesound
  fromitscompact
  enclosure.
  
  
  • Bowers&Wilkins’s
    FormationWedge
    ($900)looksless
    likea wedgethanan
    urnwrappedinan
    elegantarabesque
    mesh.Lurking
    withinarea 6 -inch
    subwoofer,apairof
    3.5-inchmidrange
    drivers,andtwo
    1-inchdouble-dome
    tweeters.
    
    
    • TheCrescendoX
      ($1,000)from
      MartinLogan
      Ltd.hasa profile
      resemblingan
      oversizegrinand
      isathomeinthe
      kitchen.Unlikethe
      others,ithasAlexa
      capabilities,too,so
      youcanenjoyyour
      tuneswhileasking
      for a recipe.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

THECASE

Justbecausethis

speakerlooks

likea lightweight

doesn’tmeanit

soundslikeone.

TheAurora’sbuilt-in

ampdeliversa total

of 320 wattstosix

custom-madedrive

units,includingfour

4.7-inchspeakers,

twotweeters,anda

pairofpassivebass

radiatorsthatfire

downwardfromthe

cabinet’sunderside.

Thesystemalso

employs thebrand’s

trademarked

“automaticroom

tailoring” process,

inwhichsix

sensorsmeasure

thedistanceto

thewallsusing

ultrasonicsound.

Thatinformation

adjuststhespeakers’

performance,

whetherfora

cozylibraryora

cavernousloft.

$ 1 , 400 ; ifi-audio.com