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Libratone's Lounge speaker is what the Apple Hi-Fi should have been: Sleek, white AirPlay-enabled and, er, covered in cashmere.
The heart of this big speaker (it's one meter, or 3.3 feet long) is something called FullRoom, which uses five speakers and digital signal processing to beam the sound out to every corner of the room. The idea is that you hear the same thing everywhere, not just in the stereo "sweet-spot" generated by two-box setups.
Inside the big cabinet is a 150-Watt amp, kicking out 50W to the 8-inch woofer and 25W each to the paired four-inch midrange speakers and one-inch tweeters.
You can plug anything in via the analog/optical 3.5mm jack, but this is really about the AirPlay, and will work with any iOS device or iTunes-running (10.1 or better) Mac or PC.
This Apple-centric design continues to the companion app (there's always a companion app, right?) The app lets you tweak your setup by telling the speaker where it is in the room. Input the distances and placements of the walls and furniture and pick a "voicing" (Jazz Club, Neutral, Easy Listening and so on) and it will tune the speaker to fit.
It's a shame that it doesn't use the iPhone's mic to auto-set it based on audio feedback like high-end amps, but then I guess the iPhone's mic probably isn't up to the task.
Want one? Then sit down. This iPhone accessory will cost you $1,300. Available now.
Lounge Speaker product page [Libratone via FastCo Design]
