Transparent’s new $4,000 speaker looks like a relic of 1950s design but it includes modern functionality.
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The design of Transparent’s latest wireless speaker looks like the complete opposite of the glass-enclosed see-through speakers that helped originally launch the brand. The $4,000 Brutalist speaker is made from aluminum, and although it stands around 23-inches tall in person, without context it could be easily mistaken for a minimalist office tower designed by an architect still inspired by Britain’s post-war architectural style.
Transparent’s speaker features a pair of three-inch tweeters positioned at 90-degree angles that work alongside a 6.5-inch subwoofer positioned on the opposite side of them. The company suggests its design is most effective at filling a room with sound when the speaker is positioned in a corner so sound can bounce off walls, but wherever you position it you’ll want to make sure an outlet is nearby because it doesn’t have a battery. At 26.5 lbs, it’s already heavy enough.
The speaker can stream audio from devices over Bluetooth 5.2, but it also has Wi-Fi and supports Apple’s AirPlay 2, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, and Amazon Music. A pair of 3.5mm inputs allow other audio sources to connect with a cable, and while it’s compatible with Amazon’s Alexa, the Brutalist speaker doesn’t have its own microphone, limiting the usefulness of the smart assistant’s integration.
Transparent spent three years developing the Brutalist speaker, but a lot of the challenges actually came from its decision to make it using 70 percent post-consumer recycled aluminum. “Of course, we spent a lot of time in manufacturing to perfect all of the different modules coming together well and ensuring everything sounds great, but actually, the sourcing of the recycled aluminum for the cabinet hasn’t been easy,” Per Brickstad, Transparent’s creative director, told Wired.
