Connected speakers and modular systems, the best in audio in 2018

Our homes speak to us, listen to us and make us listen. With liquid music, music collections have become virtual, and the classic stereo has made way for connected speakers, audio systems which receive wireless commands, and which allow us to choose what music to hear in each room. The latest transformation of the sector has come with the arrival of vocal assistants. Design has also been playing an increasingly important role in the sector, where there are many proposals which reinterpret sound design in different ways.

On the luxury front, for example, we have the Master & Dynamic Ma770, a high-range connected speaker which unites the stability of concrete with a light and curvaceous design which is a rather rare find among musical devices. Designed by David Adjaye, it connects via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but also has a 3.5 mm connector for older devices. The BeoSound 1 by Bang & Olufsen also focuses on style. Designed by Torsten Valeur, it has been created to dominate a room, offering 360° sound projection, while integration with the Google Assistant allows voice control of music or home automation.

Then there are the modular systems, a series of speakers and soundbars which can be combined to allow a richer diffusion of sound in a single room, or they can be placed at different points in order to reproduce the same or different sources. In other words, total freedom. In terms of simplicity, Sonos stands out with its excellent Beam soundbar and a design speaker, the Sonos One, also produced in a limited edition by the Danish brand Hay. Another modular system is the Citation by Harman Kardon. Characterised by a Nordic design, it offers eight different speakers, from the small Citation one to the powerful Citation Tower, via the Citation Bar soundbar.

Dedicated to audio enthusiasts, Flare Zero is an elegant 1 metre 80 cm tower characterised by its industrial design. Four circular sections in aerospace aluminium set one on top of the other each contain a transducer, for a total of 3,500 watts of the highest quality power. Of a decisively more classic nature are the R Series speakers by Kef, eight different speakers (one for a pedestal, three floor-standing, one central and a sub-woofer) which allow for the creation of perfect sound in a room. On the connected speaker front there is, however, also an outsider, the GPO Brooklyn, a boombox that harks back to the huge portable stereos which started the hip hop revolution in New York at the end of the 1970s. Modern features include Bluetooth connectivity and DAB radio, but it also sports a cassette and CD player