February 23, 2007 While we don’t necessarily agree that children should be seen and not heard, we definitely agree that technology in the form of speaker systems is best heard and not necessarily seen. There are some, whose tastes and wallet will extend to the extraordinarily beautiful speaker systems from Bose, Bang & Olufsen et al, who may wish to display their finery, but in the main, most of us want to create a room enhanced by technology, not enslaved by it. Accordingly, we love this trend towards visually discrete speaker systems personified by Masquerade’s line-up of customisable speakers that look like a painting. By being able to have the loudspeaker’s sound-permeable fabric printed with any image, the loudspeaker can look like a family portrait or a work of art. This allows for a seamless integration of 5.1 surround sound in a living room and ends spousal discussions about equipment in a home environment.
With 5.1 loudspeaker systems being the subject of many spousal discussions, looks to provide a high quality solution. By masking the loudspeakers behind a printable acoustically transparent fabric, Masquerade speakers brighten up the living room with images of choice.
The product line up consists of 3 general-purpose bass-reflex loudspeakers, a centre speaker, a sub woofer and even a projection screen. The speakers can be mixed to create a solution that matches the room in terms of required sound levels and designs. The loudspeakers are optimised for home cinema and audio performance with capacities ranging from 50W to 90W DC.
At 7 cm deep, the loudspeakers are slim enough to pair them with flat panel displays. The frames surrounding the speakers can even be matched to the colour of any LCD or plasma television. This solution increases the audio performance of the system, while adding stylish visuals to the room.
The special sound-permeable fabric combines excellent image reproduction with superb acoustic qualities. The choice of prints ranges from images from the Masquerade catalogue to custom images, such as family photos.
Masquerade loudspeakers range in price from €599 to €1899 (incl. 21% VAT), which includes a custom print.
There are also dedicated sites for Masquerade in Russian, Dutch and French.
