Two different sizes, two different prices. Transparent Speakers. Are they worth it?
Transparent is a tech concept developed by Martin Willers and Per Brickstad. The pair met while working at Stockholm design studio People People for 10 years, before they hit upon a concept that would be the beginning of Transparent.
The duo “obsessed” over creating a modular and upgradeable speaker set that could stand to alleviate the sustainability issue in tech.
It’s the familiar story: Apple, Samsung, whoever, bring out a new release every year (or less) and slowly allow their other releases to crumble and become redundant. You’re forced into buying a new one, and the planet is forced to surrender precious resources for the production process.
The solution, argues Transparent – whose name is an aesthetic description as well as a moral one – is to create a tech with upgradable capacities, removing the dependency on new models.
The speakers undeniably look the part: tempered glass and a single aluminium uniframe showcase the entirety of the inner, with exposed – and neat – wiring and components. (Top tip – keep your fingerprints off the glass.)
The important question: how do they sound?
Stuff claims: “It sounds fantastic, overcoming any lingering acoustic doubts about its glass build with aplomb,” while The Independent claims: “The audio as clear as you could hope for, with a solid bass and impressively full and warm sound throughout the frequencies for a more compact speaker.”
Both are united in their claim that the smaller version contains more bang for buck than the larger.
Head to Pockets for them both.
