BLACK BEAUTY
Devialet’s high-fidelity compact speaker finally takes on a dark sheen.
French tech brand Devialet redefined the home entertainment system game when it launched its standalone Phantom speakers some years ago. The white, melon-sized gadgets were made to be seen as much as they were made to be heard with their unusual rounded design. And they wowed audiophiles and major music industry players such as Jay-Z.
The speakers were touted as objet d’art yet homeowners who had never hopped on the minimalism bandwagon or who had long tired of drab palettes, never had the option of a more understated Phantom. The best you could do was to park it in a neat Berluti leather carrying case.
That’s been remedied at last by Devialet’s latest Phantom Reactor addition in matte black. For all intents and purposes, aside from the superficial, nothing’s changed about the product. But Devialet will have you know that each outward-facing component was individually coloured so as not to compromise the high performance of the speakers.
That switch is all that’s needed for the Phantom Reactors to make much more sense in a wide variety of different home settings. Surfaces that are metallic, stone or of lighter shades of wood work better with the darker cousin, which will also be far less conspicuous when mounted on walls. And far more masculine.
The Phantom Reactor 600 retails at $1,890 and the Phantom Reactor 900 at $2,390. Available at Devialet, #01-10, Bay Level, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Tel: 6688-7163.