New “Triphonic” Cell Alpha speaker from ex-Apple designer*

What the hell is a “Triphonic” speaker?

“
Christopher Stringer, a key member of Jony Ive's design team who spent 21 years at Apple before departing in 2017, is resurfacing today with his new venture Syng, which seeks to make an impact in the high-end audio market.


Stringer, who contributed to many of the most iconic product designs in Apple's history, announced his plans roughly a year ago, and Syng is today introducing its flagship product, the Cell Alpha.

Priced at $1,799 with a table stand or $1,969 with a floor stand, Cell Alpha uses "Triphonic" audio technology to create a dynamic, immersive sound field, and multiple Cells can work together for even greater spatial control. Both wired and wireless connections are supported, and Cell Alpha includes support for AirPlay 2.


A Syng Space app is used to manage the Cell speakers from initial setup to customization of the audio experience, and will be flexible to add future capabilities. Spotify integration is also included along with an audio visualization component.

The Cell Alpha is available today through Syng's website.”

Syng

Longtime Apple Designer Christopher Stringer's Latest Project Is a High-Fidelity Speaker With AirPlay 2

 

That picture doesn't seem very well thought out for appealing to the true "high-end audio" crowd, with the speaker sitting right next to a cheap House of Marley table on the same shelf, and transferring a lot of energy into that base pedestal (which is also part of the speaker motor structure) while in use.

But I guess most of us around here probably aren't the high-end audio crowd that it's aimed toward

 

The speaker actually doubles as a record weight, they only set it aside to flip the vinyl.

 

Says it's a 3 horn system. So maybe an omni directional system. Looks pretty cool.

Triphonic audio turns listening into feeling. This object-based sonic architecture allows you to hear, see, and touch sounds, offering full control with precise placement and localization. You can put sound wherever you want, shrink it, move it, magnify it, and layer it. Or let the Cell handle everything – with Triphonic audio, it’s able to virtualize any speaker array and accurately spatialize sound for your room. When sound is all around you, it’s intimate, totally enveloping and unlike anything you’ve ever heard.

How do you touch sound?

 

By handing-over $1799 for the speaker/record weight model.

$1969 if you want the floor stand/Wet Swiffer model.

I don't know why I'm being so rough on this.

OH WAIT, I remember now. Years of working on Apple products, watching as they transitioned to less and less serviceable products that were essentially assembled with tape and adhesives in China.

Designs where it was apparently so critical that no seams show from the outside, that instead of making a small access panel to (for example) access/replace the hard drive, they made it necessary to remove the screen of the iMac (which at first was fastened with screens, but which also eventually transitioned to being glued on).

So I'm dubious of any "designer" hailing from the world of Apple.

 

Check out the GIF: An Ex-Apple designer created this ornamental, almost alien-like Triphonic speaker

 

How do you touch sound? It’s easy. Just repeat the product marketing babble over and over and over and over again until, eventually, it starts to sound like fact. It’s not though. But you’ll begin to believe...

And belief is what’s necessary in order to buy into the idea that a lifestyle sound pedestal that looks like an exotic toilet plunger is going to do anything notable other than transfer the best part of two thousand bucks from someone’s pocket into the Syng bank account. Now that’s a magic trick!

 

Oh, I'm betting the cat'll find out first.

 

The only way you can connect it via Airplay 2 or HDMI EARC, so how do you connect a turntable to it?
What is the watt output of the amp?

 

Well, that's... something. The bottom woofer seems to REALLY like the stand.

 

lol this isn't new, to replace the HD on my original iMac in 1998/9 I had to not only remove the entire CRT from the case (!) but also the motherboard and optical drive.

 

Looks kinda cool in a Buck Rogers kind of way.
Will reserve judgement until I hear it, then balance dollars with sound quality.

 

Take the brown acid.

 

IF I had $4000 burning a hole in my pocket ...

 

It seems like the perfect thing to play my Cyclophonic records

 

Did hundreds of them, no need go pull the CRT.

 

Ha true.

Apple took notes from the third Reich marketing approach.
Lmao.

everyone don’t take that so intensely.
It was a joke


As you were

 

Nice table lamp. Does it double as a colour organ?

 

Sorta reminds me of the old Harmon Kardon Soundsticks computer speaker.

 

yeah, just the CRT cables . . . .that must have been another iMac with a dead display I was thinking of, senior moment i guess!!
that OG iMac was pretty nice once I got done with it though- 8 GB of RAM, 450 Mhz newer g3 upgrade CPU, cd burner in the optical bay, and a gamewizard voodoo2 card on the mezzanine slot that let me play quake3 and Deus Ex.
Oh nostalgia

 

It looks awesome. I'm in!! (Conceptually, anyway.)

Like a speaker from a sci-fi novel! Isaac Asimov's speaker.

If only it were $179.99 instead of $1,799, I'd be sorely tempted. I love the idea of true, omnidirectional sound ... just haven't heard an omni speaker with tone even as good as an affordable monkey coffin yet.

The website is worryingly short of information (specs, etc.)

 

More info

The Apple Designer You’ve Never Heard of Is Making Noise

 

C'mon, you dudes. You know you want one of these Triphonic beauties.

You're all accredited audiophiles, of course; but do you know what word 'audiophile' is next to in the Oxford Associative Dictionary ...?

That's right. 'Gadget geek'. Get on that product order page and get that credit card digitized, now.

 

WAF = 0 ... at least here.

 

The folks at Harman should have used better epoxy on the speaker magnets. I purchased a system from the local thrift for next to nothing.. thinking I'd be able to re-epoxy the magnets in place? But try getting these plastic enclosures apart? I managed with determination and great difficulty, and patience, without damage. Attaching the magnets wasn't as successful. Getting them centered was one challenge.. the other to not get any epoxy to creep into the voice coils. That's exactly what happened on two of the drivers. They are eternally frozen!! I gave up on the project.

But these did sound surprisingly good, even limping along on two non-functioning drivers.