TECHNOLOGY
Levitating Mars Speaker Offers Improved All-Around Sound
With all of the different speakers available the market, it can be a challenge to find one that is truly unique.
11 May, 2016
One product that does fall into that category is the Mars levitating speaker from the Hong Kong-based startup Crazybaby, which boasts an UFO-style disc that floats over the top of a slim, black subwoofer column.
This design is an attempt to deal with one of the most fundamental problems faced by speaker manufacturers. The Mars speaker system, which is built out of aircraft-grade aluminium, offers a simple but elegant approach to solving it.
Most speakers need to rest on the floor or some other surface, which has a negative effect on the sound quality of the speaker. Forced to remain in contact with another surface, at least some of the sound will be directed into that surface and is not propagated to the listener. Crazybaby, which is led by founder and lead designer Allen Zhang, found a nifty workaround to this issue and incorporated magnetism to levitate its aircraft grade aluminium disc over the subwoofer, avoiding contact with the surface entirely. The levitation technology used in the speaker comes from Levitation Arts, a company that produces a range of gifts, toys, and games with similar technology.
Most speakers need to rest on the floor or some other surface, which has a negative effect on the sound quality of the speaker. Forced to remain in contact with another surface, at least some of the sound will be directed into that surface and is not propagated to the listener. Crazybaby, which is led by founder and lead designer Allen Zhang, found a nifty workaround to this issue and incorporated magnetism to levitate its aircraft grade aluminium disc over the subwoofer, avoiding contact with the surface entirely. The levitation technology used in the speaker comes from Levitation Arts, a company that produces a range of gifts, toys, and games with similar technology.
This two-part Bluetooth speaker incorporates another clever idea: in addition to levitation, Crazybaby decided to make their speaker round. This not only gives the Mars speaker its characteristic, extraterrestrial shape but also avoids the issue of needing to define a set front and back to their device, the Mars speaker instead offers equal 360° sound projection to everyone in a room—regardless of their location.
The sound quality of a speaker is ultimately the main criterion on which it will be judged. The speaker system combines a "3¾" high-excursion subwoofer with a custom 1¾" high-sensitivity driver," which Crazybaby claims produces a rich sound that can stretch anywhere between 50Hz and 20kHw. The speaker system also incorporates aptX, an audio codec compression algorithm that allows for low-latency Bluetooth streaming.
While the speaker is normally used with the cylindrical base acting as the subwoofer, it is also possible for the aluminium disc (known as the Mars Craft) to play sound independently. This gives users the freedom to use Bluetooth to stream their music anywhere.
The sound quality of a speaker is ultimately the main criterion on which it will be judged. The speaker system combines a "3¾" high-excursion subwoofer with a custom 1¾" high-sensitivity driver," which Crazybaby claims produces a rich sound that can stretch anywhere between 50Hz and 20kHw. The speaker system also incorporates aptX, an audio codec compression algorithm that allows for low-latency Bluetooth streaming.
While the speaker is normally used with the cylindrical base acting as the subwoofer, it is also possible for the aluminium disc (known as the Mars Craft) to play sound independently. This gives users the freedom to use Bluetooth to stream their music anywhere.
The Mars craft is magnetic and can be attached to the frame of a bicycle or the body of a car, offering an audio projection option on the go. The brushed aluminium disc is even waterproof up to three feet, meaning it can hold up when exposed to rain or the elements.
A smartphone app from Crazybaby is used to control the Mars speaker, and multiple speakers can be paired together to produce stereo sound. When connected to the app, the volume of the speaker can be set to adjust as the listener moves nearer or further away from it. As a result, the sound level remains constant as the user moves around the room. Battery recharging is wireless, and the aluminium speaker disc lifts off automatically at full power and lands when it is time for a recharge.
A smartphone app from Crazybaby is used to control the Mars speaker, and multiple speakers can be paired together to produce stereo sound. When connected to the app, the volume of the speaker can be set to adjust as the listener moves nearer or further away from it. As a result, the sound level remains constant as the user moves around the room. Battery recharging is wireless, and the aluminium speaker disc lifts off automatically at full power and lands when it is time for a recharge.
The IndieGogo campaign to finance the Mars speaker was overwhelmingly successful, raising $828,974 USD (601% of its goal) by February 1, 2015. As a result, Mars by Crazybaby is now available on Amazon for $309 in the United States.