Tivoli’s gorgeous radios and music player combos are all about their throwback design. Design that harkens back to the old days when hi-fis were unwieldy plugin appliances that you installed in a corner of your living room. Today, the company’s powerful Music System line goes portable for the first time.
The new Music System Three has two 3-inch drivers with bass ports for better low-end response. It weighs 1.7kg, so it’s considerably lighter and more compact than its Music System predecessors. I picked it up earlier today, and it’s easy to swing around from its built-in handle, which also doubles as a handy place to stash the phone that’s playing the music. You can throw it in a backpack or tote without too much difficulty. And because it’s got a built-in display, it can display music metadata sent over Bluetooth.
As with all other Tivoli products, it’s a “radio” — remember those? — which means it’s got a receiver so you can catch the airwaves. The Music System Three is splashproof, too, though company executives cautioned me against throwing it in a pool. The rechargeable battery will power the system for 20 hours on a full charge.
In other words, what we’re looking at here is a very fancy, very good-looking bluetooth radio that will sound better than most others its size. At $US300, it will cost a bit more too. But with looks like this, it’s almost worth it. [Tivoli]