Sony Tube Speaker

With sound reinforcement all the rage, especially in professional settings, you need something to make your product stand out. One choice, and a good one if history is correct, is good design. Sony is targeting the high end professional setting with their new Sountina speaker. Standing about 3.3 feet high, the Sountina (a combination of "sound" and "fountain") is an transparent acrylic tube a little bit thicker than a baseball bat reports AP. There is a stainless steel reflector at the top which shows off the blue, amber, pink, or purple LEDs that shoot up from the bottom. In the center of the tube there is a stainless steel string dangling that also picks up the LEDs.

The Sountina is designed to radiate music in 360 degrees to fill up as much space as possible. Unveiled in Tokoyo and to be released there soon, no released date has been announced for other markets. At a $9,600 price point, this is a product that is going to have limited appeal other than the most high end of settings or those eminently worried about style. Given the size of design, it is sure to be light on bass which may turn off some buyers. A few well placed (and hidden) subwoofers should even things out nicely.

The idea of a "sound fountain" sounds neat and Sony promises a very natural and lifelike sound. Somehow, we wished they would have figured out a way to fill it with water. Still, it looks very interesting and we're hoping to see it on display at future tradeshows.