Infinity Cascade Speakers

Some might say that Infinity has recently lost some of that luster and admiration it once enjoyed with its Reference Series speakers over twenty years ago. When the company sought to redefine itself for the 21st century, Infinity assembled a formidable team of sound engineers and materials experts. The brand knew that improving the audio, while a natural step forward for a new speaker line, was not enough to convince people to make it a part of their homes. The speakers needed convincing design. For that, Infinity went to LifeStyleDesign, and this Infinity Cascade speaker speaks to where the collaboration has visually taken the product line. I recently visited LifeStyleDesign, an industrial design firm located in Santa Barbara, CA. I was given a tour of the facilities by president and founder Marc Tappeiner, and I was immediately struck by how uniquely positioned the company is. At the site I found full design and manufacturing capabilities, giving LifeStyleDesign the ability to deliver to its clients every stage of a product’s development, from concept to retail-ready item. The Infinity Cascade speakers (80-Hz - 20kHz, 150 Watts) feature flat-panel transducers, which results in rectangular diaphragms that push the same amount of air as traditional loudspeaker cones. The other advantage offered by flat-panel transducers is freedom from traditional, bulky boxes needed to house traditional transducers. This allows for the creation of a speaker with both a thin and narrow (10.5"w x 11.5"d) design. Non-traditional housing mediums such as compression molded real wood and extruded aluminum also offer a unique design element. There is an obvious fluidity in the design that takes the speaker beyond classification as equipment and solidly positions it as a piece of furniture that would be fitting in any living room. (Check out more of LifeStyleDesign's work here.)

By: david vo