Bugatti has unveiled their Royale, which is not a car, but a set of home speakers. The luxury automotive brand has partnered with Tidal Audio, a German manufacturer of high-end sound systems, but even established automotive magazines have confused them with Tidal, the Norwegian streaming service.
"As for the design," Bugatti writes, "there are two main themes: Monocoque and Duotone. One can select between piano finishes or avant-garde color and material combinations. Each 'Royale' loudspeaker pair can be customized with carbon fiber, fabrics, leather, polished stainless steel, dark aluminum or precious metal surfaces."
While the company also says that "Just as the engine of a Bugatti hyper sports car releases power and emotions, this unrivaled sound impresses with its finest definition and incredible power," perhaps a more telling trait that makes these speakers Bugatti products is their studied exclusivity: The company is only making 30 pairs.
"They're kind of pricey, so we've got the second one on layaway"
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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Bugatti Now Designing…Home Speakers?
All I can see is a electric shaver.
That is.. unparalleled ugliness. Did they let the audio-tech nerds design these inhouse? Who even OKed putting the Bugatti brand on this?
I personally love the Streamline Moderne style, and I've always said that the appliances of that era had more charm than those of today... but these I don't know, I think they would look better in The Jetsons' living room.
There's mention in the article that before Ettore Bugatti created cars, his father Carlo Bugatti was a famed art deco furniture designer
Wow - are those things ugly. All housing and such little expectation of sound. It's almost the antithesis of what I would expect a speaker to look like. It's a 50's fridge door that someone Etsy'd into a speaker.
Okay I laughed at the MUCH larger than expected human scale photo at the end. What's sad is how close the aesthetic is to midrange gaming computer cases from 10 years ago.