Key Takeaways
- LG Labs introduces DukeBox, a home speaker with vacuum tube audio for a warm and immersive sound experience.
- The speaker features a transparent OLED display that can be adjusted to showcase the vacuum tubes, creating a modern and vintage aesthetic.
- LG did not provide pricing or release date details but will showcase the speaker at CES 2024, along with other products.
LG is known for its OLED TVs, appliances, and other more conventional tech products. However, the company has a side division known as LG Labs, which is responsible for making slightly more out-of-the-box products. Its latest is a fancy home speaker called the DukeBox, which is designed to blend modern sensibilities with old-school sound thanks to the vacuum tube audio.
What is a DukeBox?
We don’t see a lot of new speakers released with vacuum tubes anymore, but the technology has some benefits over newer solutions. Tubes produce a warm sound and aid with seperation of each instrument on a track. The DukeBox offers front-facing speakers at the bottom and a 360-degree speaker at the top that’s designed to create an immersive experience.
We’ll have to give the speaker a listen for ourselves to get a feel for the sound quality. Still, LG is saying all the right things to make its new device sound like it’ll offer an incredible audio experience for audiophiles and people who like that old-school sound offered by vacuum tubes, a more than 100-year-old technology.
5 best bookshelf speakers: Audiophile tested and reviewed
After careful listening, these speakers impress when it comes to both sound and style.
In this case, it’s not just about audio because LG also included a transparent OLED display that can be adjusted to show off more or less of the vacuum tubes. That’s where the modern portion of the design shines through, literally. LG says the screen is designed to offer an “effect reminiscent of a vacuum tube audio system enclosed in a transparent glass box.”
Because it’s a fully functional OLED display, it can also be used to watch movies and other content with the vacuum tubes shining in the background. LG cites having a digital fireplace on the display while the tubes fire off in the background, creating a nice ambient experience. LG didn’t talk about the connected features of the speaker, but we have to assume that it offers an internet connection and Bluetooth for streaming content to the device.
LG DukeBox price and availability
Sadly, LG didn’t reveal a price or release date for this interesting speaker, but we expect it to be expensive. The company said it would show off the speaker at CES 2024, so hopefully, we’ll learn more information soon at the huge tech event. LG has also said its Labs zone at CES 2024 will be twice as large as last year’s, so the company should have other cool products to show off, such as the Bon Voyage customized living space designed to bring home to nature, which was announced at the same time as the DukeBox. The firm says it’ll show off LG CineBeam Qube, LG gram Fold, LG XBOOM, LG StanbyMe Go, LG tiiun mini, and brid.zzz at the LG Labs portion of its CES booth, so there’s plenty of interesting stuff to see.
Trending Products
