IKEA’s first version of these lamp speakers was met with quite a bit of derision as many called them ugly. However, IKEA are back with another version of the lamp speaker and things are looking good.
This is a collaboration between IKEA and Sonos. The Symfonisk table lamp speaker has gotten a beautiful refresh that not only improves on its visual aesthetic but also the sound quality and hardware.
The big problem with the previous lamp was that it was so bulky and funny looking that you couldn’t easily blend it into your home. That’s thankfully no longer an issue.
Stjepan Begic, product developer at IKEA, said in a statement,
“Since launching the first Symfonisk table lamp speaker, we learned a lot about how and where they are being used. For example, a lot of people use the lamp speaker on a nightstand, which led us to create a new, slightly smaller lamp base. We’re now also offering customers more design choices, making the lamp speaker a better fit for their individual homes.”
The only downside to this is that the lamp is being sold as two separate products now: the speaker base and the lampshade. It’s not even because you can mix and match with heaps of options. The speaker comes in black – that’s it. You can change the lampshade from textile or glass materials that come in either black or white. Not exactly spoiled for choice.
At least it will sound better as Sonos claims the speaker will provide “more room-filling sound” due to a redesign of the acoustic architecture that uses “custom waveguides.” But if that isn’t working for you, you can always pair it with other Sonos speakers to create that room-filling sound.
This new design isn’t available in Australia yet but it is coming soon. The previous edition is still up for sale for $269 AUD so the new one might be closer to $300.