It’s the truth many agree that there is little point in trying to reinvent the wheel. Even people who try to change, change, or reinvent the idea of the wheel, we can all agree, hide in vain.
As soon as the conversation turns to products that are less useful and less efficient than the wheel, all bets are off. The desire to improve the design, or (more likely) to simply add to it in the hope that your version of the theme will be different, is always strong. Which brings us, not coincidentally, to Syng Cell Alpha.
On the face of it, you might think that the Cell Alpha by Syng (a California-based company that is part of Apple’s big cheese Christopher Stringer, an industrial designer with over 1,400 votes) is just another wireless blower. A large, expensive, and strange-looking cordless blower, yes—yet a simple variation on the subject. But you could be wrong.
According to Syng, Cell Alpha can make recorded sounds “tangible”—that is, heard by touch. Syng himself exists “to transform the human relationship with sound,” and to “transform listening into a rich experience.” Hold on tight, there’s more.
Syng says: “When we can hear, touch, and see sound, it taps into the natural human desire to control and control the noise around us. If Syng stands by what it says about the Cell Alpha, then it’s safe to say that this isn’t just a variation on the wireless speaker theme. This will be the only time I can touch or see words and stay within the rules.
“See the Word”
Image: Syng
Image: Syng
The speaker itself is a small part, and it is designed to work as if “there is no front or back, and no left or right.” Most of its interior is visible through its transparent plastic cabinet. In this case there is more than a touch of Apple iMac features about the Cell Alpha. Syng points out that Cell Alpha can produce a deep, wide sound in any position, even when it’s inside, and so far has a wide range of speakers.
On top of the broken top and bottom of the almost-section there are flat panels, with enough power 165-mm carbon-fiber woofers that work very low. Syng counts Cell Alpha can reach up to 30 Hz. Because the speaker is made to stand on a pole or hang from the ceiling, the floor fur (when the speaker is upright) has a hole to close the pole, and a second round to allow uninterrupted movement.
Across the cabinet’s 300-mm diameter is what Syng calls a “triple” design. It is a rotating array of three coaxial drivers, each horn loaded and placed at 120 degrees from the next. With a 19-mm soft-dome tweeter on the neck of a 76-mm inverted-dome midrange driver, the coaxial drivers deal with the midrange and high-frequency range. And it is their careful installation, in conjunction with the “triphonic audio” digital sound system, that Cell Alpha aims to provide an image of the sound source from any point of contact. Each of the eight drivers uses a Class D amplifier block.
Collecting Cell Alpha is not difficult. You will also specify the type of support you need – the test is carried out using a three-stage antenna that raises the speaker up to 122 cm, but you can also choose a table stand or a ceiling mount – and then everything fits perfectly. The stand also includes a control ring, where you can adjust the volume and pause playback.
Resetting is no longer difficult. Just download the Syng Space app from the Apple Store (an Android version was promised at some point), place your speaker where you want it, and let the app do its little room control. Then, Cell Alpha is ready to provide all the words to you no matter where you are in relation to them. That’s the idea, anyway.
Setup and Syng
It’s a sleek and compact management program, Syng Spaces, but it can be kindly described as “abbreviated.” Once the setup is complete, you are given the opportunity to stream from Spotify Connect or Apple AirPlay 2. The Cell Alpha uses Bluetooth to only connect to your local network, but after Bluetooth stops being an option. No problem for the Apple-centric among us, instead it’s hard for those (and they are warriors) who prefer Android.
There are two USB-C inputs on the speaker, so connecting other devices is not difficult (as long as you have the necessary connection cables and adapters, of course). Syng sells a “Syng Link” that you can use to connect an eARC-enabled HDMI socket to one of Cell Alpha’s USB-C sockets and bring your TV into speaker mode. This seems strong to me, depending on how much you use to talk about it in the beginning. Strings can be hidden, like the main power of Alpha, inside the tree on which it stands.
