La Boite concept LX: a modern version of the music console
The designer and musician Clément Hellégouarch, hired by French company La Boite concept to create the LX, apparently drew inspiration from the early 70s radio.
First of all, the novelty is a piece of furniture made by hand from wood grown in the Basque Country. Under the all-in-one concept, it combines a turntable, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi with Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast, cabled digital and analogue inputs, and acoustics.
The LX’s 315W class D amplifiers drive the five built-in speakers. These include a downward-firing cellulose cone subwoofer with bass reflex tube, a pair of mid-range drivers with aluminum-fiberglass cones in the front end of the cabinet, and TWZ tweeters using the patented Wide Sound 3 technology.
The tweeters are housed in recesses in the rear of the cabinet. Waveguides with convex deflectors give them an expanded surround sound. The Wide Sound system was developed by the Cagniard family, owners of the La Boite concept, 40 years ago.
Outwardly, the novelty resembles a designer writing desk. The design made it possible to hide the connection cables, and the controls on the top panel are hidden under the hatch. You can also find a headphone output here.
In the LX Platine version, the novelty is complemented by an Elipson turntable. An anti-vibration panel with shock absorbers is provided for its installation. The turntable is equipped with a carbon arm with an Ortofon Stylus 10 cartridge.
In this case, the Wolfson DAC installed in the LX is supplemented with a phono preamp module. In both versions, the LX system is available in oak and walnut veneer.
In the US, the La Boite concept LX costs $3,520 and the LX Platine costs $4,390.
