If you've bought yourself a shiny new LG OLED TV, chances are you're now looking to boost your TV's sound system with an external speaker.
Normally, you'd have to make a choice between a soundbar or a pair of floor-standing stereo speakers to bring cinematic audio to your living room; however, the Canvas OLED speaker offers an entirely new option altogether, acting as a stand for your TV, while delivering a wide, Hi-Fi soundstage to accompany your favorite films and TV shows.
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Canvas Audio, the company behind the enormous speaker says that the Canvas OLED speaker is part of "an entirely new A/V product category we call Audiostand".
Coming in a range of luxe colors, the speaker stand sits beneath your TV, giving it a less intrusive look than a soundbar or stereo sound system.
Room-shaking sound
The brand says that the Canvas OLED speaker "delivers real 3D audio" and "offers true Hi-Fi with a stereo image of 10-12 feet from a product that’s 3.5 feet wide"
It should sound pretty powerful, using two long excursion 6" drivers and two ring radiator drivers, with non-resonant rear chambers as tweeters, which is designed to ensure "perfect audio fidelity". You can customize the speaker to match your room via an iOS app, which allows it to optimize its sound output depending on the shape of your living room.
The audiostand comes with a range of connectivity options, including AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Bluetooth, Toslink, and HDMI, so you can use it as a wireless speaker as well as a soundbar-alternative.
It's not the first time we've seen a soundbar/TV stand hybrid; the Sonos Playbase sits beneath your TV, acting as a base as well as a room-shaking speaker.
However, this is the first time we've seen a speaker specifically designed for LG OLED TVs, and based on the specs, the audio output is likely to be more powerful than Sonos' offering – Canvas Audio is entering a pretty niche market though, and we'd be interested to see whether it will be branching out to other OLED TV models in the future.
The speaker is still at the crowdfunding stage, so right you you can only reserve one via the Canvas Audio website; if you pay a $100 deposit now, you'll pay $999 (around £820 / AU$1470) for the 55" model and $1,099 (around $900 / AU$1600) for the 65" model.
