Back in the late 90s, well-respected loudspeaker designer Cary Christie filed a patent for a "speaker light unit connected to [a] conventional electrical light socket." Seven years later, Kadence Designs referenced that patent when filing one for a similar-sounding product. In January 2010, Klipsch announced that product, the LightSpeaker, as "the first product of its kind to combine efficient LED lighting and wireless ambient sound into a single unit that installs like a light bulb." Although it was first to market and went on to win an award at the Consumer Electronics Show, less than two years later the whole LightSpeaker line is listed as discontinued on Klipsch's site. In the meantime, Artison -- which Christie founded in 2003 -- partnered with lighting company Osram Sylvania to create and recently release MusicLites, in some ways a 'newer' and improved take on the speaker-light.
Equivalent to a 65-watt reflector bulb, 10-watt MusicLites produce 500 lumens for an estimated 25,000 hours under "normal use." They contain a 70mm high-fidelity speaker with a frequency response between 50 Hz and 20 kHz, 25W of RMS power and up to 96 dB of output. Although they pump out good sound for their size, they're mainly meant to add ambient audio, rather than be primary speakers.
Installation is pretty simple: Screw the bulb into any standard light socket (including four-, five- or six-inch recessed lighting cannisters) and turn it on; plug a transmitter into the audio source (via USB, Apple 30-pin dock connector, 3.5mm mini jack or Toslink digital optical input); wait a few seconds for the two to automatically pair on the 2.4GHz wireless bandwidth, then press play and enjoy the tunes.
The handy remote can gradually dim the lights down to 10 percent. It also controls the audio of up to three different sources simultaneously playing throughout a system of five zones each containing twelve MusicLites. That's 60 light bulbs in all -- 61, if you count the one that appeared over your head when you pictured all the places you could put these.
Credit: MusicLites
Equivalent to a 65-watt reflector bulb, 10-watt MusicLites produce 500 lumens for an estimated 25,000 hours under "normal use." They contain a 70mm high-fidelity speaker with a frequency response between 50 Hz and 20 kHz, 25W of RMS power and up to 96 dB of output. Although they pump out good sound for their size, they're mainly meant to add ambient audio, rather than be primary speakers.
Installation is pretty simple: Screw the bulb into any standard light socket (including four-, five- or six-inch recessed lighting cannisters) and turn it on; plug a transmitter into the audio source (via USB, Apple 30-pin dock connector, 3.5mm mini jack or Toslink digital optical input); wait a few seconds for the two to automatically pair on the 2.4GHz wireless bandwidth, then press play and enjoy the tunes.
The handy remote can gradually dim the lights down to 10 percent. It also controls the audio of up to three different sources simultaneously playing throughout a system of five zones each containing twelve MusicLites. That's 60 light bulbs in all -- 61, if you count the one that appeared over your head when you pictured all the places you could put these.
Credit: MusicLites
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