Pantheone Audio Aspires to Make Audio a Statement of Art

Pantheone Audio’s initiatory offering within the wireless audio speaker category arrives with classical aesthetic aspirations, an eye-catching Australian effort that has already won itself a 2020 Red Dot design award for its interior decor expression of technology.

Unlike other smaller and less conspicuous wireless speakers, the Pantheone I’s immersive 360-degree audio performance demands attention, front and center. The design is somewhat reminiscent of another luxe standalone audio speaker, the Devialet Gold Phantom. But while Devialet’s sleek ultramodern speaker sits horizontally at an angle, the Panetheone I’s open hole, fully upright design offers more classical proportions, more sculptural than blatantly technological – one openly inspired by the Parthenon’s oculus. That open air design is attributed to enhance acoustics, with the additional benefit of serving up a sculptural presence.

“Instead of looking like a traditional sound system or speaker that clashes with other home décor, Pantheone I combines art with music by boasting minimalist, sleek design that can fit into any space while still providing quality sound,” says Oren Adani, the founder and CEO, who diverged from studying architecture before founding Pantheone Audio.

The luxe classicist architectural approach is no surprise considering the Pantheone’s in-house design team was spearheaded by Anne-Claire Bottos, Pantheone Audio Creative Director, whose CV reads like a who’s who of premium fashion houses, including LVMH, Cartier, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gautier, and Givenchy. According to Bottos, the Pantheone I’s sculptural highly polished high-density resin form required four years of research and development before eventually earning itself a 2020 Red Dot design award.

It’s not all just about good looks, with a pair of 165mm bass drivers, two 100mm midrange drivers and four 19mm silk-dome tweeters each powered by two 130-watt Class-D amplifiers for the low frequency section, and two 70-watt modules to fill in high frequencies. Amazon Alexa voice features complements the speaker’s dedicated app controls. Most playback and streaming standards are supported, including Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Airplay, Tidal, TuneIn, DLNA, APE, FLAC, WAV, Apple Lossless Audio format (ALAC), AAC, AAC-LC, HE- AAC, HE-AAC v2, MP3.

Touch controls are available across the top of the speaker, but Pantheone I’s app and voice operated options are more apt to be used once the speaker is situated into place.

At $2,190, the Partheone I falls in the same category as other premium aesthetically crafted brands such as Bang & Olufsen, and and is now available at pantheoneaudio.com.