Most Unusual Product at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
The most unusual product I saw at the show was a near-field listening chair from a new company called i-Fi. The chair incorporates small minimonitors mounted on the chair, electronics to drive them, a subwoofer, and a built-in iPod dock on one arm of the chair. The chair itself is a motorized recliner in gorgeous Italian leather. The idea is that the chair provides private near-field listening from an iPod or any other source. A very subtle shaker is also mounted in the chair to simulate very low bass. All this might sound rather gimmicky, but the i-Fi chair was designed and built with audiophile values (the company founder owns Wilson Alexandria X-2s). I played my own CDs in the i-Fi chair and was shocked at the way in which the system produced a soundstage well out in front of the listening position, the smooth tonal balance, and the effectiveness of the shaker. I was even more shocked at the price: $3995, which includes a very nice leather recliner.
i-Fi Founder Jeffrey Ostler in his strange but wonderful creation.
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Comments
I have to second this one - I wanted to order two for my home after 5 minutes. The chair itself would cost one to two thousand depending on where you bought it. The best part was, while the person next to you blasted his hearing to bits, you were able to hear your chair perfect fine at a more reasonable level. 10 feet away, a normal conversation was possible. A less expensive version (saving thousand on the chair basically - not real leather, not moterized, ect) will be availble soon. Might just get one for the "study".
Jeff,
You are the man with the vision. I have sat in your chair several times. It is an experience of a lifetime. One cannot understand the quality of sound without actually sitting and listening to their own music in your chair. I cannot fully appriciate the quality of your product becuase I am not educated in high end electronics but from a laymans point of view I belive you have an outstanding product. I want 2 in my modest home. Well done!!
I have also experienced this chair. can I say WOW?! It was incredible. its 100 times better than going to the movies and 100 times better than any (and i mean any) sound system ive ever heard, im talkin 7.1 dts surround sound, all polk audio speakers and blu-ray movie, it blew that out of the water... I will own at least 6 before I die for my home theater.
First I would like to thank the staff at TAS for being kind enough to come and sit in our i-Fi chair at the show. I wanted to clarify a few items about the advantages of our nearfield listening system. First, the biggest factor in great audio is taken out of the equation:this being the room. The chair is a perfect vehicle to set up a triangulated listening position. The woofer always has the same relationship to the satellite speakers, thus, we can give the most even dispersion through the wholoe bandwidth. A transducer is placed in the chair and activated at 50hz and below. An 8" woofer handles all the signal from 120hz and below. The effect is the fastest, most coeherent and complete bass signal that you will ever experience. the satellite speaker are placed within 1 to 2 meters of the listeners ear. The midrange driver is only 4" and very fast. the sum effect is to use less cone excursion, giving greater dynamics with almost non-existant distortion. Many people commented that this is the best headphones in the world. It actually is much better than headphones because of the tactile response. I wanted first and foremost to offer listeners an experience in high fidelity but I also wanted to connect the listener to the music in a most intimate way. Not surprisingly, musicians are the first to have a strong reaction to the chair. This is because the audio system provides the connection that they feel with their instrument. So many systems in high end audio allow the listener to hear every last note and drop of a recording but fall flat in providing any resonance, dynamics, actual air pressure or kick that is so prevalent in real world acoutsics and sound. Anyway, the chair provides a rich and exhilarating experience that allows you to enter that audio nirvana stage (between sleep and wake) in about 60 seconds. Once, again thanks to all her heard and gave great comments and encouragement at the show. I have been very scared that the audiophile community would just take the chair as a gimmick and not see the actual audio qualities that it delivers.
Jeff Ostler
CEO i-Fi Company
Thanks for that explanation, Jeff. I agree that the chair is extremely involving musically, even from a brief listen.