Libratone Live

The growing number of speakers armed with AirPlay, Apple's Wi-Fi-based audio streaming feature, share a mildly disturbing lack of variety in the design department. Most feature black cloth and metallic accents, like the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air ($599.95, 4 stars), and have very few buttons. While the extremely expensive Libratone Live (starts at $699.95 direct) is possibly the most button-deprived of the bunch, it brings variety in the form of an Italian cashmere wool speaker grille offered in five different colors. There's some minor distortion on deep bass tracks at top volumes, but the system offers generally high-quality audio performance. With no remote and almost no onboard controls, however, make no mistake: design is the first and foremost priority here.

Design
The vertical, cashmere wool-laden exterior of the Libratone Live ?comes in black (of course), beige, or gray for $699.95, or 'blood orange' or 'lime green' for $799.95. Some will say that the cloth and chrome monolith is stunning. Some will say it looks like a cat-scratching post. I like the way the Libratone Live looks, but wonder why it has a handle if it isn't really designed to be portable?it has no rechargeable battery to play off of. The lack of a remote doesn't bother me?your streaming iOS device acts as its own remote?but the lack of any real controls other than a power switch on the rear lower panel is annoying. All standard controls?from volume and muting to track navigation?are nowhere to be found on the speaker and must be controlled on your iOS device.

The only button, aside from Power, is adorned with the Libratone logo?a bird silhouette?and situated on the front panel of the speaker. It's used to establish a connection with Wi-Fi networks. There's a 3.5mm aux input just above the power switch, but no 3.5mm cable is provided, which is a weird omission for this price range. The power cable looks cool though?a cloth cable cover makes it seem more like part of the design and less like something that needs to be tucked away and hidden.

Getting set up with your Wi-Fi network is a short process, and a quick start guide walks you through it. Basically, you press the button with the bird logo on it and wait for it to blink yellow, then search for the speaker to show up as an option on your device's list of available Wi-Fi networks, and the rest is simple.

The range of Airplay tends to be around 30-45 feet, and within this range we had no drop-out issues at all while streaming. Beyond this range, the drop out can happen rather quickly, but this is true of most Airplay options.

Performance
Delivering a combined output of 150 watts, the Libratone Live's dual 25-watt tweeters and midrange drivers work seamlessly with the 50-watt bass driver within the wooden, cashmere-covered housing. Audiophiles won't be thrilled by the audible use of digital signal processing, which kicks in at higher volumes to help prevent or limit distortion.

Despite delivering a beautiful, clear midrange with articulate, resonant bass on a song with challenging low frequency content, like the Knife's "Silent Shout," the Live and its signal processing can't quite keep the distortion away at top volume. If you don't listen to songs with really deep bass, or you do, but don't really blast your music, you should be in good shape. Electronic music and hip-hop lovers, however, are hereby warned that at maximum volume, you may encounter some distortion. And, it should be noted that, maximum volume, while quite loud, is not ear-splittingly intolerable, particularly in a larger setting, so this is a real possibility.

Bill Callahan's stoic baritone on Apocalypse sounds excellent?through the Libratone Live?a nice deep resonance paired with crystal clear highs. The guitar work and percussion on that record also stand out for their overall clarity, as do the percussion and strings on John Adams' modern classical piece, "The Chairman Dances." The smooth low frequency response of the five-inch bass driver paired with clear mids and highs from the three-inch midrange drivers and one-inch ribbon-based tweeters really provides a sense of fullness to the piece?no section seems upstaged by another, the percussion and the strings get equal representation, which is not often the case, especially on systems that boost the bass response significantly.

The overall sonic performance of the Libratone Live is quite pleasing, just not at top volume, where signal processing and occasional distortion mar the clarity of the mix. If you're looking for a design piece that happens to output high quality audio, you have a few options in the AirPlay realm. The most obvious is the aforementioned Zeppelin Air , but another is the sonically superb Klipsch Gallery G-17 Air ($549.99, 4 stars). Both of those systems, as well as the Libratone Live, will definitely add a bit of sleek design flourish to any room.

If it's really just wireless audio you crave, and the visual design is less of a priority, our current Editors' Choice is the Bluetooth-based JBL OnBeat Xtreme ($499.95, 4.5 stars). At a lower (but still high) price, it keeps up with the best of the AirPlay crop, and Bluetooth tends to offer a slightly more reliable, less interrupted stream than AirPlay. If AirPlay really is a must, but your budget doesn't allow for the Libratone Live or its top-of-the-line competitors, the Audyssey Audio Dock Air ($399.99, 3.5 stars), while not perfect, offers reasonable quality at a far more affordable price.

Perhaps you're not an audiophile or even a devoted music lover. Perhaps you just want to be told that the Libratone Live, which you have fallen in love with visually, is worth its price before you plunk down $700. It's pretty hard to justify that price based on the audio performance alone, which is good, but not really in the $700-realm. But hey, you love the cashmere look, the audio is still very solid, and you have some money to spend?what's stopping you?

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