Product Listing

The Yamaha Relit LSX-70: Adding ambiance to your lighting

By Marcus Wong - 25 Feb 2015
Launch SRP: S$399

Introduction

Meet Yamaha's lighting audio system

Yamaha’s Relit LSX-70 is part of what it calls "lighting audio systems", and it represents quite an interesting proposition: a table lamp that also works as a wireless speaker, projecting audio 360-degrees across the room. The lamp itself (or rather, lighting system) is very elegantly designed, and rather than bathing part of your table with light, projects soft mood lighting that perhaps, serve as a clue as to what type of music they would play best. As the website states: "The concept of the LSX-70 is to create a pleasant and calming atmosphere wherever you happen to be."

This cone helps to disperse sound in all directions.

So, it would seem a little misplaced to judge the LSX-70 as simply a portable wireless speaker (as we normally would), but rather as a lifestyle product that for now at least, is unique in its offerings. Four adjustable LED lights allow you to adjust the brightness of the lamp, while the reflector top also doubles up as a reflector for audio. Essentially, audio gets projected up towards the reflector, and then sent all around thanks to the conical design.

The DTA controller has a drawer-style interface to let you switch between controlling the light and the speaker,

Swiping to the right on the app gets you the music player.

Built with wireless convenience in mind, the LSX-70 supports Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR (A2DP), SBC, AAC and aptX for better handling of audio streaming, which means you should be able to enjoy at least CD-quality streaming audio if your playback device supports aptX too. The LSX-70 also handily supports Apple Airplay, so you’re not limited to just the DTA controller app for control over playback.

Though it’s not specifically listed as being able to do so, the LSX-70 will support playback of High Resolution audio (HRA), as we were able to stream over files in both FLAC and ALAC formats at 192kHz sampling rates, so that should be welcome news for audiophiles.

A bare minimum of controls run down the back of the LSX-70.

Long and slim, the LSX-70 has only two sets of buttons down the rear, with two ports - one for the power supply, and another for a standard 3.5mm audio jack. On the left you get the power button for the speaker portion, as well as basic volume controls, while the row of buttons down the right allow you to turn the light on and off, as well as to adjust its brightness. This is all wrapped in a lush leather band across the bottom, making a nice finish that’s also extremely easy to grip.

While it may seem a little unintuitive to have an extra power button just for the speaker itself, this allows you to activate the speaker without turning on the light. Turning on either the speaker or the light activates the Bluetooth connection, which will let you control both lamp and speaker functions via Yamaha’s DTA controller app (available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play). Conversely, turning off both functions on the app gives you a notification that the speaker itself will shut off (along with the Bluetooth connection), after which you’ll have to manually switch the LSX-70 on again.

The alarm function works by specifying a start and stop time by which a track from your music library will be played.

It’s quite a convenient approach to handling the operations of this lamp/speaker, as it means you won’t have to walk over in the dark to switch the lamp off. Turning it off completely also keeps the battery from draining unnecessarily through the night by staying in some form of stand-by mode, though if you want to make use of the alarm function, you’ll have to leave both the Bluetooth connection and speaker mode active as the LSX-70 will then get updates on time from your smartphone. The "alarm" in this case, is a selected track from your iPhone’s music library, and you basically set the times by which the alarm (and/or light) goes on and off respectively.

The unit itself is light enough to carry with single-handed at just 0.95kg, which should allow for more placement options, though the 8-hour battery life means you will still need to locate the lamp near a wall socket for recharging at least a few times a week assuming you use it on a daily basis. 

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8.0
  • Design 9
  • Performance 7.5
  • Features 7.5
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Very nice design
Easy to use app makes control easy
The Bad
Audio is a little tinny due to lack of bass
Volume is a little low on Bluetooth connectivity
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