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The DUO Turntable Is Designed for Modular Portability

10.04.18 | By
The DUO Turntable Is Designed for Modular Portability

Imagine the offsprings of a vintage 60s turntable with the Bluetooth-enabled Jawbone Jambox (RIP) – and maybe a little bit of that Fisher-Price toy thrown in for good measure – and you’ve got the makings of this playful and quirky portable sound system design called the DUO.

HYM Seed Audio already makes a larger and more modern all-in-one turntable system called the SEED. But while that system takes on a more Bose design style with larger two 1″ tweeter and two 4″ woofer approach to sound, the DUO is a much smaller proposition combining a turntable with a detachable Bluetooth speaker in just 1.8 lbs and rated for 10 hours of playback per charge.

The DUO’s toy-like design belies the fact that the turntable comes equipped with an Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge, a surprisingly legitimate record needle cartridge for the system. Perhaps even more surprising is the addition of built-in Amazon Alexa functionality for hands-off functions while connecting to an audio source streaming via Bluetooth (the turntable still requires manual operation).

The system is powered by a Qualcomm CSR8670 chip and allows wireless connection aptX Bluetooth protocol for lossless sound out of 2 full-range drivers and 2 low-frequency passive radiators. The DUO can be put into stereo mode when two DUO speakers are connected to the turntable for a fuller sound.

Unveiled at CES Asia 2018 in orange, neon yellow, and jet black, the colorful DUO system launches as a Kickstarter for $229, before eventually expanding availability after its December 2018 shipping date for a retail of $369.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.