Start
a party anywhere.
If
you thought the City of York was just a place with a massive
cathedral and lots of people dressed up as Vikings, you'd be well
off, son. As well as being home to this very website, York has also
nurtured a tech company that we're getting increasingly excited
about. After producing some unique bone-conducting headphones, it
seems that Damson has been toiling in their workshop to produce the
fun Cisor Bluetooth Diffusion Speaker.
From
the outside you'd be forgiven for thinking the Cisor Bluetooth
Diffusion Speaker is just another pocket-sized Bluetooth speaker.
Although it does indeed fit in your pocket, and although it does
connect with Bluetooth, you can't really call the Cisor a speaker in
itself. You see, this little bit of musical tech doesn't feature a
cone – the part of a speaker needed to amplify the vibrations into
actual sound. No... you provide that yourself.
Charge
it up via the USB C port, twist it to turn it on, then connect your
phone via Bluetooth. To actually play a track (or rather to hear it)
you need to place the flat rubberised end of the Cisor on a surface,
any surface. The Diffusion technology means that the vibrations
caused by the speaker are amplified by whatever you have place it on,
so different things and materials will produce slightly different
sounds.
Case
in point: the first time we tried it we placed it on a pretty
ordinary wooden table. The 10 Watt driver managed to pump out a sound
through the table that was loud enough to fill the room, but a bit
heavy on bass and rough on vocals. Then we held it against the
window, pressing the contact on the Cisor up against the glass. This
time the same track sounded lighter and clearer, but not as loud.
Next
up we stuck it on the bonnet of a car. That's when we found our
sound. The large and hallow metal surface created a resonating and
powerful sound, with highs that were very clear and the volume itself
was enough to get strange looks from passers-by. Awesome. Then we put
it on the front lawn and that didn't work at all.
Playing
about with the Cisor Bluetooth Diffusion Speaker was fun, but one
thing we realised quite late in the day was that wherever we placed
it (with the exception of wet grass) we got a sound far better than a
Bluetooth speaker of this size – and price – normally produces.
We mean, come on – this thing is only 7cm tall!
As
well as Bluetooth, you also have the option to connect via a 3.5mm
aux-in, just in case you want to hook up something a little more old
school. Also, that built-in battery will provide up to six hours of
continuous playback, so once you find that sweet surface to place it
on, you can leave it going all night.
We
love the tough aluminium body, the tiny size, and the sheer amount of
fun you'll have playing around with it on different surfaces. Just as
with the Headbones, Damson are continuing to experiment with what
musical devices like speakers and headphones actually are, and with
the Cisor they've built something genuinely remarkable.
£49.99
Visit
damsonaudio.com
