Challenger Technologies ventures into the high-end audio market with Musica Boutique.
The Cage houses a headphone- testing area.
Proving the cyclical nature of things, online retailers are increasingly also moving into brick and mortar spaces. Blogshop-turned-fast fashion sensation Love Bonito launched its physical flagship in 2017, while Internet grocer/delivery service Honestbee opened high-tech supermarket Habitat by Honestbee late last year. For local tech and hardware retailer Challenger, the reverse happened when it launched online marketplace Hachi.tech, after the closure of its 50,000 sq ft store when Funan Digitalife Mall shuttered back in 2016.
Now, the company’s going full circle with the opening of Musica Boutique, a high-end audio retail store that – like all previous online retailers that have ventured into physical spaces – champions product experience for customers.
The new premium audio concept by Challenger Technologies is situated in Ion Orchard, providing a great break from the shopping, and offering the rare chance for a horizontal listening across various luxe audio brands, from the usual suspects like Bang & Olufsen and Bose to more niche manufacturers including UK-based KEF, known for its multiple innovations in the field of point source driver technologies.
Visitors can readily test out the various systems set around the spacious 2,000 sq ft store, which even has an area decked out to resemble a living room for a taste of that electrophonic dream. Serious listeners can even choose to sample a system in the store’s soundproof room for a more acoustically conducive environment.
For those on the go, Musica Boutique also has a selection of highend earphones, portable players, and amplifiers from the likes of Astell & Kern, Beyerdynamic, and Chord Electronics – all of which are available to try in a space called The Cage.
POCKET FIDELITY
HYPNOS CALLING
SOUND AND VISION
What does one add to one’s 86-inch ultra-high definition television? Ostensibly, an audio system to complete the full cinematic experience. Unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, LG’s soundbar collection for 2019 is a collaboration with high fidelity audio experts Meridian. All three models, the SL10YG, SL9YG and SL8YG make use of Meridian’s proprietary technologies for improved sound staging, while at the same time supporting audio codecs like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The result is powerful, three dimensional surround sound that will put listeners – whether amid the cacophony of a war movie, or in the theatre with an orchestra – right in the thick of the action.
