With the purchase of a yacht or superyacht you often have built-in sound systems covering many of the rooms and cabins on board. They are usually designed and installed for specific use at sea, with insulated cabling and specific electronics to power the speakers that have been made hardy to an increase in salt in the atmosphere. The integrated speakers will no doubt be made of a composite material rather than paper or any other material that would perish whilst at sea. Sadly all of these extra precautions often inhibit the sound quality available from such installations. You may also find that installing speakers in to the ceiling and wall cavities of the yacht will ultimately limit the sonic performance of the solution. With this in mind, usually these installations are incredible for background music, often enabling the ultimate convenience of being able to bluetooth music from your smartphone or stream a plethora of music from the internet.
Usually on the yacht there will be a dedicated Audio/Visual room where your kick back and relax HiFi system would reside. Maybe a complete NAIM system with Focal speakers or a more grandiose offering from Dan D’Agostino and a pair of Wilson Audio Loudspeakers. These luxurious systems would be found in homes across the globe and provide unprecedented levels of detail and sonic prowess. They are truly startling in their reproduction of music that they would blow you away when sitting in front of them. ….However, often that is the problem. Finding the time to physically sit in front of a HiFi system on the lower deck of your Yacht just never seems to arise.
Many Yacht owners love the idea of a dedicated ultra high-end audio system, however the practicality of actually sitting and listening to it is another story. It’s much easier to sit and watch a film, either on your own or a congregation of friends and family.
This is why an ultra high-end “portable” solution can be the perfect addition to your Yacht. I’m not talking about the most expensive Bose or Beats headphones on the market running bluetooth music from your smartphone. I am suggesting a portable equivalent to the NAIM and Focal or even the Dan D’Agostino system. The biggest benefit to any of these solutions is that it is portable. You may want to be listening in your cabin, or outside on one of the decks enjoying the weather. Take it down to your office or enjoy it on your shadow or jet, I think you get the idea.
There are a trove of systems to chose from that provide an incomprehensible music experience from such a small form factor that should completely blow you away. Just like the NAIM + Focal system you would need the braun to power the headphones or earphones. These portable players, like the stunning Cayin N6ii, give you the ability to store countless hours of your favourite music on the device itself, enabling you to listen to music without the requirement of an internet connection. The battery provides around 13hrs of playback on one charge and offers the best value experience. If however you prefer the Dan D’Agostino route, then Astell & Kern produce the beautifully exquisite SP2000 player, a substantial upgrade over the Cayin and it’s stainless steel or copper enclose exudes quality. To match the copper player, oBravo Audio make a copper earphone called the Ra C Cu with patented driver technology that delivers, in my opinion, the ultimate earphone experience. There are numerous, high-end earphones available from the likes of Vision Ears or InEar that offer astonishing musical reproduction and incredible comfort to keep you listening for many hours.
If earphones are not really something that you would consider, then full-sized headphones offer an excellent alternative, although sadly they do not provide the same portability as earphones and open back headphones will enable everyone around you to also hear the music you are listening to. With products such as the HiFiMan Arya, Focal Utopia, Audeze LCD4z or even the oBravo HAMT3II able to provide and insanely immersive experience, it enables you to have plenty of options between using either earphones or headphones.
We are finding more and more clients are opting for ultra high-end portable audio solutions as it is fitting their daily requirements much greater than any other solution. With technology now able to deliver such immersive, involving and emotional music on-the-go, in a much smaller form factor, it makes sense to include such a system to your music listening experiences.