In today’s fast-paced world, home should be a haven. Canon says the company “has imbued years of technological expertise into this new product to ensure it is a valuable addition to any space, big or small. Available in both black and silver, the Light & Speaker ML-A features a sleek and elegant design, meticulously crafted with premium materials and without visible screws. Its aluminium body, with timeless silhouette, ensures it visually enhances any space, even when switched off.”
Featuring 360-degree audio, the speaker delivers, Canon claims, “crystal-clear sound even at lower volumes, thanks to its full-range speaker and passive radiator – meaning it is perfect for playing music in the background whilst practicing hobbies, focusing on work or relaxing after a long day. With built-in Bluetooth connectivity, users can effortlessly stream from their mobile devices and computers, creating a rich and immersive auditory experience.”
Although it’s not designed as a portable lighting system to be used in photography or video, the ML-A speaker lamp, with its integrated battery, which charges via USB-C and delivers up to eight hours of light – or five hours of music playback or three hours of both – can be used in a tabletop studio setup. It has two settings: Warm (3,450K) and Cool (6,450K), and three levels: 25lm, 200lm, 300lm. The fact that you can keep using the ML-A while it charges for no downtime makes it even more interesting. And it gives you a loudspeaker to listen to music while working.
Key specifications:
• Speaker: 50mm driver and passive radiator
• Amplifier: Class-D Digital Amplifier with 10W max output
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 (A2DP)
• Light source: LED lamp with 30,000-hour lifespan
• Three brightness levels: 25 lumens, 200 lumens and 300 lumens
• Colour temperature: 3,450k (warm setting); 6,450K (white setting)
• Interface: USB Type-C (charging only)
• Battery capacity: 2,600mAh
• Battery charging time: 3 hours (approx.)
• Battery life: 8 hours lighting; 5 hours music playback; 3 hours lighting and music together (approx.)2
• Dimensions: 122mm (diameter) x 310mm (height) (approx.)
• Weight: 1.6kg (approx.)
Canon Audio: an adventure in the 1980s
Contrary to what many may believe, this is not Canon’s first foray into the loudspeaker business. In fact, in the 1980’s the company introduced a series of surround loudspeakers made in UK, some of them – the S75 – with a design that is like the one used for the Light & Speaker ML-A. The short lived Canon Audio introduced its own family of loudspeakers with what the company called Wide Imaging Stereo (WIS). I remember this well because I wrote about the new product for the newspaper I worked for at the time, and had the S-50 model for testing for a while when the loudspeakers were introduced. Later I would try other models, the S-30 and the V-series, until the demise of Canon Audio, in the mid 90s.
The Canon Audio story, with all the details, is available, for those interested, in the website Music and Miscellany, written by Phil Ward. It’s a five part story that is interesting to read and reveals how Canon’s stint in audio is nothing new. I share here a link to the first part of the article.