Sure, some soundbars feature exotic materials like hand-matched wood panels and extruded aluminum, but nothing even comes close to the very limited edition Porsche Design (PD) 911 Soundbar 2.0 Pro, which, I kid you not, features a real exhaust system from one of Porsche’s more capable sports cars, the 992 GT3.
Only 500 of these outrageous speakers will ever be made, so if there’s a hard-to-buy-for Porsche fanatic in your life, and you love them enough to drop $12,000 on a gift, this might solidify your place in their hearts for years to come. Despite its highly unusual design, it’s not the first exhaust-based soundbar from PD. If you like the concept, you can still buy the expensive, but far more affordable 911 Soundbar Speaker for $3,500 (hat-tip to Twitter user @smokyburnout).
If the sheer design audacity of this thing isn’t enough to get your motor running, maybe its other specifications will. Under the hood (which might be the first time that expression is actually pertinent to a speaker) you’ll find a 300-watt sound system that uses a virtual 2.1.2-channel configuration. PD hasn’t indicated what kind of drivers are lurking under that stunning car part, but the speaker is compatible with both Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD.
There are 4K-compatible HDMI inputs — but no word on whether they also passthrough Dolby Vision, HDR10, or HDR10+ — and the speaker is also Wi-Fi connected with support for Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, and Spotify Connect. Bluetooth 5.0 is also available. PD also says the speaker can be included in a multiroom sound setup, but we don’t know if that will be controlled by a dedicated app, or simply through Google Home and Apple HomeKit.
The 911 Soundbar 2.0 Pro can be wall-mounted, which is clearly the preferred way to show off this crazy piece of automotive/audio artwork, but keep in mind, it weighs a hefty 65 kg (143 pounds), so choose your location and mounting hardware accordingly. It can also be table-mounted using an included stand.
The question remains: does that iconic dual-tipped exhaust help this speaker sound any better than it might if it lacked such a crazy add-on? Or perhaps the more relevant question, given who PD is clearly targeting with this creation: do you even care?
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