On the ever-growing list of best-sounding wireless speakers for the home, Devialet’s Phantom speakers rank near the top. They’re also, in my eyes, one of the coolest-looking speakers (although, they’re anything but discreet). To date, Devialet has made Phantom speakers – the Gold Phantom ($1,690), the Silver Phantom ($2,390) and the Phantom Elevate ($1,690). All share the same design and are the same size, but have just varied in power and sound quality. They aren’t for everybody, as even most entry-level Phantom, the Elevate, is still really loud and pretty darn expensive.

That’s changing, however, as the French audio company has just announced another Phantom speaker, the Phantom Reactor, which is smaller, less powerful and (most importantly) cheaper than Devialet’s previous speakers. You can get a Phantom Reactor speaker for less than $1,000.

The Phantom Reactor is four times smaller than Devialet’s other Phantom speakers, making it a little bit bigger than a UE MegaBoom or a Sonos Play:5 – it’s pretty small. Yet it works the same as the larger Phantoms. It still has two huge woofers that pulsate in perfect symmetry to pump bass in evenly throughout a room. And yes, it looks crazy. The Reactor has one full-range driver, which is an admitted compromise to the one midrange driver and one tweeter in the larger Phantoms; basically, it won’t achieve quite the same levels of separation (overall audio quality) of Devialet’s larger and higher-end speakers, but you can expect its sound quality to still be crazy good and very loud. Devialet is advertising it as “the ultimate sound experience in a smaller package.”

Devialet is technically releasing two new speakers, as the Reactor will be available in two models that differ in power and price. There’s Phantom Reactor 600 (with up to 600-watts and 95 dB) and the Phantom Reactor 900 (with up to 900-watts and 98 dB). The Reactor 600 costs $999 and the Phantom Reactor 900 costs $1,299. Other than that, the two speakers look and work identically. Also, unlike the larger Phantoms, the Reactor will have an analog jack.

The fact that Devialet is going smaller feels like the smart and obvious move. Its Phantom speaker is a “grail” item for a lot of audiophiles and people who are just into cool speakers, but the “larger” models – which Devialet is now calling its “Premier” line – were still way too expensive for most people to buy. They are also large and very powerful, and not very practical for small rooms.

The Phantom Reactor still costs $999, which isn’t cheap for a speaker. But for anybody who has been lusting for a great wi-fi speaker and a great statement piece for their home – this thing is an attention grabber – you can get this small Devialet Phantom for about as much as a new iPhone.

You can pre-order the Phantom Reactor on Devialet’s website or Amazon on October 9 (today), with them shipping a few weeks afterward.

Key specs

Power: 600 or 900 watts (peak)
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.0005%
Frequency Range: 18Hz to 21kHz
Sound Pressure Level: 95 or 98 dB SPL
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Apple Airplay, Wi-Fi, Spotify Connect
Weight: roughly 10 pounds