For a few summer weeks in Finestrat, Costa Soniqa brought high-end electrostatic sound into the Orange Villa — offering visitors a glimpse of what the house might feel like once real life moves in.
The Silence of Show Houses
Show houses can be strangely quiet places.
Everything appears ready. The furniture is arranged, the cushions are behaving themselves and there may even be a carefully chosen fragrance in the air. There is a television in the living room, but it has never shown a film. Another may be hanging perfectly on the bedroom wall, equally undisturbed by actual use. Not even a soundbar has troubled the silence.
Visually, the home is ready to tell its story. It simply hasn’t made a sound yet.
Open the terrace doors and the silence may disappear — although on a new development there is always a reasonable chance that the neighbouring construction site has prepared the soundtrack.
And this becomes more interesting when the person walking through the door already knows what good sound is.
Many people looking for a second home on the Spanish coast are not starting their lives again from scratch. They bring their tastes, habits and passions with them. Music may already be an important part of their home — or even their professional life. Some have carefully chosen audio systems, some have dedicated rooms for listening or watching films, and for others music is something they work with every day. Moving closer to the Mediterranean does not mean leaving any of that behind.
“The sea view is a considerable advantage. It is not, however, a replacement for a good sound system.”
Then We Added the Part You Cannot Furnish
When Campana Garden gave Costa Soniqa the opportunity to do something different at the Orange Villa Show House in Finestrat, the idea was not to add some background music to the furniture. We wanted visitors to experience what serious audio could bring to the home.
For a few summer weeks, Costa Soniqa installed a pair of Prodigio Audio WR3 Alisca full-range electrostatic loudspeakers in the lower level of the villa, driven by a compact Marantz MODEL M1 — a deliberately simple setup that kept the attention where it belonged: on the music.
Prodigio Audio belongs to a rather particular corner of the audio world. The WR3 Alisca uses full-range electrostatic technology, with an extremely light membrane producing the sound instead of conventional dynamic drivers — one reason electrostatic loudspeakers can sound so immediate, natural and transparent.
The WR3 is one of Prodigio Audio’s more compact designs. Compact, in this context, remains a relative term: each loudspeaker stands more than 1.6 metres tall. These are not loudspeakers intended to provide polite background music. They are made for listening.
Audio at this level normally has to be sought out in specialist listening rooms, dealerships and international high-end audio exhibitions. For a few weeks in Finestrat, visitors only had to walk downstairs.
When Square Metres Become a Room
This was where the idea became tangible.
A generous basement in a contemporary villa is a curious thing. On a floor plan, it can be described very precisely in square metres, ceiling height and orientation. In practice, until someone decides what to do with it, it is often just a large, well-finished space waiting for an identity.
A gym, a bar, a games room or a second lounge are all possibilities, perhaps even a combination of several of them. And almost every one becomes more interesting when sound is considered as part of the room.
That might mean discreet integrated audio that is barely visible, or a system deliberately designed to become part of the interior architecture. The point is that good sound changes the way we experience a room.
With the support of Campana Garden Sales Manager Deniss Klimenko, part of the lower level became a temporary listening space. There is an important distinction here: this was not a purpose-built listening room. There was no dedicated acoustic treatment, and no architectural compromises had been made. It demonstrated the potential of the space.
And that is arguably more interesting in a show house.
What Sound Does to a Room
A good gym with bad sound is still a gym. It may simply be one in which twenty minutes feels surprisingly long.
A beautiful bar with harsh, exhausting sound presents a different problem. Most of us have been in one. At some point, almost without noticing why, people simply decide it is time to move on.
Sound can make us stay. It can also make us leave.
The same principle applies at home. Music can give energy to a gym, atmosphere to a bar, warmth to a lounge and focus to a study. For a property developer, this matters.
A show house is not only there to demonstrate architecture, materials and square metres. Its real task is to help prospective owners imagine living there. Quality sound can make that leap surprisingly easy.
The basement is no longer simply additional floor area. Someone begins to see their gym there. Someone else imagines a bar with music after dinner. A third person sees a sanctuary where they can finally listen to their record collection properly.
The square metres have not changed. What they mean to the visitor has.
A Little Less Imagination Required
The Prodigio Audio WR3 Alisca offered only a glimpse of what is possible in a properly designed listening environment. It did not require complicated explanations. The music did most of the work.
Perhaps the more interesting question is what happens when exceptional sound is considered from the beginning — alongside the architecture, the lighting, the views and the interior design.
The sea view was already there. We brought the soundtrack. Next time, we might design it in.
What Could Your Home Sound Like?
A dedicated listening room. A private cinema. Music in the gym, the bar or throughout the house. Integrated audio that disappears, or sculptural design that commands attention. Costa Soniqa brings the space, technology and exceptional sound together around the way you want to live.
