The man behind one of last year’s most intriguing audio systems shares the inspiration, design choices and aesthetics that led to his award-winning ceramic speakers.
After capturing the admiration of tea drinkers with his futuristic Sorapot – which looks a bit like a cryogenic tube for steeping tea – budding industrial designer Joey Roth has turned his attention to consumer electronics with a pair of elegantly simple ceramic speakers. And they’re just as off-the-wall. We sat down with Roth on a recent trip through Portland to hear his speakers for ourselves – and a little bit of the thinking that went into them.
Roth explains how the speaker started with a quest to build simple, desktop-sized speakers designed to mate perfectly with a computer, as well as how audiophile forums and a preference for simple materials – such as ceramic, cork and birch – helped shape the final product.
Although Roth’s expertise as an industrial designer led him to pay special attention to aesthetics, sound quality never took a back seat in the design process. Roth gives us a glimpse at some of the electronic decisions that went into building his speakers, from the use of a Tripath amp and Tannoy drivers to the choice to omit a crossover for the absolute simplest electrical path from computer to speaker.
The consumer electronics world hasn’t seen the last of Roth, either. The tech-attuned designer leaves us with a few hints at upcoming designs still on his drawing board.
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