Magic Speaker vibe: when form follows function

When form follows function

A conventional speaker hides its drivers behind a grille and turns its cabinet into a decorative object. Here, the part producing the sound is the part you see, and the form follows directly from the operating principle.

What that imposes on the design

The active surface cannot be covered, drilled or constrained at its edges. The design must therefore compose around an element whose geometry is fixed by acoustics, and not the other way round.

Wood as a visible material

It is there for mechanical reasons, and it happens to be pleasant to look at. That coincidence is rare: most often, the appearance of a technical product is added to the working rather than derived from it.

What design does not mean here

A styled shell around any old mechanism. An object whose form serves its function is recognised by the fact that none of its lines could be changed without an audible consequence.

The object in an interior

A source meant to stay in view shares the room with the furniture. It sits on a clear surface, away from walls and corners, and that acoustic requirement coincides with a rule of interior composition.

What remains changeable

The colour, the base and the surrounding elements. Everything that plays no part in the vibration can be customised, and that boundary is stated clearly rather than discovered at the order.

The principle is developed on the Magic Speaker page, and ceiling sound on the dedicated page.