The design team from Ergonomidesign, John Grieves, Jonas Dolk and Erik Wahlin, have developed the extreme design behind Gramophone, the new eye-catching speaker from the manufacturer Aesthesis. It is a highly exclusive Hi-Fi loudspeaker, 1.2 metres high and handmade in Sweden of carbon fibre and stainless steel. Ergonomidesign has profound experience working with carbon fibre in earlier project, in particular while designing the super sports car for Koenigsegg. The speakers will only be made in a numbered, limited series of a hundred pairs. The brief was to bring more intriguing, avant-garde and sensual products to the market without compromising with sound or picture quality.
The exceptionally high requirements on finish and tolerance demanded that everything from making of the parts to coating and assembling was handmade. The intricate shape and characteristics of Gramophone, which in its turn are a prerequisite for the performance of Gramophone, have required the best talent there are in their respective areas. The attention to detail has been immaculate - from the overall sound quality right down to each and every component. Industrial Designer Jonas Dolk explains the thought behind the design:
"When we met with Björn Gunnarsson, the CEO of Aesthesis, he explained his vision to create a pair of extra-ordinary speakers that looked like an old gramophone. But at the same time we needed to add a modern touch to this classic form. Our goal was to find an esthetical and functional balance, to give the speakers the right expression and sensation. We gave it a retro feeling, at the same time as it is very innovative and modern in its appearance and performance."
The result, Gramophone, integrates several sound improving features in one gorgeous design, the perfect mix between the old fashioned and the contemporary. It's a design that also plays a central role for the sound characteristics of Gramophone. At the heart of the design is a full range coaxial driver in order to reproduce the whole frequency range from a point source and minimize phase differences. The very specifically curved horn in which the coaxial driver is placed amplifies the higher frequencies and the open cabinet amplifies the lower frequencies mechanically. These features of the cabinet makes it possible to create a more powerful sound without distortion than would otherwise be possible. Finally, echoes are damped very effectively by the way the cabinet narrows.