Audio Nouveau : a treat for the ears and the eyes.

I was just informed by Keith Brandman of Audio Nouveau that one of one of the most crucial components which sets him aside from the rest of the speaker business is that he has a very high WAF ; the highest in the industry to be precise.  WAF, for those who have never heard the term, stands for Wife Acceptance Factor.  I definitely let out a chuckle when I heard this, but the more I looked into Keith’s business and what he was all about, it made complete sense to me and is no wonder WHY his creations are pleasing to both males and females alike.

The Art Deco Design Speakers by Audio Nouveau at CustomMade.com were developed after many trips over the Golden Gate Bridge. The legs are the same shape as the bridge towers and are made from ebonized mahogany. All the trim is made from one special mahogany tree. The top, which is highly polished Corian, allows the speaker to be used for a variety of applications.

Sound quality is probably the number one concern for any guy going in to purchase a set of speakers.  With Keith, you can’t go wrong. Keith has been in audio since 1968, and a woodworker since 1971 giving him over 20 years of custom speaker building experience. He started working with high end audio stores building expensive home theaters, but soon in addition to building speakers, started building cabinets, placing him among the very few who are experts at both aspects of the trade.  3 years of acoustic design and research taught him how to shape and size the chambers in the wood, the volume of air inside the cabinet, what thickness of what kind of wood in which area of the cabinet would give him optimal sound, etc.  A lot more goes into building an acoustically sound speaker box than most realize, having been a musician my whole life and working in speaker repair for a while, I can attest to the vast experience and knowledge required to make a good speaker and enclosure. Keith earned this knowledge for himself over the course of those three years by doing his best work, taking them to sound engineers, getting feedback, and refining his process to constantly improve until he had a product worth buying.

The Diablo by Audio Nouveau at CustomMade.com is a contemporary design made from cherry with black granite tops. The speakers are upside down when finish is applied. In that position the feet look like horns. Hence the name.

Sound quality however, is (generally speaking) typically not a wife’s first concern when shopping for speakers, and unfortunate as it is, many of the best sounding retail speakers are just ugly to look at.  This is where Keith’s experience as a woodworker comes in.  Keith is on CustomMade.com for a reason.  His speaker boxes, while incredibly researched and meticulously constructed, can also be built to match the interior of your home.  Keith has matched custom speakers to fireplaces, dining room sets, etc. He has even build speakers into cabinet doors and covered them with an antique grill to match an art deco themed home theater. It’s no wonder why wives are giving the greenlight on these gorgeous pieces.  I was told that wives often would walk in and point to his work and say “see, THOSE, you can have”.  I’m sure its to many a husband’s pleasant surprise that they actually sound better than any other speakers he could find.

At one point, a recording engineer from Sweden came into Keith’s shop and after hearing his speakers told him that he had only ever heard one set of better sounding speakers in his life. At first Keith had a hard time hearing this, but this man explained that the speakers to which he was referring happened to sell for almost ten times what Keith’s speakers are going for.  Keith let out a chuckle and told me “Ha, I suppose I can live with that”.  His speakers have been shipped as far as Dubai upon special request.  Sets have been ordered by everyone from the average consumer, to musicians, to audio engineers, to very prominent record producers.  If you are serious about speakers, give Keith a call!

Please leave Keith some feedback! Do you make custom speakers?? Have you had custom speakers made for your house?? Have we missed a topic you’d like to see in this blog? Please let us know!