Air D1 - Luxury loudspeaker Case Study: Barnaby Ward

The Air D1 merges incredible technological feats with elegant design. The complex advanced technology is effortlessly controlled by a sleek, intelligent user interface delivering the best listening experience possible in the home environment.

I lead the design of this product from early concept right through to production. Designing a product of this calibre has been a difficult challenge as each minor detail has been scrutinised over and analysed to ensure the outcome is of the highest quality possible.

With over 300 parts, designing and producing a complex mechanical and acoustic assembly has been an exciting challenge on this project. The pre-assembly of different components allows for each part to be tested individually making final assembly more efficient.

Looking at the Look & feel of existing market offerings gave me a good understanding of the aesthetics across the Hi-Fi industry. Retro speakers from 20 odd years ago still had a timeless look to them - I didn’t want to lose this aesthetic.

Early concepts allowed me to look at how people ergonomically interact with the product. The shape was important to ensure it met the acoustic requirements but by having a slim profile it appears to take up less space in your living room.

The design language is derived from vintage hi-fi design. The layout of the circular forms were placed in an aesthetically pleasing way to simulate the quality of the sound.

3D modelling was critical in the early development phase. Working with Orbitsound’s Tonnemeister I was able to position the drivers and provide internal volume calculations. This then led to MDF CNC construction prototypes which allowed us to validate the Internal volume and tuning.

Sketching enabled me to understand, engineer and overcome the complex moving part assemblies whilst ensuring the visual identity of the product was not lost. The central mounting mechanism provided significant challenges as it needed to suspend a large amount of weight as well as being a pivoting point for adjustability.