ART & TECH
Creating Sculptures with a Voice
Leon Speakers Continues Sonos Partnership with New Repeatable ‘Custom’ Speakers By Anthony Leo For more than 20 years, a team of artists, designers, engineers, and craftsmen at Leon Speakers have been meticulously handcrafting a full palette of custom speakers and technology treatments for both residential and commercial spaces. The Ann Arbor, MI-based manufacturer of high-end custom audio products is now doubling down on its vision of mixing art with audio and design with technology through an expanded partnership with Sonos and relationships with well-known artists. Among the new products are a collection of Sound Sculptures that were developed after the company’s Lena Sound Sculpture won a
prestigious BORN Award this past Spring in the Home category. This new Sound Sculpture line incorporates the new Sonos Amp, Leon’s Ultima speakers, and backlighting in a production-ready unit that will be available with a variety of standard sizes, designs, and pricing.
“We presented a lot of conceptual designs, but they gravitated toward our Sound Sculpture concept,” Kaplan said. “However, the original design for our Sound Sculpture and our Aura Tile products were not plug and play—an amplifier had to be remotely located.”
“As a Lifestyle Partner for Sonos, we integrate style with their amazing technology and products,” said Noah Kaplan, Leon’s president and founder.
In streamlining these products, Leon went back to its Tone Case line, which remains a huge success for Sonos. “People really seem to like adding style to their Sonos speakers, and Sonos has become synonymous with how people like to listen to music wirelessly,” Kaplan recalled. “I wanted to make the same Tone Case system for the Amp but to really elevate the concept. I
Although Sonos knows that its Amp may end up stacked out of sight inside an equipment rack, they also wanted to explore more ways to bring it to the foreground, Kaplan noted.
Leon’s new Sound Sculptures (pictured from two different angles at CEDIA Expo 2018) now incorporate Sonos Amp for a more repeatable product line.
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Residential Tech Today | Nov/Dec 2018
