andrew roberts' sculptural speaker tapers to deliver quality audio

andrew roberts’ 3eel explores the realm of hifi cabinet design

The Three Eyed Eel (3Eel), conceived by New Zealand designer Andrew Roberts, explores the realm of HiFi cabinet design and its inherent relationship with high-quality audio production. The speaker’s distinct appearance, marked by its organically curving and sculptural form cast in molded resin, has been designed explicitly for the niche demographic of audiophiles.

Drawing from Laurence Dickie’s work with tapered tubes and forms in Vivid Audio and B&W loudspeakers, the 3Eel embraces a triple chamber configuration characterized by a gradual tapering. This structure effectively guides vibrations generated by the driver units through internal chambers, minimizing resonance effects, and empowering the driver units to deliver optimal performance. This culminates in sound reproduction that faithfully preserves the authenticity of the original recordings.

3Eel speaker in a listening room | all images courtesy of Andrew Roberts

structure and geometry inform quality audio delivery

With 3Eel, Andrew Roberts’ primary objective was to explore how cabinet design, the housing unit for speaker components, can be applied for amplifying high-end audio. In particular, the designer looked into the cabinet’s structure and geometry. As opposed to opting for subtlety, the product embraces an amalgamation of both the artistic and scientific aspects of the HiFi sound hobby, and emerges as a sculptural form.

‘A persistent challenge in achieving high-quality HiFi sound has been managing the uncontrolled energy emitted backward from driver units. Conventional cabinet designs have perpetually grappled with internal resonance issues arising from these driver units, particularly the midrange drivers, consequently impacting the overall sound quality. The 3Eel addresses this challenge through a distinctive and visually captivating approach,’ notes Roberts.

designer Andrew Roberts with the 3Eel HiFi speaker