RESIN OBJECTS: An Interview with Pantheone, an Australian audio company who create speakers using cast resin.

Over the last year or two, Hayden has been working on a number of cast resin projects (more to come on this soon) and learning about the complexities of working with this material outside of surfboards. It’s an ideal fusion of art , science and chemistry that is frankly quite challenging to master - particularly with shapes that are not linear in form.  So when we stumbled across this brand and learned more about how the product was built, we had a great appreciation beyond how cool they look and for the sound quality, but for the detail in design and construction.  Read our interview with Pantheone founder, Oren Adani. 

READ MORE ABOUT / PURCHASE A PANTHEONE HERE.

Image: Haydenshapes Mona Vale. 

The Pantheone I is a stunning audio piece that elegantly co-exists with its surroundings. Aesthetically, where did the original idea & inspiration come from for the design?

The Pantheone I was inspired by the senses, sound, touch and sight. Music is a form of art so why shouldn’t the vessel that carries it be a piece of art? As the name indicates, the curves and shapes were inspired by the timeless architectural design of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy.

Image: by Hayden Cox, Rome Italy. 

We’ve marvelled for some time at the beauty of the shape and the quality of the sound engineering… and yet it sits in an almost organic, fluid-like state - even when not being used. Was water or the movement of water a large influence in the speakers design?

Nature was a big influence as a whole. Nature and music are intimately connected. Delicate rays of sunlight dance in the waters of the ocean like notes in the nuances of a song. Music is like water, it flows, it has no boundaries, no limits...

Being handcrafted & cast from resin makes the Pantheone I part home audio and yet also part art installation. We know first hand the complexities of working with this material. Why resin?

The casing consists of high-density resin, ensuring a fully smooth surface. The innovative curved shape provides excellent rigidity and robustness, a feature which again enhances the internal acoustic wave technology.

Image: We know resin. A bucket sculpture, crafted from resin made by Hayden in 2019. 

Are there plans for more products for the brand?

There are exciting things to come but we won’t give anything away just yet.

With both top and bottom/downward facing speakers, it’s a lot of sound coming from one single unit. Could you explain the engineering inside the structure?

We spent more than four years perfecting the design of the Pantheone I and the sound quality of the speaker is achieved by state of the art engineering. Our international team engineers and product designers built the speaker to emit 360 degree sound to truly fill every corner of a space. We feel honoured that the brilliant work of our team was recognised by a Red Dot Design Award.

It’s not all just about good looks, with a pair of 165mm bass drivers, two 100mm midrange drivers and four 19mm silk-dome tweeters each powered by two 130-watt Class-D amplifiers for the low frequency section, and two 70-watt modules to fill in high frequencies. Amazon Alexa voice features complements the speaker’s dedicated app controls. Most playback and streaming standards are supported. Touch controls are available across the top of the speaker, but Pantheone I’s app and voice operated options are more apt to be used once the speaker is situated into place.

Image: Hayden's shaping bay,  Mona Vale.

What’s the maximum size space the Pantheone I can fill with its surround sound?

The Pantheone I can emit sound that fills a minimum space of 150 square meters, although we recently attended an event where the only source of music was one Pantheone I speaker and it filled the entire hall of a far greater size than 150 square meters. It is a powerful audio system and the sound quality is unmatched.

Pantheone Audio is one of Australia’s newest design firms. What is your background and how did you originally become a designer?

I suppose you could call me a consumer electronics veteran. I have always had a passion for flawless design, been a collector of art and an appreciator of music. The Pantheone I combines art with music by boasting minimalist, sleek design that can fit into any space while still providing quality sound. As Anton de Saint-Exupery aptly states “a designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”.

Which brands and designers have influenced you in your early career, and currently?

How long do you want your article to be? There are too many to mention.

Being nominated for any design award is a huge feat, so winning the prestigious ‘Red Dot Award’ must have been an amazing surprise for you and your team. Tell us more?

We feel honoured that the brilliant work of our team was recognized by a Red Dot Design Award. We hope that the Pantheone I will fill many homes with the comfort of music.

For more info click here. or follow them via @pantheoneaudio