Music to Our Ears

By Ann Binlot February 9, 2013

music to our ears ferguson hill fh009 home theatre system — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sometimes you have to take a look at the past in order to create a device for the future. That’s what Timothy Hill did when he conceived the design of the two horn speakers, two bass speakers and an integrated sound amplifier that make up the Ferguson Hill FH009 Home Theatre System. Fed up with the restrictions of typical encased speakers, the designer — and founder of Ferguson Hill — found inspiration for the system’s patented di-polar horn speakers in old movie theaters of the ‘30s and ‘40s, when horns were built into the walls to amplify the sound.

“I tried building a few out of different molding, quite a few types, of concrete and wood, all sorts of things, and I finally came out of the idea of molding them out of plastic, because that would give me the ideal curvature — the shape of the horn — to amplify the sound,” explained Hill.

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After a little more than two years, a dozen prototypes and a sound test called holographic laser speckle pattern interferometry, Hill, a former aeronautical engineer finally came up with the design he was looking for.

“We were getting a sound that sounded really life-like, as if the musicians were right there in front of you playing,” said Hill.

Not only does the Ferguson Hill FH009 Home Theatre System sound exactly like the action you’re viewing on your television, it also blends in perfectly with any home decor, thanks to the system’s translucent speakers. “Making it clear was an easy way out not to have to choose a color,” said Hill. “It really does it makes them less obtrusive, so they disappear into the room, they’re not forbidding as something that’s made of wood or concrete or plaster.”

Unfortunately the Ferguson Hill FHOO9 Home Theatre System is only available by special order from Europe at the moment, but that will soon change when these super sleek speakers make their stateside debut in the next month or so.

The Ferguson Hill FHOO9 Home Theatre System, £795 ($1,256), at fergusonhill.co.uk.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…

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