Our story began in the ocean – the domain of the unknown and new horizons, but also the source of all life and creativity.
Mid-Atlantic storms had sent huge waves over to the Basque coast and we were in the water surfing as the huge white horses drew closer.
We noticed how the horizon began to rise higher than usual. These were especially big waves. You can either try to ride them or get out of the way.
Of course we tried to ride them but despite our best efforts to ride them, these white horses were too big, and they wiped us out, ripping Craig’s board off his leash, throwing us unrelentlessly about and sweeping us away from the shore, recklessly ignorant of our feelings and wellbeing. But big waves come in sets, and as this set subsided, we spotted an opportunity to get back and get over to dry land and reassess.
It took us a while to get onto to shore, but we looked back and reassessed our luck, maybe not today, but let’s try again tomorrow. We sat down by the van, cracked open some beers and cooked a stew surrounded by the umbrella pine trees and the scent of pine leaves. In this context we began to conceive our next actions.
Despite the chaos, there was an element of a high – a sort of natural high that comes from the pursuit of challenging goals and in the face of uncertainty. The dopaminergic thrust that urges you forward.
And as the light faded behind the horizon, we directed that urge towards something new: we began to talk about our aspirations, about combining our skills and energy towards something meaningful.
Towards what – what was our North Star? What was meaningful.
It was a combination of our love of natural solid wood, craftsmanship, attention to detail, acoustic music, natural highs, beauty – creating something beautiful and something useful that transcends the inevitable entropy of life. Something that reminds us of the natural highs of a rich life worth living. Something that captures this moment.
In such situations when you don’t know exactly what the ultimate end goal is, you need to follow the North Star – an aspirational vision – and at each step keep checking your trajectory. So that’s what we did.
In 2020 we started experimenting with the ‘Authenticist speakers’. After that came the ‘Desktop speakers’. Then came the bluetooth speakers ‘Sargasso’ followed by ‘Molucca’. Then people started saying that they wanted to buy the speakers off us. As we asked around and got feedback, others suggested: maybe you should build something ambitious.
So we built the Finisterre speakers – the floor standing speakers with the best components we could get, encased in solid walnut and birch, and consolidated in a timeless design. The Finisterre speakers were the end-result of years of experimenting, working with partners, building, and testing. And what a moment! We could finally plug the speakers into a sound system and load up our favourite tracks. It was thrilling; it was magic. It was the moment we wanted to capture. The spirit we wanted to share.
It was the combination of our skills, our passions and aspirations. Professionally, we came from different areas, but our background converged towards a shared vision – wood-working, science and technology.
In 2023, we went to Munich – to the High End Expo to get advice from the veterans and the pros. We then committed ourselves to taking this forward. Sitting in a beer garden in the warmth of the piedmont landscape before the Alps, we coined six values that would guide us towards reaching that goal.
Those values are:
Grounding ourselves as we build from a state of groundedness
Taking risks to stay true to our spirit
Creating something of beauty, clarity and elegance
Enabling the creativity of other artists to flow through
Capturing your attention and imagination
Enthralling you with the spirit of the moment
Saltwood Sounds
A Natural High Fidelity. Elegance and Clarity.
