Since their launch back in 2018, Node Audio with their Hylixa speakers have helped to change the face of UK HiFi, bringing the highest quality music playback combined with stunning sculptural aesthetics. Their radical design thinking and engineering-led approach has won multiple awards for the British company making waves in the HiFi industry.
The Cambridge-based company is the brainchild of British industrial designers and Hi-Fi fanatics Ashley May and David Evans. Their repertoire of advanced design and innovation spans several sectors from homeware, to medical devices and personal transport products, all underpinned by the same rigorous approach to design excellence.
Inspired by their shared love of music, the design-duo began to explore the home audio market, and the shortcomings of existing loudspeakers, as Ashley explains: “The once-aspirational Hi-Fi system has remained largely unchanged for decades – large, wooden loudspeaker boxes accompanied by equally large amplifier stacks, replaced in many households by convenient streaming speakers and wireless headphones. Yet with convenience and compactness comes compromise – music loses its soul and emotional intent. Our mission is to make HiFi relevant again, delivering the true audiophile experience from beautiful sonic sculptures, by thinking, quite literally, outside the box.”
In 2018 the pair formed Node Audio, bringing together experienced acoustic engineers and materials experts to help realise their vision. Over three years of extensive research, experimentation and refinement have culminated in their debut ‘Hylixa’ loudspeakers. Most obvious is their streamlined, rounded profile, as Ashley goes on: “Every curve has been considered for complete acoustic transparency. The rounded head of the speaker is designed to reduce the boxy colouration the afflicts square speakers, so voices sound natural and true to life, with a stereo image that is vivid and holographic.”
Yet such a rounded and compact profile would usually compromise bass weight. So, Node’s team devised a long passageway that extends over 1.6meters, cleverly coiled inside the loudspeaker’s head to massively extend the performance of the internal woofer. This patented internal helix not only inspires the product name, but has led to multiple industry awards from HiFi critics across the world.
To make such a complex enclosure, Node’s team utilise industrial, laser-based 3D printing. Each speaker starts life as particles of glass and nylon, and is systematically fused by a laser under computer control. The complete design freedom afforded by such a technique allows every area to be acoustically and aesthetically optimised.
Every Hylixa loudspeaker is produced at Node’s Cambridge headquarters, and are made to order in bespoke finishes. The cabinets can be specified in any paint colour, with aerospace-grade aluminium fascias available in a choice of precious metal plating, including 24Karat Gold.
Since Hylixa’s launch, Node’s engineers have been busy developing further performance gains and visual improvements, culminating in the newly announced Hylixa Signature. Most visually apparent is the all-new stainless steel circular base design, available in natural silver or black, while the single central pillar houses upgraded components and internal wiring for even greater fidelity. The endless cabinet and paint choices and metal options remain, supplemented by Node’s complimentary CGI service for thorough experimentation to achieve the perfect combination to suit the customer’s interior style.
Node will demonstrate a pre-production pair at next month’s Salon Privé show at Blenheim Palace, whilst show-goers to October’s UK Audio Show in Daventry will be the first to experience the finalised production versions.
Prices start from £30,000.
For more information, or to arrange a demonstration, visit node-audio.com.
