What Your Audio Can Do: Clever Super-Simple Speakers

audio can ipod speaker in a tin can

IPod speakers are generally very stylized and modern-looking, so it’s unusual to see one that goes for bare-bones, simplistic design. The Audio Can speaker from designer Dean Brown is about as simple and non-stylized as you can get: it uses a plain tin can to house a battery-powered speaker.

audio can simple ipod speaker

Used individually or in a daisy-chained system, the can-clad speakers offer a rather playful approach to portable sound. While most designers are concerned with coming up with the most innovative, futuristic designs, Brown took a common household item and made it into an audio accessory. According to him, the sound quality is excellent – not at all what you’d expect coming from a tin can.

audio can trio

The Audio Can comes with a removable label, a battery and the appropriate audio cable. Besides offering a unique (yet utterly simple to disguise) design, the speaker gives users a very no-nonsense way to add ambient music to their surroundings. What you might miss in added features is more than compensated for in its ease of use and portability.

submit to reddit
See more in Audio & TV or under Gadgets. December, 2009.