If you’re an audiophile or an avid reader of SOS, you’ve probably heard of the Crookwood brand — we reviewed their M1 Mastering Console back in December 2012 as well as their C2 Monitor Controller in 2007. Both these products were aimed squarely at the recording professional, but their latest endeavour has more of a ‘pro-sumer’ slant.
After some 23 years of hand-making high-quality mastering gear, they realised that there was a need for a quality small speaker that could be used for both pros and consumers alike, providing great sound for consumers so they can really hear the efforts of the engineers, and a consumer reference for the pros in the studio.
The end result is a small, cylindrical active speaker, called the SoundBucket, which bears a passing resemblance to Crookwood’s Paintpot mic pre. The SoundBucket is being launched on Kickstarter, which is a great vehicle for a small company like Crookwood to both get exposure and raise working capital for the larger consumer market.
The SoundBucket has professional loudness, frequency responses and distortions specs, and is, apparently, “a league above the average consumer portable speaker”. For studio use, Crookwood supply a professional interface box that accepts XLRs and automatically mono’s the signal for mono compatibility work, without needing extra power amps or bodges. The interface box also can be used for stereo work, to mains power the SoundBuckets, and an additional footswitch can be used to drastically cut the bass and treble, to simulate lower quality portable speakers.
The SoundBuckets have their own website, soundbuckets.com, and the Kickstarter campaign runs until 15th July, and offers healthy 25% discounts over the regular pricing (starting at £125 instead of £169.95).
