This Sleek Wood Speaker Will Make a Statement in Any Room
The Mac, designed in Brewerytown, is as attractive as it is functional.
This Oxford Street Furniture speaker, The Mac, is $2,500 at oxfordstreetfurniture.com. Photograph by Jillian Guyette
Serious audiophiles spend megabucks on big speakers. Casual listeners are happy with a small Sonos. The Mac is for the people in between — those who appreciate craftmanship and sound but want something less intrusive. Designed by Lauren Levy and Keith Lockerby, owners of Brewerytown’s Oxford Street Furniture, it’s meant to be playful. “It’s equal parts object and stereo,” says Lockerby. “It adds to the room’s design; it isn’t meant to be hidden.” Here, a breakdown of the many noteworthy features.
The Design
Levy and Lockerby use three woods: mahogany, walnut and white oak, the last of which gets a Scandinavian soap-slurry finish or is oxidized to turn black.
The Speakers
Two copper full-range Markaudio drivers can be pivoted via the adjustable body. (Ideally, speakers are in line with the listener.) Inside, music-nerd elements include an integrated amp, a digital signal processor, and a digital-to-analog converter — all of which improve audio playing from a phone or computer. The small port makes the sound bigger.
The Rear Controls
Five knobs on the back control the master volume as well as individual speaker levels and frequencies, so the sound can be fully personalized. The Mac is Bluetooth-compatible, but you can also plug in a phone, computer
or stereo preamp.
The Subwoofer
A subwoofer can point in any direction, so Levy and Lockerby tucked it into the bottom. That way, the design becomes more about the overall piece and less about the hardware.
Published as “Turn It Up” in the September 2020 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
