About
Robson Acoustics
The culmination of 26 years of personal and professional involvement in speaker design and electronics has given me a unique perspective on achieving exceptional loudspeakers and associated products.
I am firmly of the belief that amazing sound quality does not have to break the bank and that audio nirvana can be sought through a combination of correctly designed loudspeakers, careful equipment matching and attention to a given acoustic space through measurement and speaker alignment.
A passion for music, a design artistry and an uncompromising approach to high standards of quality and service have given Robson Acoustics the standards that others aspire to.
In addition to the standard line of products I am now designing and building Masterpiece editions and “1 off” designs which will be hand built to exacting standards and concentrating on the ultimate in design aesthetics and sound quality.
Each model will have selected hardwoods which are often very difficult to source now due to their exotic nature such as burr Elm.
Component, cables and other materials will be selected for their ability to inspire a masterpiece edition and also to evoke deep emotions during audio playback.
Please contact me for specific designs, choice of materials or bespoke options and I will be happy to try and bring your own masterpiece to fruition.
Rob Hudson
Founder and Chief Designer
Robson Acoustics
Every design concept has to fulfil a number of criteria to become a successful icon. Not only does it have to sound spectacular but also to blend into a living space and become a beautiful and elegant piece of furniture.
I have many amusing tales to recount of the initial demonstration and subsequent choice of large speaker being chosen only to be informed later by the client that their partner had said “ there is no way are they going into our living room “.
The many aspects of design all play an important role and for example the choice to wrap many of our speakers in leather not only creates a softer tone due to refraction but also gives our clients a huge choice of luxury hides and hardwood combinations limited only by the imagination.
We are often asked to match furniture, fabrics and leather to existing décor and no other manufacturer can achieve this level of bespoke service.
Cabinet design and shape is based on the principle of non parallel sides where it is important for sound coming from the rear of the driver not to be reflected back to the cone and form multiple delayed impulses.
In essence the principles of design are to get as close as possible to reproducing the original audio signal through design, materials, construction and integration.
The constraints of mass production are many and varied where the cost of the materials are analysed and reduced to the Nth degree. It is a fact that the ratio of material cost to the final RRP is as much as 11 times which leaves little scope for quality components and construction materials. Add this factor to the excessive dealer margins and the end result is one of….. “not much for your buck”
Robson Acoustics products are hand crafted and utilise the finest components and materials with out the constraints of company bean counters and dealer margins.
The result is unparalleled performance at a price point which defies the high standards and quality and where aesthetic perfection is more than skin deep.
Each loudspeaker is hand finished and totally unique and quite often tuned to the clients individual taste and acoustic space.
No other company strives and excels in customer service and satisfaction where we endeavour to bring you closer to the very soul of a musical experience.
Having been asked to re-design many cross-overs for some high end speakers, I have had the opportunity to see first hand the low quality of internal wiring and components existing in many models.
All models in the Robson range of speakers are fitted with very high internal wiring and components normally only found in esoteric models with esoteric prices.
It is considered vital within the organisation that the choice of materials plays a huge role in closing the gap to the original sound.
It is a common misconception that room acoustics plays a minor role in the final sound of a system and with the exception of our Opulus and Regis loudspeakers we insist on a home demonstration prior to purchase.
Over many years of supplying and setting up speakers I have become acutely aware of the many factors room acoustics play on the overall sound. Room size, wall and floor construction, furnishing and even objects within a space can have a dramatic effect on the sound.
To this end it is vital to match a loudspeaker to a given acoustic space and musical tastes of an individual through good communication, room measurement and if necessary final adjustments of the crossover to achieve a flat in room response.
Selling a customer a pair of floor standing loudspeakers from a Hi Fi shop after a dem without home appraisal and consultation can be likened to showing someone a beautiful piece of art with a blindfold on.
To tell the whole story, home appraisal is important in allowing us to advise you on discovering the weak links in your system and helping you pinpoint how to balance equipment by trying different cables and listening positions etc.
Similarly, home cinema is equally important in establishing room acoustics to enable the correct choice of speaker, especially sub woofer placement.
A correctly set up home cinema from an audio perspective will give a whole new dimension to a movie experience and yet so many I encounter are incorrectly aligned.
Robson Acoustics have years of experience and un-biased advice to help you decipher the weak elements in your system by systematically appraising each element of the system to determine it’s weaknesses. This may be a pre-amplifier, the source or those extremely expensive interconnects that simply are not well matched to the characteristics of the amplifiers or source equipment.
Always remember that in the world of Hi Fi more expensive definitely does not always give you improved sound quality!
I have encountered so much very high end equipment that simply sounds awful, many of which looks stunning with beautiful casework and big shiny gold knobs but fails to stir emotions through reproducing musical notes just how they were recorded and making you feel like the artist was sitting in your room.
I could fill this section with complex equations and charts on room measurements but my intentions are not to send you into a coma but to encourage you to seek a path that will bring you closer to your dream 2-channel or home cinema set up.
With both 2 channel and multi channel, final evaluation and set up are always done with the most powerful and complex of instruments on the planet…the human ear and brain…
What our clients say
Rob, can you please send me a 6 x 4 photo of yourself so I can frame it and put on the cabinet my side of the bed. You, pardon my French, are a f*****g genius. There are some points I am not sure about but bloody hell.You had my wife crying listening to the emotion coming through Clannad, Andrea Bocelli and, if you haven't listened to her you should, Maria. (Portuguese fado music)
Andrea Bocelli sounds stunning, my wife has seen him live and loves listening to him. We could hear everything and that is with cheap 168 strand copper cable and £50 stands that wobble when you breath on them.
Listening with the Argenti took on a much more attractive proposition. Many of the qualities of your silver cable are present. The advantage here is that vocals (especially female) have taken on positive characteristics. This makes the whole thing very listenable. Subtle vocal fluctuations are more realistic and engaging. This was also highlighted with the removal of the Black Rhodium. I think the silver cable has the edge over this one, but I think there is little point in pursuing that route.
There is room for improvement (is that a pun?). I am limited with changing the room. Apart from concealing acoustic foam behind existing pictures, I cannot do much more. I just have a sneaking suspicion the room is contributing to some of my gripes.
The great thing is that your cables have shown to be a positive upgrade / improvement. I’ll carry on listening and the sound may mellow to a degree. I think 'mellowing' is the key term for me here. I guess that, at some point I will need to address some of the identified issues.
At the end of the day there is a considerable degree of subjectivity in all these comments as well as there being a whole series of variables that potentially are contributing to my experiences.
The speakers came today and have arrived in perfect condition. They were boxed extremely well thanks. I have them set up and running. They are, for me a stunning set of furniture grade speakers! I'm sure you are very used to much more but wow, I am seriously impressed with the cabinets. Gorgeous!
Sound wise, so far, they are pretty much how I imagined! The ribbon has been with me for the last few sets so that sweet natural treble is familiar. What I wasn’t ready for though was the ease of the deep notes. They aren't in your face but the bass notes that I’ve never heard in my music before are obvious now! I'm sure they will get better and better too. Just enjoying some ' Funk ' and will be playing all day, I'm sure. Will have to catch some sun tomorrow.
Thank you for a lovely transaction and I'm sure when I’ve got a little money spare, I'll be back for a pair of mono blocks perhaps!!!
Thank you for the chance to try out these amps. Before I state my intentions, I’ll give you my thoughts on the whole experience.
On receiving the parcel, I was slightly surprised at how light it was, and then on opening it, finding the amps were virtually the same size as the cyrus mono x power amps I used to own. Those were a lot heavier and the Naim 250dr that I am comparing the mb2s to is a mighty heavy piece of equipment. I connected the mb2s up to the Naim 272 streamer which has its own Pre-Amp, using the thicker rca cables you send with the amps.
To be honest, the sound is a revelation. The openness and the depth of bass I have not heard in anything I’ve previously owned. The nad m2 was as fast but lacked the depth that these little amps achieve. I changed the rca cables last night to see what difference they make, and I think they tone down the higher notes a tad, so are probably the leads to go for, but differences are subtle. I haven’t yet tried the system with the smaller opulus speakers, but I will, just for fun. I can’t thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to try these fantastic small amps. They are brilliant.