About Island Audio

Island Audio is a Tasmanian speaker design and build studio. It brings together two disciplines that don't often share a workshop, sound engineering and wooden boat building, on the idea that a well-made speaker cabinet has more in common with a well-made hull than most people realise: both live or die on precision, material choice, and getting the resonance right.

Damien Goundrie - Technology & Design

Damien has spent his career on both sides of sound. He's a lecturer in Music Technology at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music (University of Tasmania) and he's been DJing since 1989. Starting out in Tasmania, spending close to two decades playing in Sydney, returning home to Hobart in 2018. That combination of technical grounding and time spent behind the decks feeds directly into how Island Audio speakers are voiced: Damien knows what actually matters when the music is playing.

Adrian Philips - Cabinetry & Build

Adrian has spent over 30 years as a wooden boat builder, working across every stage of the craft, hull shaping, joinery, fine detailing, in both wood and steel. He's widely respected as a master craftsman, and it shows in the level of detail he brings to a build. That same obsession with precision and finish is what goes into every Island Audio cabinet.

How Island Audio started

Damien and Adrian met at a nightclub and found common ground in music, hi-fi, and design. When Adrian asked Damien to help him with the technical side of building a speaker as a gift, the result surprised them both, enough that they decided to try building a better one. That first speaker was the spark for Island Audio.

The idea behind the business has stayed the same since: an object should bring joy, not just through the sound it makes, but through its aesthetic and cultural beauty too, something you want to look at as much as listen to. Island Audio's two ranges, the Franklin and the Gordon, are built around that idea.

A mid-century wooden sideboard with two open drawers in a room with hardwood flooring. On top of the sideboard are two large vintage speaker boxes, a turntable with a clear dust cover, and a vintage stereo receiver. Decor includes potted plants and a vase with dried flowers, with a white paneled wall and window with curtains in the background.
A black grand piano with a reflective surface, a black speaker on a stand, potted plants including a 'String of Turtles' succulent and a Monstera, and a vinyl record crate with records and a boombox, all on a wooden floor.
Vintage wooden speaker cabinets with a red finish, placed on a wooden floor near a patterned rug, with plants and a console with turntable in the background.