Simon Ghahary

Last updated February 22, 2019

Simon Ghahary (born 12 May 1972) is an English born artist, brand architect and lifestyle engineer from the United Kingdom known primarily for his unconventional speaker designs. Inspired by art, nature and technology he refers to his fantastical sculptural pieces as functional art. Developing new forms to accompany new ways of living, he has approached audio product design as an art in and of itself. His aesthetic is not only about the combination of performance and design but the space an object can create when not in use.

Blue Room loudspeakers

In 1992 Ghahary founded Blue Room loudspeakers which was then integrated into B & W Loudspeakers championed by Robert Trunz. This move made the global release of Ghahary's pod designs possible.

Blue Room Released

In 1994 Ghahary founded his music label Blue Room Released with the help of Robert Trunz ^[1] and Mick Paterson.^[2] Globally representing electronic, techno, trance, dub, and breakbeat artists.

Blue Room Released was an independent record label from London, UK. It operated from 1994 until 2002 and was run by Mick Paterson

SiFi

In an effort to fully realize an eco conscious work/life esthetic, Ghahary began si-fi.com. To design, manufacture and market high fidelity design conscious products to the domestic market, in such a way as to raise the company’s profile, satisfy customers, and contribute to the future well being of the company, industry and consumer is the overreaching goal. The innovative packaging of his minipods and the use of eco friendly ceramics for his Orb 1 speakers,^[3] being primary examples of this work ethic.

Design, branding and marketing

In 1991 he designed the Pod Speaker (initially called the House Pod) with the idea that loud speakers performed better in a rounded form than a square box. A chance encounter and subsequent friendship with Bowers & Wilkins engineer Laurence Dickie ^[4] (who pioneered the Nautilus Speaker) led to the 1993 release of his first Pod Speaker range. Ghahary managed to design the entire seminal Pod range which included the MiniPod, Bass Station, Cinepod, and Micropod

Bowers & Wilkins, or B&W, is a British company that produces audio equipment, most notably loudspeakers. B&W was founded in 1966 by John Bowers at Worthing, West Sussex, England. Currently, B&W, while still based in Worthing, is part of the B&W Group Ltd., which also includes audio equipment manufacturers Rotel and Classé.

These products achieving cult status among music and design connoisseurs.

Working as a graphic designer as well, Ghahary produced album cover art work for likes of The Orb ^[5] and Juno Reactor.^[6]

The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and The KLF member Jimmy Cauty. Beginning as ambient and dub DJs in London, their early performances were inspired by electronic artists of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Because of their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. The Orb have maintained their drug-related science fiction themes despite personnel changes, including the departure of Cauty and members Kris Weston, Andy Falconer, Simon Phillips, Nick Burton, and Andy Hughes. Paterson has been the only permanent member, continuing to work as the Orb with Swiss-German producer Thomas Fehlmann and, later, with Martin "Youth" Glover, bassist of Killing Joke. Beyond recognition on their albums and concerts, his unauthorised use of other artists' works has led to disputes with musicians, most notably with Rickie Lee Jones.

Juno Reactor is a musical and performing group known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and composing for the musical score of The Matrix . Central to the project is Ben Watkins and his collaborations with a constantly changing ensemble of musicians from across the world. This ensemble has included Mabi Thobejane, Amampondo, Steve Stevens, Eduardo Niebla, Greg Ellis, Taz Alexander, Sugizo, Budgie and recently Hamsika Iyer and Maggie Hikri.

In 2007, he worked as Creative Director for Life Water. At the Raw Coffee Company in the UAE, he managed the brand restructuring (total brand activation), packaging and even the interior of the company headquarters in Dubai.

In 2009-2012, again in the position of Creative Director at Pico International, Ghahary founded the Pico Eco ^[7] brand identity and initiative under the endorsement of the chairman. There he created all green policies, mandates and brand activation. Working intrinsically with various government agencies and companies such as Lexus.

In February 2010 he became a member of the Board of Directors for the Emirates Green Building Council in Dubai, facilitating its brand development. EmiratesGBC is a professional platform and membership driven organization. It is an independent forum created in 2006 with the goal of advancing green building principles for protecting the environment and promoting sustainability in the Middle East and North Africa.

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Bose Corporation is a privately held American corporation, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, that designs, develops and sells audio equipment. Founded in 1964 by Amar Bose, the company sells its products throughout the world. According to the company annual report in the 2017 financial year, Bose received revenue of US$3.8 billion and employed more than 8,000 people. Bose is best known for its home audio systems and speakers, noise cancelling headphones, professional audio systems and automobile sound systems. The company has also conducted research into suspension technologies for cars and heavy-duty trucks and into the subject of cold fusion. Bose has a reputation for being particularly protective of its patents, trademarks, and brands.

Ambient house is a subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. Tracks in the ambient house genre typically feature four-on-the-floor beat patterns, synth pads, and vocal samples integrated in a style classed as "atmospheric".

Klipsch Audio Technologies is an American loudspeaker company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in Hope, Arkansas in 1946 as 'Klipsch and Associates' by Paul W. Klipsch, the company produces loudspeaker drivers and enclosures, as well as complete loudspeakers for high end, high fidelity sound systems, public address applications, and personal computers.

JBL is an American company that manufactures loudspeakers. There are two independent divisions within the company – JBL Consumer and JBL Professional. The former produces audio equipment for the consumer home market while the latter produces professional equipment for the studio, installed sound, tour sound, portable sound, and cinema markets. JBL is owned by Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of South Korean company Samsung Electronics.

Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is a high-end Danish consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets, and telephones. It was founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, who designed a radio to work with alternating current, a product of significance at a time when most radios were still running on batteries.

MartinLogan is an American company producing conventional subwoofer speakers as well as floor-standing, wall-mounted, and in-wall hybrid speakers using electrostatic loudspeaker and planar magnetic thin film loudspeaker technology.

Celestion is a British designer and importer of loudspeakers.

Naim Audio is a hi-fi manufacturer based in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1973.

DALI stands for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries, a Danish manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers. The company was founded in 1983 by Peter Lyngdorf, as an attempt to comply with the still increasing demands on audio quality from the Hi-Fi community.

Acoustic Research was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that manufactured high-end audio equipment. The brand is now owned by Audiovox. Acoustic Research was well known for the AR-3 series of speaker systems, which used the 12-inch (305 mm) acoustic suspension woofer of the AR-1 with newly designed dome mid-range speaker and high-frequency drivers, which were the first of their kind. AR's line of acoustic suspension speakers were extraordinary for their time, as they were the first loudspeakers with flat response, extended bass, wide dispersion, small size, and reasonable cost.

Tivoli Audio is an American consumer audio equipment company. It was founded in 2000 by Tom DeVesto in collaboration with Henry Kloss, who noticed a gap in the consumer audio market for a high-quality, well designed and affordable AM/FM radio.

SpeakerCraft is an American manufacturer of custom-installed audio/video and home theater products based in Petaluma, California.

THIEL Audio was an American privately held high performance loudspeaker manufacturer founded in Lexington, Kentucky, but now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Thiel Audio products are distributed to over 30 countries. All products by the founders were designed and built in their 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) facility located in Lexington. Thiel ceased operations in 2018.

Yorkville Sound is a manufacturer of audio amplifiers, loudspeakers and related professional sound reinforcement equipment. Based in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, the firm has a global presence as an importer and exporter of audio electronic products.

KEF is a British loudspeaker manufacturer with international distribution. It was founded in Tovil, Maidstone, Kent in 1961 by electrical engineer Raymond Cooke and named after Kent Engineering & Foundry with which it originally shared the site. Its founder, Raymond Cooke, was created OBE by Elizabeth II in 1979.

Robert Trunz is a Swiss born music producer, businessman and sound expert. A Native of Lucerne from the valley of the lakes Seetal Switzerland, Robert Trunz's love for music and sounds was triggered at an early age. His introduction to High End audio came with his work for exclusive distributors of well known Hifi brands in the mid 70’s. In his spare time Trunz helped in organizing a series of Jazz concerts at the Aula in Baden (Switzerland) where he met artists like Ian Carr, Klaus Doldinger, Alphonse Mouzon and Abdullah Ibrahim, Trunz gained retail experience by building up the High End Hifi section of a shop in wealthy Lachen on the Lake of Zurich. It was here in 1979 when he first met John Bowers who hired him as an independent marketing and product consultant. In 1981 Trunz moved to England where he took over the Marketing of B&W Loudspeakers turning the ailing manufacturer into a profit making and fast expanding export orientated loudspeaker company.

Vifa is a Danish consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures high-end audio products. It was founded in 1933 by N.C.Madsen, manufacturing driver units for many high-end brands until 2014, when it made a transition into making its own wireless speakers. It launched a line-up of Bluetooth systems in 2014 and 2016 which are named after the capital cities of Scandinavian nations.

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[1] Robert Trunz

[2] Mick Paterson

[3] Orb 1 Speaker

[4] Laurence Dickie

[5] The Orb

[6] Juno Reactor

[7] PICO ECO