BUSINESS: COMPANY PROFILE
Pequod’s location doubtless stimulates creativity
The Italian job The Pequod team and friends at the launch event, PL+S Frankfurt 2019
Sue Gould revisits pro audio newcomer Pequod Acoustics to find out how the Italian manufacturer has adapted during the pandemic
IT SEEMS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IT WAS ONLY A YEAR AGO that Pro AVL MEA visited the Pequod Acoustics headquarters situated in the verdant, rolling hills above Florence. The Italian speaker manufacturer was riding high after a successful launch event at Prolight + Sound Frankfurt 2019 and had a defined road map for further expansion and high-profile partnerships. Toasts were made to the future. Then, barely a few months later, the pandemic struck. Despite the havoc wreaked by Covid-19, one has to question what initially led brothers Andrea and Simone Ugolini to enter such a crowded, highly competitive marketplace in 2016. Both men were independently successful in their own fields, Andrea owning a structural engineering studio handling civil, military and government construction, while Simone was the CEO of the family’s well-established construction firm. Yet, away from the day-to-day business, Andrea had always held a deep-rooted, personal passion for high-end audio and had become increasingly frustrated by what was available to consumers. Together with Simone, he felt that they could change that landscape and, after some trial and error experiments and subsequent positive results, the brothers decided to take their passion to the next level with the creation of Pequod Acoustics. Not long after, the pair coined the term “Hi-Pro speakers”. “This is the synthesis of what we do,” explains Andrea, who acts as the company’s chief technical officer. “We blend together the best of the pro audio and hi-fi worlds. We have linear and accurate high-fidelity sound reproduction paired with the high SPL needed for professional audio.” This, he feels, is what sets Pequod apart from the rest of the pack. “The concept and approach are totally different. A lot of other companies use the sentence ‘no compromises’ but, here, it’s really true. Everything is made in Italy and the choice of components, the methods of constructing the speakers, the research into sound perfection – it’s all at the highest level. The outer design of the products is sound-driven and is something unique in the world.”
One only has to look at the current product line-up to appreciate how that ingrained passion has turned into a commercial reality. At that Frankfurt show in 2019, the philosophy clearly paid dividends, drawing a crowd of visitors to the booth to witness the enormous Shockwave three-way, horn-loaded system – with its 112cm-diameter mid-bass horn – working in tandem with the huge horn-loaded Hydra Super Sub.
Working on Cerberus “It was amazing; everyone was looking at us as the newest and coolest brand,” recalls Simone, Pequod’s chief executive manager. “We captured their attention and I think the market was ready for a new brand that manufactured something quite different from just another black box.” While the horn’s huge size enables proper sound reproduction at certain frequencies, the visual aspect of the range cannot be understated and is definitely a crowd puller.
Leonardo Dani (right) with Allan of Guangzhou Dardankings “You can’t hide this kind of massive speaker,” admits Andrea, “so why not incorporate the bright colour as part of the club’s general design?” Yet, from an acoustic perspective, the CTO is keen to elaborate on what the Pequod designs offer compared to more traditional models. “Almost every existing and future product from us uses horn-loaded technology,” he continues. “Without revealing too much about the type of horns we use, we are able to create a much more dynamic range than our competitors, as well as very consistent polar pattern dispersion with extremely high phase coherence. Furthermore, they produce almost zero sound reproduction at the back of the horns.” An additional characteristic is the bespoke design of Pequod’s passive crossovers, constructed using high-quality components, which Andrea claims is impossible to obtain with standard DSP. “They really increase the clarity and quality of playback to really lifelike levels and, furthermore, you only need a two-channel amplifier to drive a couple of our three-way systems. “Our systems are really plug-and-play,” he furthers. “They sound good immediately and you don’t need to struggle with complicated software or DSP presets. Only minimal corrections are needed according to the environment. More importantly, everyone from an audio guru to a clubber hears good and nice sound, with no ear fatigue. Another important aspect that makes us different from many other manufacturers is the high-grade IP rating of all our products. They can be installed or used in marine-grade environments, or outdoor in any temperature or weather condition. Plus, the composite and resins we use are fireproof-certified.” The advantage of being an independent, artisanal company has clearly provided Pequod with much-needed flexibility during the challenges of 2020. “We are a small but very wellfinanced company,” says Simone. “We don’t have hundreds or thousands of employees on the payroll and our streamlined structure has enabled us to not just survive this pandemic but also, albeit at a slower rate, continue growing.”
42 PRO AVL MEA November–December 2020
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