The Roberts Reunion was an exercise in taking a lateral approach to achieve a truly fantastic performing and looking product. It has a superb tonal balance, achieves a huge SPL with low distortion and has some really fantastic features, including a broadcast mode, Bluetooth 5.3… and it’s waterproof too!
Its performance and feature set are largely down to a random connection on LinkedIn and a chance find of a remarkably well-developed acoustic sub-system. Having done some initial evaluations I found a true gem in a stereo Bluetooth loudspeaker proposal, that projected sound left-right. Whilst it measured well, the effect as a listener was lackluster. I had the idea to turn the product 90 degrees, making a front/back speaker system. A spare sidechain in the amplifier/DSP allowed me to create some spatialisation in the sound output from the rear speaker and a common bass channel for a thumping and solid low end.
Of course, being a Roberts product, Tris Thornhill clad it in a carefully considered bespoke design which looks familiar and inviting.
The result? A speaker that is well priced, high performance, and sounds incredible.