The Master & Dynamic wireless speaker you need this summer.

Listen up, you need to hear this: it’s time to upgrade your home speakers. Admittedly we don’t know what you’re currently playing your music through, but it’s a fair guess you don’t yet have Master & Dynamic’s MA770 wireless speaker because it’s only just been released – and MR PORTER is proud to be the exclusive global online retailer.

The MA770 is Master & Dynamic’s first non-headphone product. Made from sculpted concrete, it puts the rock in rock ‘n’ roll, weighing in at 16kg (35 pounds) with a correspondingly substantial price tag. But the audiophile reviews are unanimous in their praise of the speaker which is comprised of dual 4-inch kevlar woofers and a 1.5-inch titanium tweeter powered by a 100-watt Class D amp.

The product was launched in May at MoMA’s Design Store in New York – a specially curated selection of only the world’s coolest home products. A large part of the reason it was chosen by MoMA is that it has been designed in partnership with the celebrated (and recently knighted) British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, best known for somewhat larger scale work such as the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.

We caught up with both Sir David and Master & Dynamic’s CEO Mr Jonathan Levine at the launch to ask for the inside track…

How did this collaboration come about?

Sir David: It was a bit of serendipity, really. Surface magazine profiled Jonathan and myself in the same issue, and so when we saw it I think we each thought, “Wow, this guy is doing some really incredible stuff.” When Jonathan reached out, I was thrilled.

How important is music to you?

**Sir David: **Incredibly. I was immersed in music from an early age, and have always been a fan of a wide range of music – everything from soul to rock to house. Many people don’t know that I had a brief stint as a DJ in London during the 1990s.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

**Sir David: **Nina Simone is a perennial favorite.

What was it like to design a small-scale product like this speaker rather than a building?

Sir David: Working on smaller-scale designs allows me to test out new ideas with some immediacy. It’s a great contrast to my architectural work, which unfolds across many years. I have a real delight in the samples, the mock-ups and the sketches. It is an amazing luxury to be able to manipulate and sculpt – at full scale – as you go along.

The speaker is very heavy – how do the materials enhance the sound quality?

Sir David: Optimising performance and achieving unrivalled sound was the starting point of the design concept. The speaker is made of a proprietary concrete composite that we developed specifically for the project. We chose concrete – not only because it is a very tactile, “architectural” material, but it’s also a surface with impressive acoustic qualities. It provides a number of acoustic benefits such as increased dampening, reduced resonance from the enclosure, a purer sound and added durability. Concrete’s dampening qualities are five times better than wood and 10 times better than plastic. This means the speaker can be placed just inches away from a turntable and play at full volume without causing the record to skip… it’s incredible.

What are the Master & Dynamic design signatures?

Mr Levine: Little or no customer-facing branding; the form and materials speak for themselves. The front is protected by a metal grille that snaps to the base with magnets hidden within the concrete; you can remove it for a cleaner look if you prefer. Details are always important to us and appreciated by our users: the bass port at the rear, the font size on the front controls, everything is considered. Even the packaging should win a design award.

The press information says this speaker “utilises Chromecast built-in to provide multi-room audio; it is the first speaker to use this technology for stereo pairing”. What does that mean in plain English?

**Mr Levine: **While the MA770 wireless speaker has Bluetooth capability, we were intent on providing seamless, high-quality WiFi connectivity. Much like our use of concrete, this decision was made in part due to the improved sound quality of Chromecast built-in, which is not only at the forefront of wireless connectivity, allowing users to take calls on the same mobile device they’re using to stream music without missing a beat, but also aids the speaker in delivering crystal clear sound. The same technology can be used for multi-room audio, meaning that should you own two or more speakers you can easily connect them to deliver music throughout your entire home, workplace or other desired location.

To date you’ve built your brand on headphones. Should we expect any other product lines from Master & Dynamic down the track or is this just a one-off?

Mr Levine: When I first launched Master & Dynamic in late 2014, I always knew that we would expand beyond headphones. Looking ahead, you’ll continue to see us expand our product line, with home and office audio becoming core to the brand. Also don’t be surprised if you see Master & Dynamic show up in the automotive and aviation worlds.  We like these two environments and believe we can bring new ideas to them both.

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