BK Audio Kryterion
BK Audio Kryterion from Mikael Persson Hill
BK Audio Kryterion

This was the final project for my bachelor's degree. The task was to design a new loudspeaker series for the Swedish loudspeaker brand BK Audio.
They wanted a speaker that should attract both home users and more public enterprises such as restaurants, stores etc. Two other important features they wanted was wireless technology and interchangeable outer shells.
My own goal for this project was to create something unique that could place both BK Audio and myself on the design map. To show that I can create something that's both beautiful and functional.
In order to reduce development costs, and to have a more solid base to design the speakers around, I was to base my design on a previous loudspeaker model. The new speakers was going to contain two 4" midrange speakers and a 4" tweeter. In addition to that there should be an active 10" subwoofer.

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Early sketches showing one idea for the functional properties of the speaker; Different mounting options for a variety of stands and wall/ceiling brackets.
Form sketches exploring different placements of the speaker elements and expressions.
More sketches exploring different shapes.
To get a better grip of what shapes and expressions that attracted potential customers, I created some abstract forms. I then made a quick survey to check which ones that were most popular. The winners was Form 3 and Form 4.
After the survey I tried to combine the two most popular shapes into a loudspeaker. I was not that pleased with the result, so I went back to the drawing board.
A lot of people asked for smaller speakers than the one my previous design was based on. So I decided to make a quick test model to see if it was possible to remove one of the midrange elements. In order to get the most accurate result I also built a new case for the original speaker. I didn't want the different material properties between aluminum and chipboard to affect the sound. Neither I nor the other people I asked to listen to my speakers could hear any significant difference between them. i therefore decided to make a speaker with only one 4" midrange element and the 4" tweeter.
I tried to take the shapes I liked in my precious design and improve them for a two-element speaker. After reading some interior design magazines I also made a version with sharper lines. To decide which one to finalize, I made another quick survey. The winner was the upper design, which also happened to be my personal favorite.
I wasn't completely satisfied with the shape I came up with earlier, so I tried some other variations of it.
After I had drawn up a shape that I liked, I focused on creating a protection for the speaker elements. I wanted the protection to give something extra to the design. So that the speaker had slightly different expressions if the protection was mounted or not.
To create the subwoofer I extracted the key elements of the satellite speaker; The two circles and the different roundness of the corners. In order to get the inner volume of the enclosure I designed it in SolidWorks.
Various examples for the protection for the subwoofer.
The stand for the satellite speakers. They let you adjust the angle of the speakers, and they also have a smart fastener for the power-cable. Designed in SolidWorks, rendered in KeyShot.
I didn't think the fiberglass mesh on the speaker elements looked very professional or attractive, so I wanted to give them a new look. I tried some different combinations of colors fund in the BK Audio brand. My final decision fell upon the bottom right option, with a small blue line extracted from the lightning bolt in the BK Audio logo.
The final design for the satellite speaker.
The final design for the subwofer.
Both the satellite speaker and the subwoofer have fabric protective fronts. They are attached with magnets, leaving no marks when removed.
Different color options for the outer shell of the satellite speaker.
In order to pass this course, and to have something more substantial to show BK Audio, I had to make a model of the speakers. i decided to make a functional model in scale 1:1.
The finished model, which actually had a pretty good sound.
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BK Audio Kryterion

This was the final project for my bachelor's degree. The task was to design a new loudspeaker series for the Swedish loudspeaker brand BK Audio.
They wanted a speaker that should attract both home users and more public enterprises such as restaurants, stores etc. Two other important features they wanted was wireless technology and interchangeable outer shells.
My own goal for this project was to create something unique that could place both BK Audio and myself on the design map. To show that I can create something that's both beautiful and functional.
In order to reduce development costs, and to have a more solid base to design the speakers around, I was to base my design on a previous loudspeaker model. The new speakers was going to contain two 4" midrange speakers and a 4" tweeter. In addition to that there should be an active 10" subwoofer.

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Mikael Persson Hill
Product developer Bollebygd, Sweden