Objest Quip – possibly the most stylish home Bluetooth speaker

Objest is a London-based purveyor of “audio objects” and is looking to bring its latest design for a Bluetooth speaker, called Quip, to market with your help.

The company is based in Shoreditch, just down the road from my office, and has designed the Quip to fit in to your living room and the pillow shaped die-cast aluminium shell should also feel as good as it looks.

It has already set itself apart from the usual shiny plastic black boxes and the aim is to offer audio fans the kind of object you’d want in your home as well as being something easy to understand and effortless to operate.

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The company says the Quip won’t have the tinny, plastic sound that emanates from a lot of cheap and portable Bluetooth speakers either.

To achieve a more solid sound without having to scrap the speaker’s portability and sleekness, Objest partnered with another English company, Sheffield-based Sontia (it makes this Barnsley lad happy to see South Yorkshire representing!), which designs digital sound processing products for companies like LG, THX, and other big brands.

Specifically, the speaker’s been enhanced with CSR’s aptX codec, making the sound transmitted via Bluetooth clearer, crisper, and less compressed. Within its pillow-like structure, the speakers sit in an off-axis arrangement for minimal distortion and buzzes.

Pledging £119 will see you nab a discounted Quip later this year – Objest has estimated it will have its very first baby ready to leave the nest in September where it is expected to cost around £170.

Objest claims that “if you’ve ever used a smartphone, you already know how to control Quip” – it has a capacitive touch interface that allows very simple volume control, track navigation, and call management.

I particularly like the fact that you’ll be able to pair two Quips so you can amass an even thicker sound that could even pass for a surround sound system – or at least give a broader soundstage. Obviously, without actually hearing one or more, I am not currently able to vouch for the audio.

If you want to get behind another British audio company and see Quip get off the ground, you can make a pledge anytime over the next 20 days.