This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with Silence Please.

C: Why do you focus on contemporary collectible design? What does it mean for you?

Silence Please: We design hifi speakers. Traditionally speakers are very functional, very boxy, and focused solely on performance. Speakers are designed to hide in the background and disappear from the eyes. We wanted to design speakers that stand out as sculpture, as pieces that represent not just the love of design but the love of music. Collectible design seemed to be the closest category that could encompass our objects. We believe that the introduction of sound systems in this category is fairly new, but it is a very exciting new phase.

C: How do you see the relationship between late 20th century design and contemporary design? How does one feed one another?

SP: This is a very relevant question, especially in reference to speakers. Back in the 20th century amplifiers had much less power because they ran on tube amps. So the speakers were in bigger boxes and had horns to naturally amplify the sound. This caused speakers to be large sculptural elements by function and not just aesthetics. Today, speakers are small and powerful, made out of plastic boxes that are easy to ship for e-commerce, this is because of innovations in high power amplifiers. Design becomes very interesting when we try to merge the past and the present and create objects that both resemble the past but use some technology from the future.

C: Can you talk about a designer, whom you admire?

SP: Brian Eno. Brian is both an audio and a visual artist, he is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music, and is the creator of one our favorite albums: ambient music in airports. He also happens to be a visual artist creating beautiful pieces dedicated almost exclusively to the possibilities that the medium of light provides. One of his pieces the turntable blends both mediums together audio and visual, and this is very aligned with our story and pieces.

C: Can you talk about a new collection that you released for COLLECTIBLE this year?

SP: For COLLECTIBLE this year we are releasing a limited collection of our classic tripod DJ monitor speakers in various materials and colors including a metal speaker and a transparent speaker. The speaker is one of the most natural and beautiful sounding speakers we have ever heard. The woofer is a 6.5inch paper cone woofer made from natural materials, the tweeter is a textile dome tweeter with natural ultra realistic highs. It is perfect for a small NYC living room that is 20 by 20 ft.