There's a difference between an object that does something, and an object that is something.

Most speakers belong to the first group. They have a single job. Once it's done, they go quiet and become just another thing gathering dust. That's why speakers get hidden behind furniture, under tables, in corners, or worse, in a drawer.

Glass Wave, though, is the exact opposite — out of a seemingly absurd idea, we turn glass, wood and copper into an object that gives a room depth and character.

It all started quite unremarkably. The year was 2024. Vojta, a guy with big dreams and a passion for electronics, was renovating his bathroom when he found himself looking at some glass blocks lying off to the side, waiting to see what the future held for them. In that moment, he asked himself what other, unconventional use a glass monolith like that could offer, to make full use of its potential.

Over a beer one day, Vojta mentioned it to a good friend and work colleague, an enthusiastic audiophile. The two of them had already turned a pair of old shoe cabinets into a decent stereo once before. His friend looked doubtful at first, but happened to have two suitable drivers at home for some initial experiments.

A glass block as a speaker's body is an unusual choice. The hard, unyielding glass block looked like a problem. That didn't put Vojta off, though, and his friend couldn't pass up another audio project. While Vojta handled the construction, his friend took care of the sound and tuning. The first pair of Glass Wave speakers were connected by loose cables, the amplifier sat in a box beside them, and the driver was held in place with tape.

From that point, the story picked up pace. After several failed attempts, a considerably more sophisticated second version came together. This one had not only a control unit, Bluetooth and power supply, but also LED lighting that projects the ripple of the glass out into the room. That's how the speakers got their name: Glass Wave.

Meanwhile, Václav joined the setup — a developer by profession, Vojta's best friend since childhood, and a lover of classical music. By that time, the two of them had already been behind several non-commercial joint projects. One evening Vojta introduced him to Glass Wave and played the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, which Beethoven, as it happens, composed during a stay in Bohemia. Václav savoured every note with admiration, and it was clear it was time to join forces again. He took charge of building the website and started giving the whole project some structure.

On New Year's Eve 2024, Václav brought us some backup — his colleague Daniel, who handled marketing and everything that goes with it at his job. From then on we met with him regularly, working out how to get Glass Wave in front of people. But it was the three of us who set out on the shared goal — turning one person's dream into reality. Three friends. One workshop.

Today's Glass Wave speakers are designed and built by hand, one at a time, in a small workshop outside Prague. We take pride in sourcing our materials from local suppliers. The glass blocks are made from Czech-produced silica sand. For the surface finish, we use Osmo natural oils, well known in furniture-making for their eco-friendly composition and safety.

Building a single speaker currently takes us almost three days, because some steps need time in between to make sure everything settles and cures properly.

Every unit then goes through a series of tests, to make sure it meets all our requirements, before it's packed up and ready to be handed over to its new owner.

PS: The shoe-cabinet speakers are still in Vojta's living room today, connected to a turntable from the seventies, and in the evenings they bring his vinyl collection to life.