Pinoy inventor

The November Hi-Fi Show heralded a grand spectacle.  It highlighted awesome turntables, audio players, vinyl albums, headphones and speakers from brands that may be less popular to some; but in truth, are lightning rods that attract hardcore audiophiles.

As I navigated through the massive event, I came across one particular speaker brand called Anthony Audio.  The speakers have superb audio quality.  They are locally made and are shipped to other countries.  What’s impressive is that their factory is actually the founder’s garage!

Judging on Anthony Audio’s logo — it has the fascinating gleam of the Mercedes-Benz’s star emblem — the speakers could easily be mistaken as a high-end product. As it turns out, it isn’t so.   In an interview with Manila Bulletin TechLifestyle, Pinoy Inventor/Anthony Audio founder Engineer Anthony Leuterio is a good-spirited fellow who isn’t afraid to show his enthusiasm for his creations.  He spent many years of his life researching and studying how speakers are built and through his massive collage of knowledge, he then ventured out into the speakers production business.

The speakers are all handmade by only a small number of people, Anthony included, right in his own backyard.  He initially exported them mostly to Singapore, where they get a decent amount of orders every week or so.

“The problem is, when you say ‘made in the Philippines’, the connotation from Filipinos and other countries, is that it is of low quality,” Anthony said. “So I told myself, when I bring my products out, it will not shame the country. That’s my main objective.”  He added that every product they make must be polished and that perfection is a necessity.

Anthony continued on saying that, “the secret of a speaker is its heart.”  The ‘heart’, Anthony elaborated, “Is the crossover. It is the electronic part that is passive within the box. A speaker to an average person is all the same…same finish, same woofer, same carbon built, same terminal.  He sees almost everything the same.  But then, why are there expensive speakers and cheaper ones?  Why do some cost millions and the others come really cheap?  The difference is what’s inside; how they were built.  That is the heart.  Listen to it and you will know why one is expensive and why the other is not.”

Anthony explains that although some parts are imported, he, however, designs the drivers, woofers and tweeters.  He can assemble a tweeter in roughly five minutes and all the boxes that they make are all handmade.  “Everything is designed by us,” Anthony said. “We decide its specs; so, the quality matches or even better than those branded ones.”

One of the biggest challenges faced by Anthony Audio is capital.  Some speaker models could reach up to 500 million on development of a single model alone.  “Not so practical here in the Philippines”, Anthony said. He shared with us his experience two years ago, in the November 2012 Hi-Fi Show, when Anthony Audio was graced by the presence of his Excellency Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. In a light informal conversation, the president asked Anthony about his capital, to which he responded, “Honestly, my capital is only two million.”  With Anthony Audio exemplifying Filipino Ingenuity, the president had showed significant interest in Anthony Audio.

Also with us during the interview was Anthony Audio’s COO, Rhett John Esteban. He told us that although anybody can make a speaker, given their situation, consistency is of prime importance.  He added, “We must figure out a way to nail down a very good speaker and manufacture it consistently.  Here at Anthony Audio, we try our best to be consistent so that when others make the comparison with other more expensive brands, they will realize that they’re of the same sound and quality.”

Based on Esteban’s detail on Anthony’s work ethic, the man hammers them all, setting benchmarks on quality. They meticulously calculate how many pairs they make each week, careful not to overproduce and to budget their limited funds.

“If you’re going to base it on sales,” Esteban shared, “We scale down depending on the demand. For smaller speakers, we can produce about 100 to 180 pieces a day and human-sized speakers about 60 pieces per month.”

Anthony Audio will be rolling out several new speakers this year.  Esteban added, “We’re  working on good quality speakers that can connect to smartphones.”

Check out Anthony Audio’s Facebook page and know more about their speakers.  Their speakers are also available on Lazada.