The Monolith development began in December 2020 with a study on the possibilities of the fusion an interior piece with a speaker. The mission – timeless design and able to deliver the Nocs sound on point.
End result? A world-class experience that would perform in all settings, unleashing the Nocs Studio sound in one unit or many synched together. It took them two years & they are extremely proud of the outcome. It’s safe to say the Monolith delivers.
The Monolith is made in Sweden, and the final assembly is at the Nocs Lab headquarters in Lund, Sweden. Limited runs ensure meticulous production and a flawless design every time.
In detail
Raw wood is the epitome of high-quality design. With a unique grain and texture on each piece, every speakers is as unique as its listener. Monolith speakers begin their journeys as local birch plywood, sourced from various local suppliers to optimize the look and feel.
The plywood is CNC’ed to the right geometry, and the surface is then treated with oil and wax. Finally, the blackened plywood offers a deep, matte black finish, infusing a subtle touch of personality to set your piece apart. They chose Scan-Speak, based in Denmark, as their local partner to deliver the highest caliber of speaker performance. Founded in 1970, Scan-Speak is renowned for its superb sound quality and high-end speaker drivers.
Although the final look is rustic and unassuming, the process is anything but. The end result? Raw expression fused with the best in modern sound technology. Meet precision at its finest.
Nocs studio sound – like the artist intended
Each musician has a distinct vision for the listening experience, and the speaker’s job is to get out of its way. Like an artist chiseling away at a marble sculpture, they’re just revealing the true sound that was there all along.
At Nocs Lab, audio development always begins with the musician community. The insights are invaluable in creating the right tuning, and honing the experience to preserve the artistic integrity of the speaker. Their Nocs Labs engineers focus on the relationship between the artist and the listener, tuning drivers to perform in the vented acoustic volumes. Premium components further empower the highest-quality sound.
Coupled with a newly inhouse invented piezo vent design inspired by car exhaust systems, the Monolith offers less distortion and deeper bass.
Cradle to cradle
After a few years of production in China, they made the important call to move production back to Sweden.
Why? Their products are designed for a circular economy. In addition to the elevated quality and appearance, they’ve prioritized a modular design that can be repaired and upgraded over time.
Speaker technology is constantly evolving, and for most products, the endless desire to upgrade means instant obsolescence for older models. Not the case with the Monolith — upgrade one part at a time while the unit remains intact.
They’re doing what they can to reduce electronic waste worldwide, invest in their local communities, and take sound to the next level.
Join the sound revolution – your Monolith is waiting.
Price & Availability
The Monolith will be available for pre-order at 1200 USD for US & 1500 EUR for Europe. Shipping starts in the end of January.
Development
They just launched a dedicated Nocs Labs discord channel for their community to follow the progress. Join the channel here.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
