Sunship Audio

Gallery

A visual journey through the Sunship Audio project — from raw birch plywood and workshop benches to the finished loudspeakers, hand-built horns, crossovers, and the Berlin listening room.

The Sunship Audio gallery offers an intimate look behind the scenes of a loudspeaker project rooted in the traditions of Japanese jazz kissa culture and the legendary TAD driver lineage. Visitors can trace the journey from raw sheets of Baltic birch plywood and CNC-cut panels to the careful hand assembly that follows. The images capture the double-layered cabinet construction, the heavy bracing that lends rigidity, and the patient sanding and finishing work that gives each enclosure its smooth, refined surface. It is a reminder that serious horn loudspeakers are as much about craftsmanship as they are about components.

The workshop photographs showcase the crossover networks and wiring that sit at the heart of these systems, alongside the iconic TAD drivers — the TD-2001 and TD-4001 compression drivers, the TL-1601 woofers, and the radial horn profiles that define their dispersion characteristics. The visual documentation highlights how passive crossover design, time alignment, and flat frequency response are achieved through careful component selection and meticulous assembly. Each image reveals the level of detail required to build loudspeakers that deliver clean, low-distortion sound with the presence and immediacy that jazz kissa enthusiasts prize.

Beyond the bench work, the gallery includes shots of finished cabinets and listening spaces, including the Berlin listening room where these systems come alive. The photographs show how the deep green and warm wood finishes integrate into comfortable, focused listening environments designed around the music rather than around spectacle. Grills, magnet assemblies, and the small cosmetic details that separate a custom build from a mass-produced speaker are all documented here. The gallery also touches on the various finish options and the effort involved in achieving a truly professional result by hand.

For those exploring the Sunship Audio catalog, the gallery serves as both inspiration and education. It demystifies what goes into a high-end horn loudspeaker — the weight of the cabinets, the complexity of the crossovers, the precision required in driver mounting and alignment. It also reflects the ethos of the project: a passion for rare vintage components, a respect for the engineering that made them legendary, and a commitment to building systems that honor that heritage. Whether you are considering a custom pair or simply appreciate fine audio craftsmanship, the gallery offers a window into the craft.

Loudspeakers & Horns

A pair of large floor-standing loudspeakers with warm wood-grain cabinets and substantial bi-radial wood horns mounted on top, set against a softly lit interior wall in neutral beige tones.

Completed Sunship Loudspeakers

The finished two-way horn-loaded system: double-layered birch plywood cabinets housing TAD TL-1601 woofers, topped with 22 kg bi-radial wood horns and TAD TD-4001 compression drivers.

Close-up of a massive solid-wood bi-radial horn with visible layered plywood construction, warm honey-brown tones, and a multi-cellular throat with vertical fins.

Bi-Radial Wood Horn Detail

A close look at the multi-cellular throat and vertical dispersion fins. Each horn is CNC-machined from solid plywood and weighs 22 kg — non-resonant and purpose-built for the TD-4001.

Side profile of a horn-loaded loudspeaker in a workshop setting, showing the thick double-layer birch plywood cabinet edge and the horn mounted above, with natural wood grain and warm amber lighting.

Cabinet Construction

Double-layered birch plywood cabinets — 2 inches (5 cm) thick — with front-to-back bracing. The complete speaker pair weighs approximately 300 kg.

Crossovers

A large plywood board with meticulously arranged crossover components — foil inductors, capacitors, and resistors — all individually zip-tied and glued, with point-to-point wiring in a clean, orderly layout.

Time-Aligned Crossover Board

Point-to-point wiring on 12 mm plywood. Goertz foil inductors handle the high frequencies; H-core inductors manage the low end. All parts are paired within 0.5% and soldered with Mundorf Supreme silver/gold.

Detail shot of a crossover network showing the contrast between wide copper-coloured foil inductors and darker iron-core inductors, with neatly routed wiring against a pale plywood substrate.

HF & LF Inductor Detail

Goertz foil inductors on the high-frequency section for low distortion; H-core inductors on the low-frequency section for low resistance and tight bass energy.

Listening Room — Berlin

A calm, uncluttered listening room with the large wood-horn loudspeakers positioned in front of a plain wall, soft natural daylight, and no visible screens or displays — a dedicated space for focused listening.

The Listening Space

The Berlin demo room follows a screen-free philosophy — no laptops or streamer apps in the room. Equipment is controlled remotely via the Auralic Lightning DS app.

A rack of audio electronics including a substantial amplifier with a dark faceplate, a compact DAC, and a turntable with a sleek tonearm, arranged on a low wooden shelf in subdued lighting.

Equipment Chain

ASR Emitter I amplifier, Okto Research DAC8 Stereo, Auralic Aries Mini streamer, and analog sources including a Technics SL-1210 MKII with DL-103R cartridge and Nagra BPS phono stage.

Build Process & Workshop

A workshop bench with birch plywood panels, clamps, and woodworking tools, sawdust visible on the surface, warm workshop lighting.

Workshop

Behind-the-scenes glimpses of the build process: cutting, laminating, and bracing the double-layer birch plywood cabinets.

A CNC machine cutting a large wooden horn profile from stacked plywood, with wood shavings and the curved horn shape emerging from the block.

CNC Horn Machining

The bi-radial horn profile takes shape on a CNC machine. Precision machining ensures the throat geometry and flare rate match the TD-4001 compression driver exactly.

Inspiration: Japan & Jazz Kissa

A cozy, dimly lit Japanese listening bar interior with vintage audio equipment, wood-panelled walls, and shelves of vinyl records, warm amber and brown tones throughout.

Jazz Kissa — Tokyo

Japan's Jazz Kissa culture — intimate listening cafés dedicated to high-quality audio playback — was a key inspiration. Visits to Tokyo spots like Bigboy and Jimbocho are documented on the blog.

Rows of vinyl records in a well-stocked Japanese record shop, with jazz LP covers visible, warm fluorescent lighting, and narrow aisles lined with wooden bins.

Disk Union Jazz — Tokyo

Record-digging in Tokyo: Disk Union Jazz and other vinyl haunts that fuel the analog side of the Sunship Audio listening experience.

Want the full story behind the build?

Explore detailed write-ups on the horns, crossovers, and the blog for equipment impressions, travel notes, and build logs.

Read the Blog