I see a lot of new speaker designs in the course of a month as I peruse through press releases looking for new products to feature in the front section of Home Entertainment.

But it's been a long time since a loudspeaker really caught my eye and demanded my attention the way Sounds by Design's Blackmore and Elise do.

Designer Randy Kunin calls his work "Functional Audio Art," and as pretentious as that may sound, it's an apt description. His designs—some inspired by the birth of his children, some a tribute to the his father and the audiophile obsession they shared when he was a kid, some driven by curiosity and purist pursuits—are due to be featured in a gallery exhibition later this year, in which he hopes to "make hi-fi an interactive medium" and offer "people who’ve never given audio or hi-fi a second thought ... an enticing venue to come in and experience it."

Read my Q&A with Randy Kunin of Sounds by Design for more insights about the inspiration for his "Functional Audio Art."