Samsung speakers: The salty sound of the sea

By Ian Morris on 14 January 2009, 1:09pm

Has Samsung finally lost the plot? We've heard about speakers made from paper, Kevlar and even silk, but those materials weren't good enough for the Korean mega-corp. So it's gone and dragged some seaweed out of the ocean and made speaker cones with it.

The company claims kelp is a perfect material for speakers, because it has a very fast response time and a natural tonal balance. That means you should have decreased noise and distortion when listening to your favourite music or movies. Apparently, the key to bio-kelp's success is that the density between fibre tissues is quite high, which is supposed to result in better clarity.

Samsung's display at CES explained all of this, also said bio-kelp was 'eco-friendly'. But it was in quotes, which makes us think it's being sarcastic. Still, the fibre extracted from the kelp should at least stand some chance of breaking down naturally at the end of its useful life.

The kelp speakers will be available in much of Samsung's 2009 home cinema range. So if you hear the sound of the ocean while you're watching a movie set in the desert, you'll know why.