VAIA Cube: Powerless loudspeaker made of wood available in Germany

With the VAIA Cube, the start-up from Trento, Italy, launches an exciting, powerless loudspeaker made of wood. The wood used comes from fallen trees from hurricane Vaia, which hit Italy in 2018.

The VAIA Cube in detail

A loudspeaker made of wood that works without electricity and, what’s more, strengthens the region in Italy hit by the hurricane. Yes, the VAIA Cube is something quite different. The analog smartphone amplifier was born from one of the worst natural disasters in northern Italy, the Vaia storm, which felled 42 million trees in three days in 2018 and is a symbol of the scale of climate change.

Here, the wireless smartphone speaker takes advantage of the natural structure of spruce wood to realize the sound. A wood that is also used again and again in the construction of high-quality violins and creates an exciting upcycled product here.

Compact, powerless and innovative

The Cube is made by hand by local craftsmen, so each model is absolutely unique. At the same time, the speaker comes to a compact size of only 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and weighs only 500 grams. Smartphones can be placed in a corresponding slot measuring 8.6 cm x 1.2 cm, whereupon they use the wood as a resonating body to transmit the sound.

Sound-wise, the speaker achieves an amplification of 30 decibels on average, and in some cases even up to 52 decibels should be possible, according to the manufacturer.

This allows the VAIA Cube to be used not only as a speaker, but also as a classy and compact smartphone holder – for video calls or listening to podcasts, for example.

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Price and availability

The VAIA Cube is available now from the manufacturer’s e-shop. The recommended retail price for the wooden speaker is 61.50 euros including VAT.