HISTORIC. ARTFUL. UNRIVALED. by Christ Rideout RIVERWOOD ACOUSTICS
Both Seaman and Rathwell share a love of the environment and the Ottawa Valley. Seaman’s 20 years of design engineering experience in audio, digital, and acoustics with major speaker com- panies, coupled with Rathwell’s extensive engi - neering background in product development and passion in woodworking came together in a perfect fit. They excitedly sketched their concepts on napkins and quickly drew up a mock prototype. In the beginning, they had six proto - types with different wood types and finishes, but in 2017 whittled it down to their two favourites for product development. Riverwood Acoustics is literally named after the type of wood that creates their superior product. To help readers better understand the history behind the riverwood, Seaman shares the story of the “old growth” timber that was harvested more than a century ago during the booming timber trade of the 1800s in the Ottawa Valley. The trees grew in a pristine environment con - sisting of lower light, cooler temperatures and optimal soil conditions, resulting in a wood that is denser and tighter grained than the woods of today.
I f you are looking for a warm, rich sound expe - rience in a Bluetooth wireless speaker and have an appreciation for artistic design, look no further than Riverwood Acoustics. Spotlight on Business recently caught up with Ben Seaman, co-founder of Riverwood Acoustics, to see why musicians and consumers are calling their product ‘the perfect speaker’ with a ‘state of awesome tonal quality’ that the founders con - fidently agree is unrivalled. This incredible product was the brainchild of Ben Seaman, who came up with the idea after watching large historic timber logs drift onto the shore of the Ottawa River. Seaman wanted to find something to craft with the wood as he noted that “the density and patterns are tremen - dous.” Then one day while cooking in the kitchen and listening to music on his cheap Bluetooth speaker with poor sound quality, it struck him that the wood could be used to create a truly high-end, beautiful speaker system. He reached out to his friend Scott Rathwell with his idea to design and build a speaker using 100% reclaimed riverwood and Rathwell jumped on board imme - diately.
“Love the history and sound…It’s got bass for days!”
“the density and patterns are tre- mendous.”
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SEPTEMBER 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2020
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