Best of British Pro Audio
Best of British Pro Audio
From an early age, Tobias Silver, our founder, developed a deep fascination with music equipment. This keen interest blossomed and by the age of 14, he was DJing at his school friends parties, which began an obsession with optimizing his equipment. At 18 his quest for optimization lead to a home studio, and the physical space became part of the optimization. This lead him to research room acoustics eventually leading to him starting a Masters degree in acoustic engineering. During his time at university, after some frustrating events a thought came to him; why not design a speaker system to fix all these problems. With access to the universities library , he immersed himself in AES papers, spending countless hours learning the science and art behind accurate sound reproduction. It was during this formative period that the foundation for the company began to take shape.
The first real glimpse of what would become Buried Audio began, with a birthday gift. Tobias designed and built a small 2.1 speaker system for his mum. This was intended more as a gesture than a prototype and was definitely rough around the edges. Though his early attempts at carpentry left plenty of room for improvement, the sound that emerged from the rough plywood enclosure was outstanding. It was the first time his ideas had moved from paper to reality, and the result was very encouraging. If a hastily built gift could sound this good, perhaps the idea of designing a PA system had legs.
After the success of the 2.1 system, Tobias decided to embark on the PA project. Having just learned to drive, he found that his first car was far too small to transport a suitable conventional PA system. Rather than compromise on size or performance, he decided to research how to overcome this issue.
This is the first speaker ever created by the founder of Buried Audio: Tobias Silver. It was a small 2.1 system originally for his mother, and is still kept to this day.
This was the first PA system created by Buried Audio, It had its issues, and is heavily inspired by another British PA company, but it was the first of many steps to where Buried Audio is now. The creation was documented on Tobias's Youtube Channel
Energised by the progress he’d made, Tobias turned his attention to horn-loaded systems. He was particularly intrigued by the efficiency and projection of horn designs. With the maximum dimensions of his car’s boot carefully measured and noted, Tobias selected the drivers and got to work designing his first horn. To bring it to life, he ordered a 3D printer. Over the course of 150 hours, the first horn system, layer by layer, took shape.
The first time Tobias tested the system, it left an impression. During the soundcheck at a local venue, the output was so intense that members of staff hid behind the bar. A calibrated sound level meter registered 132 dBC at just one metre away! (roughly the same level as a jet plane taking off at 100 metres). A clip from that night still lives on the Buried Audio YouTube channel.
In his second year at university, he enrolled in a module on loudspeaker and microphone design. The theory, measurement techniques, and design principles covered in that class laid the groundwork for everything that would follow. From that point on, Tobias directed every possible part of his studies toward loudspeakers; from acoustics and material science to wave behaviour, applying each lesson to improve what would eventually become the first complete Buried Audio PA system.
During his second year at university, the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a standstill. With classes moved online and plenty of free time, Tobias turned once again to the PA system design. The PA system, until then lacking a proper low-end extension, was finally going to get the subwoofer it needed. The subwoofer was designed to deliver deep, rich bass using 4 12 inch drivers, these were chosen for the sake of compactness. But in the process, something unexpected was discovered, those smaller drivers, with their lower moving mass, the transient response was unmatched by other subwoofers.
This box was constructed by a friend of the family, a skilled carpenter, and helped show Tobias what to aim for.
3D printing helped create the 4 ports, and the grill covers. This inspired the current grill covers on the current products.
This live stream event, ran by a media student at the University of Salford. This event became a test bed for the development of the BB System.
In his third year at university, Tobias took part in Live From Studio A, a live-streamed project produced by a media student in the TV studios of MediaCityUK. Tobias provided a hastily built prototype, on a unique idea which might look familiar.
The first prototype of the BB line emerged from a conversation in a pub with a group of acoustics students about the challenges of modeling complex loudspeaker enclosures. One particular style came up as an example of a shape notoriously difficult to model mathematically. Attempting this the next morning as a challenge, when he finally got the modelling to work, he uncovered a fascinating effect caused by the unique impedance offset between the front and rear waves. This could be used to achieve remarkably precise control over the frequency response all without the large distortions in the time domain typically associated with most horn designs.
At first, this new design followed the same philosophy as Tobias’s original PA system, earning it the prototype nickname “Sound Cannon.” This would later be renamed the BB163 as the company’s naming conventions became more established. The output was even more powerful than the previous horn designs, but its large size made transportation more challenging than intended. This clashed with the original goal of portability set by the first PA system and after some careful refinements, Tobias was able to improve the design, balancing the intense sound with practical usability.
This was the first prototype of the BB line, and like the first PA system it was significantly too loud. This is the first time the new style of hybrid QWT offset horn enclosure was used and is the first example of the Buried Audio Voicing being perfected.
This speaker halved the size of the BB163, both making it more practical to move, and lowering the immense output to sane SPL levels. A single BB83 could still fill an entire large broadcast studio easily despite its lower volume.
The prototype BB83 was the result, scaling back the extreme output to a more manageable, yet still impressively loud level. By reducing the number of drivers, the effectiveness of the restoring force method was further enhanced, bringing an even clearer, more precise sound.
Another Live From Studio A event was planned, which was the perfect opportunity to showcase the improvements he’d made to the system. It was during this time that the reality of Buried Audio truly began to take hold. While consulting for another loudspeaker company, Tobias witnessed firsthand the limitations and compromises that often went unquestioned in the industry. That experience only strengthened his conviction that Buried Audio needed to exist.
Following the successful showcase at the second Live From Studio A, more university events began reaching out to use the prototype BB system. One close friend of Tobias’s asked if he could provide a pair of the prototype BB83s for an upcoming event called Prime Cuts: Last Slice.
When Tobias chaired the DJUOS (The University of Salfords DJ Society) they regularly hosted Open Jams, giving members access to the university’s industry-standard equipment. Buried Audio provided the BB sound system for five of these events.
Over time the need for a Subwoofer to accompany the BB83 Prototypes so a subwoofer half as big as the first PA systems was designed. This subwoofer used the same concept, but with different drive units, which dramatically improved upon the punch and clarity of the low end, without sacrificing that deep and rich voicing used on the previous Subwoofer.
A friend of Buried Audio founder Tobias, DJ Clipping took the risk of using a friends small starting up Speaker Company to power his event "Prime Cuts: Last Slice"
While at the University of Salford Tobias was a large part of the DJ Society, starting it in his first year, and chairing for all 4 years of his university life. During the final year of his 'chairmanning', he took a more passive role to allow his replacement to learn how to take over. During this Buried Audio became a fully fledged Idea and its presence at the DJ UOS events became a much loved addition
After the Aftars, an unofficial afterparty marked the last outing of the full BB sound system during Tobias's University years. A small basement in a good friends flat, with no neighbour's near by to complain. This close quarters setting made the system sing, and to this day Tobias has never been to a better sounding house party.
After the Open Jams, the final two events of Tobias’s university career featured the now-completed prototype BB sound system. These were the Aftars; the after parties to the Baftars, the University of Salford’s internal awards ceremony for media students. Throughout the nights, both staff and students praised the sound quality, impressed by the clarity and power the system delivered. After the Aftars, an unofficial afterparty marked the last outing of the full BB system during Tobias’s university years. Held in the basement of a close friend’s flat, tucked away where no neighbours could complain.
After graduating, Tobias turned his full attention to Buried Audio. The garage below his flat was getting cramped so Buried Audio moved to a dedicated factory building. Buried Audio was no longer just a university project, but a fully fledged business. A CNC router was one of the first major investments, followed by a spray booth. Each new addition brought the company closer to fully in-house production, and slowly but surely, the workshop began to resemble a factory.
With the workshop finally taking shape, Tobias set his sights on a new challenge: designing a smaller system that still carried the same sound of Buried Audio. The result would become the SB system which delivers around half the output of the BB series, but in a dramatically more compact form. Learning to use the CNC router was a challenge in itself, requiring months of trial, error, and persistence. In parallel, Tobias attended a spray finishing course to refine the finish of the cabinets. Countless prototypes and design iterations followed, each bringing the system closer to what he had envisioned. Eventually, all the pieces came together and the SB system was born.
Robots just do it better, the CNC dramatically changed the quality of the carpentry from DIY to professional.
Tobias (left) posing with the newly cut SB system (SB43 tops and SB12S subs)
Much like the very first 2.1 system Tobias built for his mum, the idea for the Micron came from a gift, this time for his grandfather. The original was a simple prototype bluetooth speaker using leftover speaker drivers from the main PA production, which his grandpa loved. That response meant alot, and by Christmas of that same year, Tobias had built a proper version as a present. There was something special, and it wasn’t long before the Micron earned its place on the list to become a full-fledged Buried Audio product.
On the 14th of July 2025, the Micron officially became Buried Audio’s first released product. To mark the occasion, an online shop was launched a small but significant milestone that made everything feel real. The very first Micron sold was finished in bright pink instead of the classic Green and Black color scheme, a bold choice made by LOUDPACK raves. It was a proud moment: the result of years of learning, experimentation, and quiet determination.
To be continued…
This was the bluetooth speakers designed for Tobias's grandpa that inspired the micron