History

Royd Releases
Royd Audio begin in 1980 and produced many speakers over the following two decades. You can view a timeline of these releases here, to gain an insight as to when different models superseded others.

Company History
Below is a brief history of Royd releases over the years, as quoted from the original Royd Audio website.

• Royd Loudspeaker Co. Ltd.was set up by Joe Akroyd in 1980. His aim to concentrate on designing and manufacturing hifi loudspeakers for those customers around the world where sound quality is of primary concern.
• The rear ported A7 was introduced in 1982 and the more sophisticated Coniston series in 1984.
• By 1987 serious development work produced the EDEN, the first mass damped model. This family of stand mounted rear ported speakers continued to be the mainstay of sales until 1990.
• 1989 saw the introduction of the APEX, a transmission line design and our first floorstanding model.
• 1990 was celebrated by the launch of the SAPPHIRE and SINTRA , both stand mounted models which largely replaced the Coniston R and EDEN and demonstrated that improvement could be made to established good designs.
• 1992 saw the ABBOT successfully replace the APEX in all markets.
• July 1993 saw the launch of the MINSTREL a landmark loudspeaker (as the A7 had been 11 years before). This small floorstanding model was an instant success.
• The next new model was the SORCERER, a very musical high quality stand mounted loudspeaker, (a limited number of Special Edition Sorcerers in Walnut veneer cabinets is still being produced).
• In 1995 the DOUBLET, big brother to the Minstrel, a three way model, capable of producing more volume made record sales.
• 1996 saw the introduction of the ALBION with its improved performance, individual design and matching hardwood stand. This was a particularly popular design in our overseas markets.
• Joe Akroyd has never set out to simply upgrade any one model. Unless he could justify a positive improvement in performance he continued to stay with his current models. This was why there were no appreciable changes until the new ROYD REVELATION RANGE was introduced in 2001.

Here’s a snippet about Joe Akroyd’s history prior to starting the Royd Loudspeaker Co, taking from the Chinese hifi site www.sonance.com.tw and translated through Google Translate. I’m not 100% certain of the origin of this text, whether it was an early press release or simply put together by a fan of Royds’.

Royd was established in 1980, the head of Joe Akroyd in the early 1960s that is involved in the famous Goodman speaker design and manufacture of Maxin. He also involved in design and manufacture of machines and the expansion Maxamp tuner. He then design, manufacture and improvement Andium and Axion bass monomer to improve the sound quality. In 1970, Akroyd join Wharfadale as a manufacturing manager, design, manufacture Denton, Linton, Melton, Triton, Doredale. The mid-70s into the Decca, he reorganized the department and the development of new series of speakers Decca speaker. 1980, Racal bought Decca. In order to achieve the ideal, Akroyd to Racal bought Decca speaker equipment, Royd was born.

Royd located in the United Kingdom Shrophire of Telford, near Wales, surrounded by beautiful countryside around. She is a small company, few employees, but it can ensure that their products are of high standard. She just started to focus on five-inch bass, volume 7 liters of high-quality design and manufacture of small speakers. These speakers are designed to be placed near the wall, and is equipped with Akroyd patented suction-vibration reflex tube, effectively
Speakers and the bass will be reduced to the lowest resonant monomer can greatly improve the sound quality. Today, Royd has successfully introduced a range floor-standing speakers.

Original text can be found here: http://www.sonance.com.tw/royd/intro.htm

The Final Farewell
Around 2002 Joe Akroyd started his retirement plans, being in his early seventies, continuing Royd Audio alone was not a realistic option. Two unsuccessful protracted buyout negotiations ensued to no avail. In late 2003 negotiations began with Phonography, however by this point Joe Akroyd had already scrapped his machinery and moved out of his workshop. Without this key machinery, it wasn’t feasible for Phonography to continue production of Royd Audio speakers. Nonetheless a deal was struck in early 2004 and Phonography purchased all remaining stock and leftovers, letting Joe Akroyd finally retire and hence forth kept himself out of the Hi-Fi spotlight.

A Revival

In 2014 the Royd Audio was revived by industrial designer Adam Norbury. Who has attempted to follow in Joe Akroyd’s principles and whilst injecting his own characteristics. 

Read an interview with Adam Norbury here: Urban Cottage Industries.

Find out more at the new company website: www.roydaudio.co.uk.

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