Riverwood Acoustics' Hudson Bluetooth speaker is made from century-old driftwood

Riverwood Acoustics Hudson speaker

As brand names go, Riverwood Acoustics has to be up there with Brad’s Drink (the original name for Pepsi) in the does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin stakes. 

The company, based in Ontario, Canada, employs local "eco divers" to retrieve timber felled by Canadian lumberjacks more than 100 years ago. 

The wood, which was too dense to make its path along the Ottawa River in order to be used in construction, has been left languishing in the murky depths all this time. 

Riverwood Acoustics is now going about salvaging the wood and putting it to good use, in the shape of this little Bluetooth beauty, the Riverwood Acoustics Hudson.

The Hudson speaker features dual 7.5cm drivers and 9cm bottom-mount passive radiators, plus a 50-watt amplifier. Aside from aptX Bluetooth 4.2, the speaker also comes with a pair of analogue RCA connectors.

Crucially, the hand-crafted sold birch enclosure of the speaker promises to bring with it a special sonic tone thanks to that salvaged wood. 

The Riverwood Acoustics Hudson retails at $799 CAD (£454 plus shipping) and comes in a natural or walnut finish. And while we’ve yet to get one in for a solid sound appraisal, we can think of a Monty Python song we’d love to play on it...

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Becky has been a full-time staff writer at What Hi-Fi? since March 2019. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, she freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 20-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance is of course tethered to a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo, This is Cabaret and The Stage. When not writing, she dances, spins in the air, drinks coffee, watches football or surfs in Cornwall with her other half – a football writer whose talent knows no bounds.