After years mixing live music, spending time in recording studios and touring with bands, Dunedin’s Tex Houston has made a business of hand building unique hi-fi speakers.
He’s a sound person, an excellent listener. Someone whose ears have been relied on by musicians on stage and in recording studios for decades. Now Tex Houston has taken those skills to forge a business making high-end, hand-crafted hi-fi speakers.
“I was still doing recording projects and live sound but less touring over the years and not wanting to be idle, I thought I’d build speakers for a bit of fun,” Tex says.
Tex Houston, sound engineer and creator of Tex Tone speakers. Photo by Alan Dove.
That fun has turned into a range of creative designs described as “the most beautiful sound you’ll ever see,” with curvaceous, multi-layered birch-ply boxes housing precision-balanced sonic componentry imported from Europe. Tex Tone speakers come in four models – the Tex Tone Classics, Classic Minis, Towers and Consoles. Some are hand painted by artist friends: Chris Knox, Bob Scott, Nicola McLaren, David Kilgour.
They’re at the higher end, dollar-wise, but “not outrageously so” and the price reflects their quality, Tex explains. “I found that every time I upped the quality of the drivers, the quality of the speaker leapt up as well.”
Tex tailors the speakers to his ears – “but they’re made acceptable to other ears as well! And I have aways had good quality studio monitors as reference points.”
It’s his solid background at sound desks for live gigs and in recording studios that provide the edge, here. His ears are well-honed. Tex has been an audio engineer for more than 40 years, working with literally hundreds of New Zealand musicians, many associated with the Flying Nun label including The Clean, The Chills, The 3Ds, Dimmer, The Bats and David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights. He is credited on numerous albums and has toured the world several times over with Kiwi bands. He is a bit of a legend in New Zealand music circles.
Having had a degree of success making a monitor from scratch, years ago, it was quite a natural progression to building home hi-fi speakers. He didn’t want a “boring old box,” so cut a shape from a piece of flat board – multiplied and layered it – and realised he could make any shape he wanted, using a jigsaw and router.
Tex Houston realised he could make any shape he wanted, using a jigsaw and router. Photo by Alan Dove.
“It took several months to make that first prototype,” he recalls. “They sounded OK but there were a few things I didn’t like so I started the process again… and then I just kept on going and one day, I thought – ‘they sound good and they look good!’ I had to spend more on the components until I got what I was happy with.”
Each time changes are made to the driver or the shape of the box, Tex must redesign the ‘brain’ that drives and balances the sound quality. That involves a recipe of capacitors, inductors and resistors, in varying quantities and values, with a dose of wizardry. His speakers are appreciated for a rich, sonic signature and impressive bass response.
They also look fantastic, as elegant and unique pieces of contemporary furniture. The most beautiful sound you will ever see, indeed!
Tex Tone speakers sell through Dunedin’s Relics HiFi and through Turned On Audio (Auckland) and at textone.co.nz
Story by Kath Webster for the Spring 2024 issue of AA Directions Magazine. Kath Webster is the Editor of AA Directions magazine.
Explore more from AA Directions magazine:
- Professional mermaid Sacha Williamson shares her underwater adventures.
- How to stay safe when riding an e-scooter.
- Cruise from Hong Kong to Japan on an epic 14-night journey.
