Drunk on the Sound of Music: Pure Malt Speakers from Pioneer

Putting together the eco-friendly man cave for the Green Rooms in a Box series the other day reminded me of two things:

1. How much I love my husband, because I really want to give him a room like that when we have our own home, and
2. How integral our electronic toys are in our everyday lives

Most interior designers worth their fee will tell you that your TV shouldn’t be the focal point of any room. But the fact of the matter is, that way of thinking is a bit outdated. These days, TVs, stereos and other electronics are a big part of our lives, and it’s not always possible to hide them for the sake of a beautiful, magazine-cover ready home. So you have a couple of options. You can hide that big-screen TV behind a piece of art or a folding screen, or you can buy your electronics with aesthetics (and of course the Earth) in mind, so you don’t have to hide them.

I’ll try to present you with more options for beautiful electronics here at Green Your Decor, since it’s unlikely we’ll all forgo our TVs and computers when decorating. These speakers from Pioneer Electronics are a great example of beauty and Earth-friendliness. The speaker boxes are made from reclaimed oak whiskey barrels. Soaking the wood in whiskey gives the speakers a beautiful oak patina and, apparently, a deep, mellow tone. This may sound like nothing more than a gimmicky claim, but all the tech reviews I found claimed there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality over traditional speakers.

I know my husband would get a kick out of knowing where the speaker boxes came from. Of course, if you like building things and happen to have some oak whiskey barrels laying around, you could probably make these speaker boxes yourself. But since neither of those applies to me, I’d consider these a great buy, perfect for a music lover.

Why It’s Green:

• Speaker boxes made from reclaimed oak whiskey barrels

Price: $299/ea.