Audiowood makes wooden turntables, speakers, and other stereo and AV equipment. Our designs combine a high-performance modern aesthetic with natural forms.

Hi, I'm Joel Scilley

Born and raised in Florida, I studied art, architecture, and design in New York and Europe before earning a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies.  As part of these studies, I interned in carpentry, architecture, and urban planning.

I defected from academia in 1997 to return to designing and making things as a renovation carpenter in the California Bay Area.  Over time, my carpentry shifted towards fine woodworking, and I  made my first turntable and founded Audiowood in 2008.

My designs have been featured in art, design and audio exhibitions across the US.  And I'm grateful to have been named a "Person to Watch" and a "Tech Designer to Watch" by New Orleans Magazine and Apartment Therapy, respectively.

I was recently granted a patent for an innovative modular housing design, and I’m working on a series of organic, kinetic sculptures called the “Hybrid Relics,” which, in a kind of “science fiction,” play with themes of sustainability and post-apocalyptic survival gadgetry.

I have lived in New Orleans since 2013.

Style & Quality

Audiowood designs are both sculptural and performance-oriented.  They are a rejection of the disposable "black plastic box" aesthetic of most home audio-visual equipment.  

At Audiowood, we carefully source the finest wood and other natural materials from small businesses in the US.  And our components come from some of the best small manufacturers in the US, Europe and Japan: Rega, Ortofon, Grado, Groovetracer.

This blending of unique craft and precision function results in heirloom-quality devices that are a constant pleasure to use.

Our designs have been published extensively, and have won numerous awards at art shows and craft fairs, including "Most Unique Work" at New Orleans' Jazz Fest in 2015 and 2018.  

Over the years, we've partnered with a wide variety of international and local interests, including Uncrate, Bushmills, Anthropologie, Paramount Pictures, Adrian Grenier’s SHFT, Kemble Interiors, and both WWOZ Radio and The Green Project in New Orleans.

100% Handmade

All our products are designed and handmade in New Orleans, Louisiana, just a stone's throw from the French Quarter.

While we occasionally collaborate with other local craftspeople, the vast majority of woodworking, concrete forming, sculpting, etc. is done by Joel.  Most designs are built from start to finish in-house.

All of our packaging is either biodegradable, recycled, or both.