Engineer’s ‘euphoria’ in creating vinyl gadget

A sound engineer said inventing a device which allowed him to play music from his record player through different speakers around his house felt “euphoric”.

Pete Fealey, of Weston-super-Mare, north Somerset, has worked in sound with artists including Sam Ryder and Louise Redknapp.

But it was at home when inspiration struck – when he wanted to move around the house while still listening to his much-loved records on vinyl.

Mr Fealey has since created the A2-D2 Stream, a device which uses wi-fi to transfer the output of a record player to speakers in a different room.

“I love putting records on and listening to albums and my record player started to languish in the spare room,” he said.

“I wanted to put some records on while I was cooking, or in a different room.”

Mr Fealey said he initially used a raspberry pi – a type of small, low-cost computer – to “cobble something together” before taking his idea to his work team.

Mr Fealey’s employer then supported him in developing a prototype over two years and the product launched in 2023.

The gadget, which is a little grey box, connects to the record player via the left and right analogue outs. The device is then connected to an app which links it to other speakers on the same wi-fi network.

Mr Fealey said the device means the unique sound of vinyl can be heard through modern speakers.

“The noise – the pops, the crackles, the slight scratches – there’s real joy and emotion in that,” he said.

“You can hear them wherever you are because the needle’s picking them up.”

Mr Fealey said he is now looking forward to a new update which will use bluetooth.