Independent design

Engineering your audio dream.

Industrial design and mechanical engineering for high-end audio products.

From the first concept to production-ready parts: chassis, panels, heat dissipation and every detail that turns an audio component into a premium product.

AudiophileBerry logo

01 SELECTED WORK

Projects

Personal products designed to the standard of a commercial release.

Hi-Fi streamer · Integrated amplifier

ONE

A Hi-Fi streamer with a high-performance integrated Class D amplifier. ONE is the refined evolution of the DIY project I built in 2021. Because that first version used adapted, off-the-shelf parts rather than custom ones, it had a few small imperfections. But the design was already beautiful: it only needed to be perfected into a product ready for production.

  • A high-end chassis on a par with premium commercial components, now housing a high-performance DAC while keeping the same external dimensions as the DIY version.
  • A flexible amplifier stage that accepts entirely different Class D modules with no mechanical changes: Pascal S-PRO2, ICEpower 250ASX2, ICEpower 200AS2 and Hypex Ncore NC252MP.
  • A perfectly centred front display with zero bezels at the top and bottom, a detail even some commercial products lack.
  • Better heat dissipation, built into the design rather than added to it.
  • The debut of the backlit AudiophileBerry logo on the top cover, the signature detail that makes ONE unique.
Role
Industrial design · Mechanical engineering · Prototyping
Processes
CNC machining · Sheet metal · Laser cutting

The first build

Not just DIY.

Before ONE, there was this. My first streamer-amplifier was built almost entirely from standard parts: aluminium profiles for mechatronics, an off-the-shelf display, and only the covers custom-machined by CNC.

It may look simple, but this is where I truly learned mechanical design, finding solutions that made every standard component fit as if it had been made for it.

Mini-ITX enclosure · Audio & desktop PC

SM FIVE

A versatile Mini-ITX enclosure for DIY audio or a compact desktop PC, with an integrated front display. It is made entirely from sheet metal to keep production costs low, and sheet metal imposes strict limits on shapes, bends and details. The real challenge was working within those limits and still giving it a strong personality. SM FIVE shows that an affordable enclosure can carry the same design character as a premium product.

Focus
Design character within sheet metal limits · Cost-effective production
Process
Sheet metal

Available for new projects

Your product could be next.

I design and engineer high-end audio products for brands and companies, from the first concept to production-ready parts: aesthetics, heat dissipation, tolerances, fits, materials and space management. Let's talk about your idea.

Get in touch

02 WHAT I DO

Capabilities

Everything an audio component needs between the electronics and the listener.

01

Industrial Design for Audio

Proportions, surfaces and details for streamers, amplifiers, DACs and enclosures — designed to look like a finished, premium product.

02

Mechanical Engineering

Chassis, panels and internal structures: tolerances, fits, space management and assemblies built around the electronics.

03

Thermal Design

Heat dissipation solved inside the design, not added afterwards — even in compact enclosures.

04

Modular Platform Design

Modular enclosures built around custom solutions or industry standards such as Mini-ITX, ready for different configurations and future upgrades with no mechanical changes.

05

Design for Manufacturing

CNC machining, sheet metal and laser cutting. Materials and processes chosen for real production, supplier research and support during manufacturing.

06

3D CAD & Prototyping

Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD models, technical drawings, BOMs and assembly guides, verified through physical prototypes.

03 HOW I WORK

From idea to production.

  1. 01

    Brief

    We define the product, the electronics inside, the target cost and the look you have in mind.

  2. 02

    Concept & design

    Design proposals and photorealistic renders, refined until the product feels right.

  3. 03

    Engineering & prototyping

    Detailed 3D CAD, thermal and mechanical solutions, physical prototypes and fit checks.

  4. 04

    Production

    Drawings, BOMs, assembly guides, supplier research and support until the first units are built.

04 FIRST STEPS

Where it all began.

Long before 3D CAD, there were my DIY builds. Since I was a teenager I've built my own Hi-Fi systems for home, while dreaming of the great names of high-end audio.

It all really began in 2008 with my DIY build of the Aleph 5, the pure Class A amplifier designed by Nelson Pass: a beast with massive heatsinks, a large toroidal transformer and a bank of capacitors. Back then I designed its mechanics in Canvas, a simple graphics program. The tools would change over the years, and so would I, but the passion never did.

Each step taught me something, and each one fed the same wish: to one day build something people would look at and say, "Wow, that's not DIY. That's a real product."

05 ABOUT

Designed in Italy.

Alessandro Gornati

Product Designer · High-End Audio

As a kid I dreamed of designing cars. That love for beautiful, well-engineered objects never left me. It found its way into Hi-Fi, my other great passion.

I started on the shop floor, became a technician and then moved into design, working for major companies in telecommunications, automation, IT and sound distribution. Along the way I discovered what I love most: 3D design, mechanics and industrial design, because I've always been drawn to beautiful things.

I taught myself everything I know about it. What brought me here has always been the same: passion, and the desire to keep learning.

AudiophileBerry is the name behind my independent design work. Its logo is my own design too: a berry built from hexagonal shapes that also recall musical notes, minimal enough to be cut and backlit.

06 CONTACT

Have an audio product to develop?

Open to collaborations with audio brands developing high-end products.
Based in Italy, available for remote collaborations worldwide.

Get in touch info@audiophileberry.com