Sleek Audio on Fox 13 Tampa

Loud music can cause hearing damage, especially when it's coming from headphones. But one Bay Area company has a way to let you crank it up safely. They're tiny speakers that deliver big sound, built into an earphone that blocks most outside noise, so you can sleep. And they can personalize them with art ..the music pros love this, and so might your ears.

Tiny speakers, big sound

Lloyd Sowers, 08 Apr 2011

PALMETTO - "Not only do we want to provide something that sounds like a $20,000 stereo system in the ear, which is the goal of the company, but we also wanted something that made people feel relaxed when they traveled," said Jason Krywko, COO of Sleek Audio. Now, he's sharing his tiny secret.

"We want to protect hearing. We want to preserve hearing," Krywko said. That's because the science of hearing was handed down from Jason's father, who makes hearing aids. "I've been in the hearing aid industry for 36 years, dealing with the elderly, and now I'm dealing with superstars, it's quite a jump," said Mark Krywko, Jason's dad and CEO of the company.

He's referring to hip-hop star 50 Cent, who is in Vegas, endorsing his new line of Sleek's, over the ear headphones, at the big consumer electronics show. "So 50 partnered with us, we were able to take it to a whole another level with him, and design a wireless headphone product that nobody has on the market," Jason said. And all of this comes from the small town of Palmetto, Florida -- their headquarters, and now their manufacturing plant that they moved back to the USA from China. "The customers are very important to us obviously, and doing it in China was just the wrong way to do it," Mark said.

They say they get much better workmanship here. "We actually take the ear molds that we make like hearing aids , we cut them down, we smooth them over," Jason described. Each one is hand-crafted. "And we'll go in and we'll custom design it, custom tune the sound, and give them exactly what they want out of that particular headphone," Jason said. They range in price from $80 to $800, depending on just how much audio and artistic customization you want. "And next thing you know, it's word of mouth…the manufacturers of speakers said 'no, you can't do that.' And we did it. And we ended up patenting the process," Jason said.

It's all causing a music listening revolution, from a father and son project that's turned the old family business into something brand new -- in your ear.

Watch the video here: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/sun_coast/tiny-speakers-big-sound-sleek-audio-04082011