A new hype in the world of the ultrarich: glass speakers

[PlasticDoc]

Double glass with vacuum would be interesting,no resonances whatsoever from the inside

A case for "spacial" sound?

 

[dualazmak]

How about double or triple glass with inner space(s) filled by water and/or special clear "snake oil" or "snake solution"?

I am a Ph.D. scientist as well as a "Certified Class-1 Radiation Protection Supervisor" (yes, I am serious, one of the most highly regarded difficult-to-get Governmental official certificates), and I know well that high-density ZnBr2 (zinc bromide) clear aqueous solution (around 45g/100ml) can be filled in thick glass case for radiation (gamma, beta, and alpha) shielding; it is a really heavy, high-density clear liquid.

But,,, if the speaker glass case filled with ZnBr2 solution would be broken by accident or earthquake, then....

 

[PlasticDoc]

Also available in a glass receptacle...

 

[Dialectic]

Nothing new about this. A video from eight years ago (the reviewer has since passed, RIP):

And the vast majority of the ultrarich do not care about glass speakers.

 

[dualazmak]

LOL! Looks it has drainage valve for exchange of inner liquid!

 

[Dialectic]

LOL! Looks it has drainage valve for exchange of inner liquid!
View attachment 356112

Not sure what was going on with the design of that speaker... Rather bizarre.

 

[dualazmak]

Nothing new about this. A video from eight years ago (the reviewer has since passed, RIP):

And the vast majority of the ultrarich do not care about glass speakers.

I am a little bit seriously wondering; what would be the change of the sound quality if we fill the inside with helium or nitrogen (both safe), or hydrogen (dangerous)?? Yes, filling with "snake gas"!, but please avoid "skunk gas".

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

It seems that glass speakers are the new hype in the world of the ultrarich. They get more and more installed in hi end (multi million) homes here in Europe, and look very stylish:
The question is, glass as enclosure material, it looks strange. It will resonate all kinds of ways that you don't want it. The speaker is made of security glas (almost unbreakable), but i still think it's a very bad id. Arguments pro or contra?
the speaker shown is the Watterfall Victoria XT, a 2 1/2 way MLTL type tower speaker that costs about 4500€/pair. Not that extreme expensive, but very popular with those ultrarich. I've never seen any measurements of it.

You are late to the party - they appeared some 15 years ago and they were instant hit. But now, as you said, the demand is peaking...

From the thread "Most beautiful speakers in the world" (additional bolding for emphasizing):

Introducing The most beautiful loudspeaker in the world - Waterfall Audio. Period.
The smallest model - Waterfall Iguascu Evo:
View attachment 94647
Glass enclosure, damping material in a short tube immediately behind the midbass driver.
Sounds good too.

Waterfall Victoria Evo:

View attachment 94649

Passive (auxiliary) radiator at the bottom of the pedestal (the same as in Iguascu):
View attachment 94648

Waterfall Niagara, with glass horn on a top:
View attachment 94650

And all three together:
View attachment 94652

Other fun facts:

It is not only the "cool" glass enclosure, in Waterfall loudspeakers are implemented very neat designers choices - like thin conductive strips instead of round wires, damping material is hidden in a short tube, crossover and PR are hidden in a non-obtrusive pedestal base.

Damping material is in the short tube immediately behind the midbass driver, it is not a MLTL enclosure - it is bass-reflex with auxiliary passive radiator (PR) at the bottom. I auditioned the Iguascu Evo some 15 years ago - good sound, no glass resonances.
Edit: for clarity

 

[JohnnyAudio]

Not "glass" but if I had to have such a large horn speaker, why not try to make it invisible!
Ferguson Hill "Jetstream".
Interesting that they didn't make their other stuff with acrylic
View attachment 354100
View attachment 354101

Only £100,000 for the system

Poor dog, being asked to listen to them.

 

[sander]

Would be nice to use drivers with transparent cone material in a transparent cabinet.
Example driver from Visaton (small and not very high quality I assume, just added here to get the idea):

And maybe also the driver basket could be made of glass or some other transparent material. Basically, I would like every part that can be made transparent to be transparent.