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Most beautiful speakers in the world ?

ttimer said:
I find this statement a bit self contradictory. A lot of the “form follows function” designs from the pro world are very noticeable and obtrusive.
Good design looks good on its own and, at the same time, blends in with the living environment. That is hard to get right. I agree that a lot of the “premium“ speakers are too gaudy and appear to be exhibition pieces which don’t look good as part of a room. But drab, boring boxes can also be distracting and visually annoying in a room.
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It suppose you get what matches the decor then. Sure if your room is all white then don't get black speakers. For most people, some basic mini towers are going to blend in next to the tv. Generally pro speakers have bland designs, like jbl.
 
Screenshot-2020-11-03-at-10.24.18_result.jpg
 
MattHooper said:
Ok, sure. Here you go.
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Thank you SO MUCH for the detailed run down. Love some of the solutions you've used. I too am trying to maximize our space, so it's great to see the path you've taken in case I want to steal any ideas.

I'm game planning a 5.x.x (likely 5.2.4) system for our living room. We live in the 'city' in a 1925, what I call a bungalow style farm house. It's only ~1140 sq ft and the basement is small and wet when it rains. Even if we could finish the basement which I have a want to get it dry enough for that in the future, I would prefer it be used as bar/game room. That way it's a different kind of space for more entertainment room rather than just another TV room in addition to the living room. So the living room acts as both our TV/movie watching room as well as space for people when they are over. It being only 12x20, I don't want big speakers everywhere taking up physical and visual space. I am very much leaning towards some in walls, some of the higher end Revels look really attractive.

I especially love your solution for the projector. I am struggling with the idea that if I put a killer surround system in it might overwhelm our 55" TV for loud movies. But then a much larger TV would be too big for casual series TV watching. I don't see myself using this solution, but it definitely feels like it would fix this issue.
 
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ttimer said:
I find this statement a bit self contradictory. A lot of the “form follows function” designs from the pro world are very noticeable and obtrusive.
Good design looks good on its own and, at the same time, blends in with the living environment. That is hard to get right. I agree that a lot of the “premium“ speakers are too gaudy and appear to be exhibition pieces which don’t look good as part of a room. But drab, boring boxes can also be distracting and visually annoying in a room.
Click to expand...


Agreed. Bland, cheap looking boxes will, at least to my eye, detract. If they are in a cheap looking room, they add to the cheapness. If they are in a nicely decorated room, they look out of place - a dumpy after-thought.

And the pro-world designs are if anything the worst for this, IMO. They have an industrial vibe that feels out of place in a well decorated home.

If you don't want speakers you will see, you can always do in walls. But for many reasons most audiophiles don't want to limit themselves to that choice given all the great speakers there are available. So the fact is, if you care about good sound, you will likely end up with speakers that will be placed quite visibly in your room. And given they unavoidably become part of the furniture, and you will be staring at them every time you play music, for me I want as nice looking speakers as I can manage. And I've very rarely encountered an audiophile who doesn't actually find any audio gear attractive.
 
From the WayBack Machine = The Empire Grenadier:

a.jpg
 
I saw somewhere Infinity IRS V speakers in all black, with the ribbons replaced by domes. Looked very cool.
 
tuga said:
That is overcooking it. Of course a speaker is a tool but one also has to live with it and it affects the overal atmosphere of your sitting room. Why shouldn't it look good too?
In fact I would rather have the speakers, any speakers, behind an acoustically transparent curtain, or in-walls which take less/no floor space and are almost invisible.

KqcMUbf.jpg


I had a colleague once who only liked to use beautiful tools. Anything from pens and pencils to eraser to stappler to hole puncher to keyboard and mouse to computer display to phone to desk to lamp to chair...

It was nice to look at and live with. Expensive though.
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Well it's nice to see the TV mounted at the proper height for once. People are generally obsessed with mounting their TV's waaay too high. The shame with this otherwise beautiful installation, is surrounding the sunken-in speakers with shelving.
 
Give me a traditional rectangular shaped speaker in a dark brown woodgrain finish. I'm always suspicious of any speakers that come in a shape very much different than the traditional rectangle. When I see an odd shape, I suspect some sort of gimmickry.

:confused:
 
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Also these big McIntosh towers. No idea what model they are though.

Edit: They are XR290s.

1604421354310.png


Huge line source towers are always cool.
 
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