Most beautiful speakers in the world ?

[Mr. Widget]

Nice!

 

[HQY]

Dynaudio Acoustics active monitors.

Munro Acoustics Sonic excellence for media

 

[jeffaegrim]

JBL K2 M9500

 

[MattHooper]

Dynaudio Acoustics active monitors.

Munro Acoustics Sonic excellence for media

No. God no.

 

[jhaider]

Soundfield 1812
View attachment 393892View attachment 393893

I like AJ, but those AE woofers are...not attractive. Just too phallic.

Here's one I don't think has been mentioned on this forum. It's one I would certainly consider (probably along with Dutch&Dutch or Sigberg Manta) if I needed new speakers - A for Ara B-2 - multiple-entry horn MF/HF with 4 side-mounted 7" woofers.

The engineer behind these has this technical tour de force in his background.

 

[MKR]

I like AJ, but those AE woofers are...not attractive. Just too phallic.

Uhhhh …. That thought never came to my mind, don’t see that, still don’t … but your perception your reality

 

[prestigetone]

I like AJ, but those AE woofers are...not attractive. Just too phallic.

Here's one I don't think has been mentioned on this forum. It's one I would certainly consider (probably along with Dutch&Dutch or Sigberg Manta) if I needed new speakers - A for Ara B-2 - multiple-entry horn MF/HF with 4 side-mounted 7" woofers.

The engineer behind these has this technical tour de force in his background.

They all look weird to me. I was thinking nipples, but now I can't unsee it. Those B-2s I have seen before and look great.

 

[MKR]

They all look weird to me. I was thinking nipples, but now I can't unsee it. Those B-2s I have seen before and look great.

That visual also did not occur to me. You guys are creeping me out, they are speakers you know … maybe get outside and get a little sunshine and fresh air

 

[mhardy6647]

My Sonus Faber Venere 3.0 are made from the finest virgin MDF.

Virgin sawdust.

EDIT:
PS For an immodest additional cost, I believe the SE Signature Edition is fabricated from five-nines pure, cold pressed extra virgin MDF.

 

[Hansebio]

Late 90's Dali Grand Diva

 

[prestigetone]

That visual also did not occur to me. You guys are creeping me out, they are speakers you know … maybe get outside and get a little sunshine and fresh air

Is there any advantage to those nipple caps? They never look good to me. Ascend and others use them too.

 

[davmol]

Must admit, I have a crush on the Wharfedale Elysian range (the 4 is below):

 

[MKR]

Is there any advantage to those nipple caps? They never look good to me. Ascend and others use them too.

Yes … phase plug. Seas also uses them. I am not an expert, and maybe someone else can chime in here, but as I understand it they help to reduce frequency cancellations due to phase shifts (radiated/direct waves occurring within the driver itself)

 

[jhaider]

Is there any advantage to those nipple caps? They never look good to me. Ascend and others use them too.

Not really. IMO, no. They’re mostly a stylistic affectation. I guess they can act as a heat sink - anyone who’s run a Lambda/AE woofer (or e.g. a Seas Excel) hard knows that the dildo thingy gets hot - especially when the voice coil Is tiny. But they also whistle at high excursion, due to air leaking between cone and dildo. I’ve yet to see any measurements to support the “phase plug” claim.

 

[MaxBuck]

When Purifi drivers were first introduced, I regarded them as odd-looking and ugly. Now they look beautiful to me. I guess excellence is its own expression of beauty.

 

[cavedriver]

When Purifi drivers were first introduced, I regarded them as odd-looking and ugly. Now they look beautiful to me. I guess excellence is its own expression of beauty.

I find being able to see the Purifi woofers very disturbing. The "chaos" of the surrounds shape irritates my brain - can't explain any better, but normally woofers look cool so it's a fairly disjointed sensation.

 

[Duke]

Yes … phase plug. Seas also uses them. I am not an expert, and maybe someone else can chime in here, but as I understand it they help to reduce frequency cancellations due to phase shifts (radiated/direct waves occurring within the driver itself)

In the context of woofers, that rounded metal piece that sticks out where the dustcap would be is probably more accurately described as an "extended pole piece". It causes the magnetic flux to remain more linear on long excursions; it is a heat-sink for the nearby voice coil exactly where such is needed the most (the forwardmost edge); and it eliminates the possibility of dustcap break-up modes. But I think it is far too small in relation to the wavelengths woofers reproduce to have any significant effect on the radiation pattern, phase, or frequency response.

I do not know why it's called a "phase plug". My guess is that a marketing department rather than an engineering department was the first to use that term for a woofer's extended pole piece.

Imo on a woofer the function of an extended pole piece is very different from the function of a phase plug in a compression driver, which is to provide substantially equal-length pathways for the sound travelling from different areas of the concave diaphragm to the exit, such that the recombined wavefront emerges effectively "in phase".

My understanding is that, if it is well designed and the manufacturing tolerances are adhered to, there should be no significant net airflow through the annulus between the extended pole piece and the voice coil at high sound pressure levels. There would be so much flow resistance at low frequencies and high SPLs that the annulus is not in effect an opening. Along similar lines, a port is not a "bass leak" north of the tuning frequency. I once calculated the tuning frequency of the annulus on such a woofer and it was way below the audible range, and that was without taking boundary layer effects into account.

Here is a link to a discontinued Eminence prosound subwoofer which is obviously emphasizing the heat-sink function of its extended pole piece:

https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/066429-eminence-kilomax-pro-18a-18-woofer-kilomax-pro-18a?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw6c63BhAiEiwAF0EH1HpGQOXLt0zqEjvikRxv-DiLCshJq6nhxaomiYKCMtgmF6IF_kzJvBoCKTgQAvD_BwE

 

[GXAlan]

 

[MKR]

In the context of woofers, that rounded metal piece that sticks out where the dustcap would be is probably more accurately described as an "extended pole piece". It causes the magnetic flux to remain more linear on long excursions; it is a heat-sink for the nearby voice coil exactly where such is needed the most (the forwardmost edge); and it eliminates the possibility of dustcap break-up modes. But I think it is far too small in relation to the wavelengths woofers reproduce to have any significant effect on the radiation pattern, phase, or frequency response.

I do not know why it's called a "phase plug". My guess is that a marketing department rather than an engineering department was the first to use that term for a woofer's extended pole piece.

Imo on a woofer the function of an extended pole piece is very different from the function of a phase plug in a compression driver, which is to give substantially equal-length pathways for the sound travelling from different areas of the concave diaphragm to the exit, such that the recombined wavefront emerges effectively "in phase".

My understanding is that, if it is well designed and the manufacturing tolerances are adhered to, there should be no significant net airflow through the annulus between the extended pole piece and the voice coil at high sound pressure levels. There would be so much flow resistance at low frequencies and high SPLs that the annulus is not in effect an opening. Along similar lines, a port is not a "bass leak" north of the tuning frequency. I once calculated the tuning frequency of the annulus on such a woofer and it was way below the audible range, and that was without taking boundary layer effects into account.

Here is a link to a discontinued Eminence prosound subwoofer which is obviously emphasizing the heat-sink function of its extended pole piece:

https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/066429-eminence-kilomax-pro-18a-18-woofer-kilomax-pro-18a?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw6c63BhAiEiwAF0EH1HpGQOXLt0zqEjvikRxv-DiLCshJq6nhxaomiYKCMtgmF6IF_kzJvBoCKTgQAvD_BwE

Thanks @Duke for chiming in here. I also was suspect of the use of a “phase plug” for any acoustics reasons in a sub driver. Note I do recall on my original Linkwitz Orions with the Seas Excel midrange which has the very recognizable copper phase plug it would get quite warm when being driven hard. So in that case, even if being used for acoustics reasons, was definitely in use as a heat sink.

 

[Petrushka]

I have to say that if I were going to drop silly money on speakers, I’d be thinking about Steinway.