Most beautiful speakers in the world ?

[MKR]

I’m getting déjà vu about us discussing this before but ….

Obviously, there’s no right or wrong to this just taste. And I certainly don’t expect everybody to share my personal taste, including for my set up in my room.

But my view is perhaps the opposite of yours - speakers end up in domestic spaces so for me when they look like “ high-tech tools” that’s when they can stick out from the rest of the room furnishings (unless somebody’s gone all high-tech with their room furnishings). And if the speakers are going to be big enough to be prominent, then they’re going to call attention to themselves, no matter what. Speakers become de facto pieces of furniture in most cases. Which is a big reason, of course, in the early days of hi-fi, manufacturers and artisans used to go to such lengths to making speakers and entertainment consoles look like nice furniture.

I’ve seen plenty of speakers with wood finishes that I think blends beautifully with the room, and makes them feel suited to the room.

In my case, both of necessity and of choice, my speakers are positioned so that they are going to be somewhat featured in the room.

I find a nice high-quality wood finish in this scenario to be most pleasing. A beautiful piece of furniture that makes beautiful sound. (in fact, I think the Joseph speakers have the nicest wood finish of anything in our house.)

If I were offered speakers in black ash finish, I would sooner listen to our kitchen, smart speaker instead

I think a sedate non-wood finish could also be nice, but for me would have to be a very high-quality finish - something that speaks of high-quality materials, and not merely industrial use-case utility. And NO distracting white drivers allowed!

Some of the Kharma speakers come close to something I think could work - not a wood finish, but they have high-quality finishes:

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Indeed we have, and I can fully understand your point of view. Much of it really depends upon the environment in which the speakers will be placed. For me, I have a dedicated listening room and can make the furnishings whatever I want, no matching of other furniture or decor required.

I have even gone so far as to go with matte finish for my end game system as I do not want distracting visual reflections from the speakers, especially from the projection system when viewing video. The less the speakers call attention to themselves, the better (again, for my ears and eyes)

 

[MattHooper]

I’m looking forward to seeing your end game speakers in your room!

I have even gone so far as to go with matte finish for my end game system as I do not want distracting visual reflections from the speakers, especially from the projection system when viewing video. The less the speakers call attention to themselves, the better (again, for my ears and eyes)

I’m actually with you on that.

Since the loudspeakers are always in the room, whether playing or not I want them to look nice. But when I am actually listening to music, I prefer as little distraction as possible, and I even prefer not to see any speaker drivers. My has a lot of pot and track lighting, which can be carefully controlled, so very often I turn any lighting directly over the loudspeakers off, so I’m listening to music. I can’t even see the front of the speaker.

Often, I will listen in low lighting conditions like THIS.

And just like you, I was combining my system with a high-performance projection based home theatre. So I was juggling various seemingly contradictory desires for the same room - a room that was on the main floor of the house and didn’t look too weird or like some commercial movie theatre, and during the day featured the two channel speakers, if anything. As well, I wanted the room to be bright and cheery in normal lighting and in the daytime.

Yet when it came to watching movies on the projector, I didn’t want the bright walls and I didn’t want to see any reflections whatsoever from any speakers I wanted speakers to be absolutely disappeared from view. That’s why I covered all of my LCR speakers with black velvet. But I also wanted my two speakers to disappear as well.

I managed this by hiding very dark, black velvet curtains, which were also thin and acoustically transparent, in the room corners behind another set of nicer, looking brown velvet curtains. This way whenever I’m watching a movie I simply pull the black velvet curtains along each wall in the room, turning the room into a non-reflective “bat cave” for best picture, quality and immersion.

You can one of the black curtain curtains, pulled along one of walls in THIS DAYLIGHT PHOTO

What makes this extra handy is that I also simply pull those black velvet curtains over the Joseph speakers as well (they are not in use for the surround system).

HERE’S A PHOTO of the right Joseph speaker disappeared behind the curtain

This photo shows the room with the black curtains, pull across the walls and also covering the Joseph speakers

And…so for viewing movies, all loudspeakers, both LCR/surround and two channel towers all
COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR

(the screen can go significantly wider and taller than shown in this picture, as it has adjustable four way automated masking).

It took a hell of a lot of time and trying to figure out how to do everything but the end I got essentially everything I was going for in this single room.

Anyway, back to other nice looking loudspeakers….

 

[Flaesh]

Backes&Müller BMLine 35

Boring and pale and small, isn't it? It needs an index of 100. http://bmline100.com/

 

[Flaesh]

JBL M2's that his wife does not like for aesthetic reasons

This problem was solved years ago.

 

[Keith_W]

This problem was solved years ago.

Well I have to give him A+ for effort but a solid F for taste.

 

[Flaesh]

This elegant style is called "rococo sauvage à moumoute".
I imagine Charles Alexander Jencks would have approved this. The hairy M2s were on display at the exhibition in 2017, and Jencks passed in 2019.

 

[Chanur]

I'm much more traditional but I think these look spectacular in person.

 

[MattHooper]

This problem was solved years ago.
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Yeesh!

I don’t know maybe it’s possible that speaker could’ve looked nice if it hadn’t caught syphilis.

 

[JaapD]

This problem was solved years ago.
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I would have changed the wife instead of the M2

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[Arindal]

This problem was solved years ago.

You mean to say, such thing makes the divorce procedure quick and easy?

 

[smygolf]

This problem was solved years ago.
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Would fit nicely in the Jungle room

 

[7Tiger]

This problem was solved years ago.
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M2 The Flintstones Edition

 

[Pearljam5000]

The best looking JBL's

 

[SME12A]

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[Ropeburn]

I’m getting déjà vu about us discussing this before but ….

Obviously, there’s no right or wrong to this just taste. And I certainly don’t expect everybody to share my personal taste, including for my set up in my room.

But my view is perhaps the opposite of yours - speakers end up in domestic spaces so for me when they look like “ high-tech tools” that’s when they can stick out from the rest of the room furnishings (unless somebody’s gone all high-tech with their room furnishings). And if the speakers are going to be big enough to be prominent, then they’re going to call attention to themselves, no matter what. Speakers become de facto pieces of furniture in most cases. Which is a big reason, of course, in the early days of hi-fi, manufacturers and artisans used to go to such lengths to making speakers and entertainment consoles look like nice furniture.

I’ve seen plenty of speakers with wood finishes that I think blends beautifully with the room, and makes them feel suited to the room.

In my case, both of necessity and of choice, my speakers are positioned so that they are going to be somewhat featured in the room.

I find a nice high-quality wood finish in this scenario to be most pleasing. A beautiful piece of furniture that makes beautiful sound. (in fact, I think the Joseph speakers have the nicest wood finish of anything in our house.)

If I were offered speakers in black ash finish, I would sooner listen to our kitchen, smart speaker instead

I think a sedate non-wood finish could also be nice, but for me would have to be a very high-quality finish - something that speaks of high-quality materials, and not merely industrial use-case utility. And NO distracting white drivers allowed!

Some of the Kharma speakers come close to something I think could work - not a wood finish, but they have high-quality finishes:

View attachment 498686

I think I get what you mean. Big speakers are definitely furniture and call attention both. Which is why we must find the best compromise according to our desires and situation. We all want good sound, that's a given, but a big chunky piece in our rooms we find ugly in the end... that's not it.

Gladly the market is big. There's nice stuff for everyone. Personally I really like popping colours to lighten up a room, so I got these that just so happen to be good speakers too ( ) - for cheap.

(Looks much better in person ofc, especially in sunlight and at dawn)

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Would fit nicely in the Jungle room
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new epstein file drop?