Most beautiful speakers in the world ?

[amadeuswus]

Manger c1

View attachment 259825 View attachment 259826

I like the older Manger Zerobox 109 (pictured below), which seems to have a more elegant cabinet taper (hard to be sure from the C1 photos though). The bending wave driver with its star-shaped damping certainly stands out.

 

[techsamurai]

Front ported speakers are inherently superior in looks to rear ported speakers

This brings up a huge point of a speaker's design that affect its overall beauty in the context of the owner's home and that is the location of the port which as we all know vastly affects its placement within a space.

Many people get around that by placing rear ported speakers flush against the wall trading sound quality for better looks and keeping control of their living space when in reality they should have gone with front ported speakers.

It's also much more challenging to make a beautiful front ported speaker like the Triangle 40 - it's easy for a designer to hide the port in the rear but that's cheating. It takes the most effort to design a speaker that aesthetically incorporates the port in the front of the speaker and that challenge is near impossible for a light colored speaker.

Bottomline, front ported speakers are inherently superior visually to rear ported speakers as folks will be looking at the speaker straight on, won't see the rear or the cables or have to jump over them as they move in the room, and you won't be looking at your speakers from an angle all the time.

 

[techsamurai]

I like the older Manger Zerobox 109 (pictured below), which seems to have a more elegant cabinet taper (hard to be sure from the C1 photos though). The star-shaped bending wave driver certainly stands out.

I kinda preferred it the other way Especially with the frequency charts and all - and that heatsink with the handles (is that what they are) is cool. It has this sort of modern treasure map look to it and I couldn't tell if it's a speaker. I would have designed the speaker to be placed backwards and radiate off the walls like the Bose 901.

Clearly, the put more effort into the rear effort into the rear of the speaker than the front.

 

[Purité Audio]

Is this what you see when you listen to them? Where are the drivers?

They are on the front, sort of traditional one is the Manger bending wave the other conventional 10” bass .
They are heavy hence the handles on rear.
Keith

 

[techsamurai]

The B&W 703 in maple. Light colored woods are notoriously difficult to turn into a nice looking speaker which is why no one dares to attempt it especially when the front has a wood finish. You can count the light colored wood speakers on your fingertips. It's a challenge for sure.

The wooden slope at the top with the tweeter makes the speaker unique compared to other speakers. The baffle is counterbalanced by the dual woofers for a super clean contrast.

They are front ported and therefore can be placed closer to the wall - their side profile is definitely one of the most interesting designs B&W has created.

 

[Killingbeans]

Bottomline, front ported speakers are inherently superior visually to rear ported speakers as folks will be looking at the speaker straight on, won't see the rear or the cables or have to jump over them as they move in the room, and you won't be looking at your speakers from an angle all the time.

How about Polk speakers with the so called Power Port in the base?

 

[Purité Audio]

Bass below 80Hz is omnidirectional so it doesn’t matter which way the port faces, however placing a traditional passive loudspeaker designed for ‘free space’ placement might adversely affect its FR.
Keith

 

[thewas]

Bass below 80Hz is omnidirectional so it doesn’t matter which way the port faces, however placing a traditional passive loudspeaker designed for ‘free space’ placement might adversely affect its FR.

Also with front ports (especially 2-way designs) mid noise coming out of them can be more audible.

 

[Hellasärö]

The B&W 703 in maple. Light colored woods are notoriously difficult to turn into a nice looking speaker which is why no one dares to attempt it especially when the front has a wood finish. You can count the light colored wood speakers on your fingertips. It's a challenge for sure.

The wooden slope at the top with the tweeter makes the speaker unique compared to other speakers. The baffle is counterbalanced by the dual woofers for a super clean contrast.

They are front ported and therefore can be placed closer to the wall - their side profile is definitely one of the most interesting designs B&W has created.


View attachment 259881View attachment 259882

Just beautiful!

Saw these used in a shop and was tempted to buy them based on looks alone.

 

[Roderik]

 

[egellings]

It's ours (Vera Audio). Hasn't been released yet.

I also very much like several of B&Os speakers. Beolab 50 where they nicely combine wood with black and silver.
View attachment 259817

The Beolab 18 is also good looking if your into slim speakers.
View attachment 259818

Every vild and sveengeeng apartment should have a pair of deeze.

 

[techsamurai]

Bass below 80Hz is omnidirectional so it doesn’t matter which way the port faces, however placing a traditional passive loudspeaker designed for ‘free space’ placement might adversely affect its FR.
Keith

I don't know about the omnidirectionality of bass. I added a sub a year ago to my home theater and within 3 seconds, I was wondering what had just happened. It turns out that all bass is not equal.

Some dude from REL was explaining how bass direction matters and the speaker generating the bass is very important as opposed to sending it to a subwoofer.

Most speakers I see in pictures are flush against the wall with rear ports - real estate is at a premium in almost everyone's living room. Is that optimal?

 

[Adam Bernau]

For your consideration, dear audio connoisseurs. My own construction and design, Ondwey BOHEM active three way, Hypex Fusion powered . Please let me know what you think

 

[Kal Rubinson]

View attachment 259787View attachment 259788View attachment 259789

None of the above.

 

[techsamurai]

View attachment 259940

This highlights the importance of stands for bookshelf speakers. You put that speaker on a modern stand and it's going to look completely out of place.

The stand has a matching wood, 3 leg design, brass supports and is the exact same width as the speaker creating perfect lines. What kind of speakers are they?

 

[Liya]

 

[cavedriver]

Just brilliant! Not my personal choice but it's a work of art and a masterpiece of industrial design.


View attachment 259871

stick some arms on those things!

 

[Emulator II]

Aesthetically I really enjoyed them in terms of SQ not so much, see Phil Ward’s review for SoundonSound.
Keith

Unfortunately, I haven't heard a Manger speaker myself. I've read several times that they are acoustically not without problems. I still think Phil Ward's review is wonderfully balanced. Thanks for your hint.
For me they are not the most beautiful loudspeakers in the world either. But in my opinion they are a successful modern interpretation of the topic of active 2-way monitors and should therefore be mentioned within such a thread. I particularly like the fact that the design of the back has also been considered. Actually, they almost look better from the back than from the front.

 

[techsamurai]

The YG Carmel 2 - I found this one today.

 

[Pearljam5000]