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Unusual Speaker Designs

Sal1950

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Much missed by some of us -- OK, by me.

While there are great on line archives of old R/S and Allied catalogs... LRE hasn't fared quite so well.
Fortunately, the "worldradiohistory" site has -- somewhat -- improved the situation.

https://worldradiohistory.com/Lafayette_Catalogs.htm
Boy that brings a shock to the memory. I remember back in the early/mid 1960s, Lafayette had a store directly across the street from the big Allied on Western Ave in Chicago. It was then a double awesome day for a gearhead kid like me when I could talk dad into taking me shopping there.
Thanks pop, you were the best!
 

JimWeir

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Some great ones here. Obelisk I bought in 1979.
let’s add Design Acoustics D12 and D6. The later was very nice sounding.
the JBL L212 was unusuall in that it was a integral subwoofer system. 1976.
nothing new for M&K that practally invented the idea.
finally the synergy horns from Danley. SH50 shown.
 

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pozz

pozz

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I'm shocked at just how many 6 figure speakers there are out there from manufacturers I've never heard of.
Kind of strange how they all survive in secret, right?
 

Sal1950

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I'm shocked at just how many 6 figure speakers there are out there from manufacturers I've never heard of.
As a poor folk myself, I'm always surprised how many people are out there with the disposable income to support the highend market. I just got the latest issue of TAS a couple weeks back that has their version of recommended components in it. They seem to focus on the more obscure corners of the highend. Paging thru the speakers, amps, etc there was a ton of top priced pieces from names I never heard of.
Guess I just run with the wrong crowd, at least that's what my mom and the police always told me. :facepalm:

Metaxas - Grande Damme ("Essentially a turbo-charged version of the SIREN.
Appears they came from the Vivid school of artistic speaker enclosure design. I'm sure they appeal to many but I wouldn't have them in my room..

Now on the other hand I could live with these if I had the room to support them. To my eyes they need a space 2-3x what they're being shown in here. I would really love to hear them under that condition.
esd_demo__large_full.jpg
 

Zvu

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....Appears they came from the Vivid school of artistic speaker enclosure design. I'm sure they appeal to many but I wouldn't have them in my room..

My love for Greece aside, this design has nothing in common with Vivid. While with Vivid form follows function and i can explain what technical benefit every aspect of that design brings, with Metaxas it is like putting lipstick on a pig.
 
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Sal1950

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My love to Greece aside, this design has nothing in common with Vivid. While with Vivid form follows function and i can explain what technical benefit every aspect of that design brings, with Metaxas it is like putting lipstick on a pig.
If you say so I could not disagree since I have no real knowledge of speaker design. But I do find it a little hard to swallow that the design of the GIVA line was done in a strictly form follows function manner. Sure seems to me the form was more to appeal to a good WAF with it's cutesy musical note shape? Then again I could be totally wrong?

414vivid.promo_.jpg
 

Wombat

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As a poor folk myself, I'm always surprised how many people are out there with the disposable income to support the highend market. I just got the latest issue of TAS a couple weeks back that has their version of recommended components in it. They seem to focus on the more obscure corners of the highend. Paging thru the speakers, amps, etc there was a ton of top priced pieces from names I never heard of.
Guess I just run with the wrong crowd, at least that's what my mom and the police always told me. :facepalm:


Appears they came from the Vivid school of artistic speaker enclosure design. I'm sure they appeal to many but I wouldn't have them in my room..


Now on the other hand I could live with these if I had the room to support them. To my eyes they need a space 2-3x what they're being shown in here. I would really love to hear them under that condition.
esd_demo__large_full.jpg


"As a poor folk myself .......".

You can afford audio mags?
hide.gif
 
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Zvu

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@Sal1950 There aren't too many ways to fold exponential tube tuned to low frequency. You will either make a snail type of enclosure (as with B&W Nautilus) or an unwinded elf-like structure as with Giya. You could make a straight cone but that would not fit in normal rooms. No sharp edges are there to avoid diffraction, woofers are at opposite sides because of force canceling effect to reduce cabinet resonances.
 

Sal1950

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Sal1950

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@Sal1950 There aren't too many ways to fold exponential tube tuned to low frequency. You will either make a snail type of enclosure (as with B&W Nautilus) or an unwinded elf-like structure as with Giya. You could make a straight cone but that would not fit in normal rooms. No sharp edges are there to avoid diffraction, woofers are at opposite sides because of force canceling effect to reduce cabinet resonances.
Ah, that's why they look like that. Sureeeeeeeeeeeee LOL
 

Zvu

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Well you asked and i answered. How will you interpret it is totally up to you. You not believing it doesn't make it false.
 

pavuol

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Acon Professional (Slovakia) - Ultima X speaker (photo taken at "HIGH END Slovakia 2012" audioshow (sources - 1, 2):
/ for some more trivia, see my post #109

Maybe not really "extraordinary" design-wise, but then again, how many speakers with embedded tube amplifiers do you know? :)
(I recall I have read somewhere that it is hybrid amp in fact)

HIGH-END-Slovakia-2012_5.jpg
 
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