Unusual Speaker Designs

[thewas]

Braun LE 1. These are Quad ESL 57 designed by Dieter Rams
View attachment 267851

Timeless Bauhaus design which was recently revived as wireless audio solution with conventional drivers:

Source and more:

LE01 | LE02 | LE03 | Learn about the Braun Audio LE range.

Three premium HiFi speakers that celebrate the timeless, essentialist design ethos of their origins, tuned to perfection and built to last. Learn more.

www.braun-audio.com

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Lyngdorf Cue-100
https://lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com/lyngdorf-cue-100/

I had a chance to listen to these yesterday at Bristol Hifi show.
It was driven by their own digital amplifier. It has no DAC! but incorporates room DSP. Very effectively.
PCM is converted to PWM and sent to speakers (I suppose similar to class D).
It was almost the best sound I heard yesterday. The bass extension was unbelievable for such a small speaker.
The amp was about £5k and speakers at £15k.
Very unusual, but worked perfectly, in a smallish room at reasonably high volumes without any stress, compression or clipping.
The room correction DSP, had a weird effect on stereo imaging, it made things pop up and locked in a virtual space.
My chin was to the floor.

 

[tuga]

It's obscenely overpriced stuff like this that gives HiFi as an interest or pursuit, a bad name.

View attachment 267771

It is obscenely priced but you can say the same about most other consumer products.

High-end = luxury goods

 

[Ken Tajalli]

It is obscenely priced but you can say the same about most other consumer products.

High-end = luxury goods

This is not luxury. Well maybe a little.
The innovation, design and results are all there.
If it just looked odd, and did no better than a 2k system, I would have agreed.
It is a very well engineered system. If PRC could churn them out in tens of thousands, it would have been quarter of the price.
BTW, UK price including their top digital amp is 20k.

 

[gnarly]

I think this one's pretty unusual, .....if i may say so about my own DIY.
5-way active, all drivers in one box.
Coaxial compression driver HF&VHF, four 4" mids, two 12" lows, and two 18" sub drivers.
Port "rectangle area" spans just 22"W by 16"H.

 

[MAB]

Sonab from Sweden. For instance the OA-14:

They had lots of models with drivers akimbo, like the OA 2212:

If they had a model 2112 I would buy it just to play Rush 2112 on...

 

[Sal1950]

They had lots of models with drivers akimbo, like the OA 2212:

OMG

If they had a model 2112 I would buy it just to play Rush 2112 on...

Better yet, upgrade to a good surround system.
The Rush 2011 5.1 & Atmos releases sound incredible.

 

[williamwally]

Sonab from Sweden. For instance the OA-14:

They had lots of models with drivers akimbo, like the OA 2212:

If they had a model 2112 I would buy it just to play Rush 2112 on...

I'd love to see those on the Klippel!

 

[Sal1950]

I'd love to see those on the Klippel!

I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it.

 

[CrustyToad]

My parents still use a pair of OA-14 in their living room

Sonab from Sweden. For instance the OA-14:

They had lots of models with drivers akimbo, like the OA 2212:

If they had a model 2112 I would buy it just to play Rush 2112 on...

 

[Timcognito]

Looks like one can still buy them.

carlsson story

 

[Timcognito]

Carlson's designs live on at Larsen and many say their omnidirectional sound is quite good

Larsen HiFi – That sounds beautiful

www.larsenhifi.com

 

[Sal1950]

Carlson's designs live on at Larsen and many say their omnidirectional sound is quite good

Just like Bose 901's

 

[Penelinfi]

Like Sonab but looks nicer imo

 

[Urubamba]

I don't think this has been posted before, if so I'm sorry to repeat it.
I think it fits perfectly into the " unusual " category , what else can you call a painting that radiates sound ?
Sound planes were invented here in Argentina, then the inventor sold his patent, but the technology was not fully exploited. Perhaps it was one of those cases in which you buy to leave a product in oblivion, eliminating a competitor? I have items from those years in some corner of the house, I'll see if I can find them.
I advance what the Wiki says :

" Sound plane (speaker)
The sound plane is a type of high power speaker (from 60 to 100 W per channel) whose main characteristic is its small size compared to boxes or baffles capable of delivering the same power. The speaker is essentially a panel of rigid plastic foam, not housed in any enclosure but simply placed in a frame, like a painting. The foam panel is moved by means of a device called an "acoustic hammer". The speakers manufactured in Argentina were marketed with a decorative cloth and a frame with the idea of hanging them on the wall. This makes its main difference with the boxes with common speakers, the sound plane is compact and lightweight. It was invented by the Argentine Juan Bertagni in 1970 who came to market some models in his country, but in 1975 he moved to the United States to continue producing his invention.1

​

Traditional speakers are mounted in a large box to produce the lowest sounds. The problem with such a cabinet is that it does not allow free propagation of sound, thus making fully omnidirectional sound (in all directions, ie 360°) impossible. Instead, the sound plane is essentially a panel of rigid plastic foam, which is not housed in any enclosure, but simply placed within a frame, like a painting. The frame could measure 24 inches high by 15 inches wide with a thickness of no more than 5 inches, framed in simulated oak or walnut. The foam panel is moved by means of a device called an "acoustic hammer" by Bertagni. By modifying certain features of this hammer, as well as cutting grooves in the back of the panel, BES (Bertagni's company) achieved better frequency response in their loudspeakers. The sound plane by doing without a speaker makes its design much more compact, in fact the first copies made in Argentina came with a decorative image with the idea of hanging the speaker on the wall, like a painting. In a 1985 New York Times publication, he notes that the "BES SM-80 uses novel methods to achieve a happy combination of low price and high performance." In 1982 the Bertagni company introduced the $400 SM-100. dollars a pair, with "omnipolar" sound dispersion, meaning the same from any position in a room. The new low-priced Bose model mentioned above uses a multi-directional array of drivers to recreate a balance of reflected and direct sound energy. A fin or "direct power control" changes the radiation pattern of the tweeter. Bose also has an updated version of their 501 model, a $680-per-pair system in a floor-standing cabinet.3

Currently Live Wall continues to sell the product.4 "

Plancha De Calor Para Sublimación 10 En 1 - Plana 30x38cm - $ 694.192,5

Plancha de Calor para Sublimacion 10 en 1 30x38.Descripción técnica: Tamaño: 30 x 38 cmTemperatura: 250 c° // 430 f°Potencia: 1800w //Peso: 30 kgMedidas:Plana: 30 x 38 cmPlatos: 11 cm // 15 cm Gorras 8x14 cmTazas planas: 5,5 – 7,5 cm // 7 – 8,5 cm // 7,5 – 9 cm Tazas conicas: 12 oz // 17 ozSomos...

articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar

Plano sonoro (parlante) - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

es.wikipedia.org

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

Old news... and boring old conspiracy theory "one of those cases in which you buy to leave a product in oblivion, eliminating a competitor".
Some 45 years ago, Bertagni Electroacoustic Systems (BES) used to produce multi-way dipole loudspeakers with large flat diaphragms driven by conventional ferrite magnet drivers with voice coils attached to the flat diaphragms (no "hammers" here!). Bulky and with colored frequency response, they failed on the market... like many other loudspeaker companies.
https://www.hifi-classic.net/review/b-e-s--sm-80-233.html

Yes, they are of unusual design. And beautiful, at least to me.

Edit: construction of the BES SM-100 two-way loudspeakers (a pair side-by-side), from the back - large, flat styrofoam diaphragm for midbass duties driven by conventional ferrite magnet driver, plus small styrofoam diaphragm (in the upper right corner) for tweeter duties.

 

[Urubamba]

Are you supposed to rate the posts here? Of course it's old, haven't they posted older things in this thread? And yes, that practice has existed and will continue to exist, beyond what you think.

 

[Axo1989]

Old news... and boring old conspiracy theory "one of those cases in which you buy to leave a product in oblivion, eliminating a competitor".

Giving that poster a hard time because you left out their "perhaps" is a bit rude, really.

Interesting photos in your post though. I'd not thought of anyone making a speaker that way (with those materials).

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

Are you supposed to rate the posts here? Of course it's old, haven't they posted older things in this thread? And yes, that practice has existed and will continue to exist, beyond what you think.

I was reacting to your sensational "headlines" like, quote: "Sound planes were invented here in Argentina, ... but the technology was not fully exploited." and especially to the old and false conspiracy theory "one of those cases in which you buy to leave a product in oblivion, eliminating a competitor".
Not invented there, the technology was maximally exploited - to the point of beating-a-dead-horse (NXT, BMR, ...) and of course there is no conspiracy theory about those magnificent patents which are bought only to seize the production of this amazing technology, "to eliminate the competitor".

 

[Urubamba]

I said "maybe" ......and you are not my school teacher to correct me ....