@gsm18439
Yes dear, I can agree with you sentiment.
It brings back that memory when I listened to my, B 961s and also those early Watt/Puppy's.
Those 961 demo speakers where jet-black piano polished. I had them for a while in my appartment (in Munich) - quite differently set about than what's my 'Auberge' now.
However, as they where stunning - yet they had the effect of having all the sudden a baby grand piona in the room. Kind of 'jimped' at you.
I got more relaxed once those where returned and replaced with those I'd bought, the silver (alu) structured laminat ones, shown in my system picture.
I never really looked back, and as it turns out this far, not even after this thread's lenghty discourse. 😊
It's always nice to learn of a happy owner! 😄
Michélle 🇿🇦
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it also depends on the setting and placement. My ZuDef4s in gloss black are perfect for my space, but they might look out of place in a more traditional home. That said, there is no excuse for an ugly speaker. All speakers must be designed. Cabinets do not design themselves. |
@douglas_schroeder
Oh, mein lieber Herr Schröder,
do I detect some major tongue in cheek suggestions, like... if she gets to demanding fork her off to some lifestyle products...? 🤔
💐 🌷 🎉🌺🍽️🍴🎂🍰💅💅💅💅🤩
If THAT won't quieten her down...
maybe a nice dinner for two, and some Broadway tickest for the broad! 🙈
"Got to have them speakers, she's got no idea how BEAUTIFUL they sound, looks? What looks dear, you don't have to go to bed witj them, no?" 😊
The small differences, will they always have to play up and interfere? 🤔
In any case, you're the lucky one with that sound man-cave, and so is your partner you say, and so am I, as dreams are free - at least so far 😍🤗 and that is all that counts right now (for me).
I have to say it again, I've really enjoyed the learning exercise of this enquiry - including those off the wall life-style suggestions.
And now I should do my nails 💅 for great peace of mind 😌🙏
Michélle 🇿🇦
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Michelle, you are most courteous; it is appreciated. We audiophile men can be too cranky and protective of our systems, as we are tempted to think whatever we build in terms of a system is the best.
It is very motivating for a man to dream of an environment where the aesthetics do not dictate the decision on gear. There is, as would be expected, a very strong "function follows form," relationship in speakers, and even grills impede the sound quality, so there is no getting away from the issue of diminished aesthetics in many instances when the sound quality is the primary goal.
I suggest you consider searches for "lifestyle audiophile speakers", or speakers décor" or similar. You may find a surprising solution. Here it's mostly testosterone and the looks be damned; it must be exceptional performing. My guess is you have already done many searches and have been unfulfilled.
You could opt for the outrageous and get the Voyla No Limits, which has the appearance of an enormous driver. Perhaps the Firebird would appeal, it's pretty. Maybe some lovely stands and the egg shaped Firebird would be a winner. Now, if you don't think that's NICE, I'm at the end of my pretty speaker suggestions. :)
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My wife likes my Meridian dsp 8000se, but I think my favorite looking are the Acoustic Zen Crescendo |
One more I like to mention, got used to their looks somehow, clever design improvements on their old fugly Watt/Puppy design.
Somehow less staid, have something - sort of Hightechy an' all. 😎
Talking about...: Wilson Audio Sasha DAW.
Though we'd have to wait for yet another stock market revival, no? 🙄
Michélle 🇿🇦
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@douglas_schroeder
Such a good man! 👏😍
So long you wouldn't spend my household money, etc. regarding a woman additional needs - 💯 %😎 💅
Thank you for sharing this most superior approach to the subject at hand! 👍
This solves the issue of permanently parking coffin like contraptions in the living room, I might (closing my eyes shut) even enjoy the sounds from some or other weird hunch backed or alien 👾 👽 looking creations - As so many already brought up in this here thread.
BTW - I've never, so far, doubted their musical prowess. Now haven't I, eh? 😊🤩
Michélle 🇿🇦
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Demonstration once again why men build listening rooms. ;)
I have the best wife an Audiophile could have. When I proposed building the room, she said, and I quote, "I don't care what you do. I don't care what you spend. "
Now, she did want new furniture for the living room. She got it. very nice furniture. I was happy to do that for her. :)
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@b_limo "Her burmesters are pretty cool looking... she should just keep them or get some other burmesters... I’m more interested in what SHE looks like, lol. A girl with that kind of taste in Audio gear 😍 prrrro www..."Now THAT sounds like some charming approach - best answer to date. Though not sure turning the place into some sort of dating sight? 🤔 🙈 😉 👏 ❤️ Funny enough having looked up practically ALL the suggestions offered, and without any ambiguity, set aside - so now what do "I" like? Turns out what I have... - it's what I, so far, yet learned again. The right kind of size, finish, presentation, over all design including a bit of bling, (cute coffin with bling?😂) is still I seem to like best right now. But remember: it's the prerogative of a female to change her mind, eh?! 😉 Having mentioned the Burmester B100 earlier on, and how it'd impressed me at the time, it sort of still does. D'apolito carbon-kevlar mids, double ATM JET tweeters horn-loaded, double 8" side firing light cone woofers, hidden, and some delish understated bling. Some alu sparkle offset by some exotic Imbuia wood pieces... That designer had something going (for me) Looking at some of those freaky designs proposed, hunch backed, match sticked, extra terrestrial 👽, old fashioned as top hats, etc. quite different, yes! It's all I have now (of sorts...not the Imbuia) but not all double, including the size, and 220 pound for each one B100, a blessing when having to move! They, B100, are too monumental by far, for my place, needs and pocket, yet had/have SOMETHING for me - as have a few more of Burmester items, though definately NOT ALL. After this tour de force in suggestions this theme only got reinforced - for lack of a better word. 😉 Love 😍 and 😙 Michélle 🇿🇦 |
Magnepans, even my big 1.7s disappear in a room.
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Her burmesters are pretty cool looking... she should just keep them or get some other burmesters... I’m more interested in what SHE looks like, lol. A girl with that kind of taste in Audio gear 😍 prrrrowww...
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Significant One here likes the Maggies’ that appeared here....likes the sound, but appreciates a simple panel vs. ’just another wooden box’...
I’m working on the ’aesthetics’ of mine..towards a slim cylindrical column, 8" dia., 42" +/- high. Simple tripod base frame, top 15" black fabric grill...thinking of painting the columns Black 3.0.....
A little extreme as paint goes, but everyone talks about ’speakers that disappear’....
’Bout as close as I can imagine doing without smoke & mirrors....or multidimensional physics.... |
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Sonus faber
vienna acoustics
martin logan
meridian
dynaudio contour |
I REALLY like the look of my speakers, but they wouldn't work in the OP's system. Beauhorn Virtuoso. Also no longer made. I'm trying...... |
Michelle - go on Audiogon and buy a pair of Maggie 1.6s and then send them to Peter Gunn and have him customize them for you. You pick the wood - the finish- the colors of wood used and you get his great crossover network for the speakers. This was my retirement gift to myself - they sound great and look amazing! They are physically smaller than the original Maggie’s and can be closer to the back wall. Imaging and bass improve to.
just a suggestion - my ambrosia maple with zebra wood trim look amazing and sound amazing.
Happy Listening! |
That's THE pertinent question! Cut the wheat from the chaff. 🌾 |
Hey Justmetoo... what speakers DO you like the looks of?
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Trenner and Friedl Pharoah speakers are gorgeous. They look more like furniture than speaker. They sound amazing and can be used with tube or solid state. They ran 13k when I purchased mine in 2018. Not showy. Not tacky. Nothing that is intrusive to your living room if that's where you are placing them. They even sound good against the wall or in a corner which has huge aesthetic value.
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@tantejuut
ELAC, I once had, - their baby coffin shape, colour to match.
Blimey, so now what NEXT, egg 🥚 shapes, now I say...
for me: I like my eggs for breakfast and unfertilized please.
No need for being musical neither.
But seriously, look at my set-up - so...
next definition / requirement -
a FLAT SPEAKER TOP. Why? 🤔
So I can park the odd LP on there!
That's why.
Please no comments from the digital gallery now. Most of my LPs are classical ones and unobtanium in CD format (for me, in SA). Leider 😪
Time to 😴 now, M. 🇿🇦 👋
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Lots.
But you may want to call Jim Salk.
You: " I want a nice looking speaker?"
Jim: "Hold my beer."
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OK, now how about some reset?
Remember, I mentioned ".... I have a DREAM..."
and I didn't say - a NIGHTMARE - ! 🙈 🥵
😘
The amount of nightmarish items on offer are mind blowing. Really. Seriously!
It's me now I'm feeling being "had" by you lads, y'all on purpose are finding now the worst looking items to suggest as being NICE!
NICE is a few off clicks down from BEAUTIFUL - and just to be quite sure, NICE ain't FUGLY.
Really.
😖 M. 🇿🇦
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"tantejuut you the man! 👍💐". Yeah..let's all hug our inner dude 🤡.
Elac Concerto series are also nice if you dig the egg shape 🥚. Raidho or Scansonic M6 should also be auditioned if you like the airy sound of ribbons tweeters. I was blown away by Raidho. Unbelievable micro dynamics.
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@m-db
And manh, many thanks for your excellently good Humor!
I LMAO 😄😄😄😄😄😄🤩
M. 🇿🇦 👋
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Herr Schroeder! Ich bitte Sie!
Gershman 🙈... mir fehlen die Worte.
They so ugly, bizarre, they almost pricelessly beautiful.
Never did I imagine so much weirdness was needed to have good sound.
I.... find it frightening now! 🤯😵
But, thanks for that education. Seriously.
M. 🇿🇦 👋 exhausted now 🤪
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@tantejuut,
Oh yeah! "Bloomhofer" is all I'd need in my house, an' my life. Fugly as sin, good gracious.
And surely sounding like 😇 Frohlocken, Halleluja... 😉
Now those others in that lot look bloody sexy by comparison, I say! 😱
tantejuut you the man! 👍💐
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"Ugly speakers just sound better."
Not in all cases, how about EggelstonWorks?
They ugly and sound... ~... according to some review: like 'a curtain in front of them' - maybe not to look at them?!?🤔
M. 🇿🇦 |
@b_limo
🤩👋 now who's funny? Youuuu funny 😄
And say hi to your parrot, eh. 🐦 Sorry only find budgie... 😉
Na, cheer up, you haven't been had, unless you'd call helping folk find their bearings 'been had' na, na, na. 😘
Thanks again for your support, good man! 🙏
Michélle 🇿🇦
PS: being on my own, nobody needs to suffer but me 😜
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I think the OP is goofing on all of us... something fishy....
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Your post has quite humorously brought to my attention I’m listening to a pair of faceted child coffins with attributes that have been rehashed in one form or another by many other designs.
I can’t wait to inform our next new visitors that they were inspired by a casket builder. Funny!
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Nice-looking speakers=triumph of style over substance. Ugly speakers just sound better. |
Your husband, or boyfriend, has loads of patience. You’ve got too many requirements for your speakers... 7”-8” Driver, 6” to 8” off the floor, side firing woofer as long as it’s light to medium grey, ribbon tweeters or diamond dome tweeters, looks good but no exotic wood finishes or automotive finishes, 45”-46.25” in height, no wider than 9” but no narrower than 10”... You get the point.
I actually started a tongue in check thread about something similar with regards to an integrated amp built between 2004-2006 with serial numbers between 100046 and 10058 with a volume knob on the left because I have an unruly parrot that likes loud disco music and will turn up the volume knob and blow my speakers...
You’re an awfully complicated Gal (like most 😋) You ought to keep the Burmesters and buy your significant other a steak dinner (Filet mignon + a pint of his favorite brew) and let him know how much you appreciate him 😂😘🌺
In all seriousness, I think we’ve just been played boys...
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My Ohms are the only speakers my wife does not complain about if I put them in her sunroom.
I have a small pair of Vanatoo Transparent One Encore active speakers in there now but she does not care for wires showing. |
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In the wall and ceiling units, there IS no available back wall, please look at my system picture! 😕
Secondly I'm living under a very high thatch roof. Dangling wires and speakers from there, not in my life time. Nope. 😏
Verity Audio... looked again at them, I do know their design(s) - weird high-tech-audio. Not very NICE, at all.
I also recall now WHY I got myself involved in this Burmester B100 rebuild as it was the only aesthetic design I'd come across at the time, so it was easy to convince me.
Also 100k €, at the time, made it an idea realizable and it was in deed realized.
Look it up on the web if you're interested to see it's looks and design...
I'm now in a mind to call this wild goose chase off. It seems not to be actually leading anywhere.
Now all please accept my most sincere thank you's.
Some things, for better or for worse, are not meant to be 🤩👍🙏
Michélle 🇿🇦
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Any Magnepan product is better looking than any box, IMO.
Cheers! |
Check out Verity Audio. The finishes are gorgeous. |
No love for Ohm? DeVore? How about JBL Everest? |
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Obviously,beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That being said,if I had the funds,I would look into YG Acoustics. I find their creations very attractive. I have no idea how they sound,but again,I really like the way they look. |
@b_limo
Um, jein... 😉 but thanks for some closer shot! 👍
Why I say jein (German slamg for yesno)? 🤔
Now since we're pushing the envelope, SORRY to one minor item, which those shown might sport, as I can not quickly detect.
Side firing woofers, yes! But, NOT too close to the floor, this mostly produces too much ~50—40 Hz reinforcement, which is no good (to my liking).
Alternativly base venting transmission-line, maybe? or passive membrane port of some or other design, if not too slow...
Front firing woofers of 6" size... I don't really like, sounding mostly wrong to my liking.
A nicely sorted 6 - 6¼" mid-woofer supported by some fast 8" is 👍👌.
Tell me I'm too fuzzy, we had that allready 😁
The other thing, I mentioned is my dislike for dome tweeters in general - but maybe negotiable to some degree. Diamond 💍 ✔️
That blue jean colour... um,... ±, but no ✔ as yet, a bit dull, wouldn't you say?
Thank you for caring, dear 😊
Michélle 🇿🇦
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In all seriousness, get an in-wall and ceiling system.
Imo many gorgeous speakers mentioned and you prefer what is to me a ho-hum box speaker. No wood, no placement close to wall, walking around it, etc. Put the driver's inside the walls and be done. Obviously your priority is appearance over sound. Otherwise go for something like the Hill Plasmatronic. I'm done spending time on this. I hope you find your dream speakers!
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JBL K2 S9900, Magico M2, M3, M6, Focal Sopra, and Utopia, and Wilson Alexia 2, Alexx, and Sasha DAW are some of my favourite speakers looks wise. But they are all so hecking expensive!
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