I realize that it is often the case that loudspeakers share a living space with other household members and that a certain attractiveness is a bonus and sometimes even a requirement. I credit Lewis Lipnick, when writing for Stereophile, for creating the WAF [Wife's Acceptance Factor] and the MIF [Marriage Interference Factor] guidelines regarding the visual appeal of any audio equipment. I know personally that any compromises that were encountered involved trips to the Laura Ashley Store to smooth things over.
Personally, I once owned a pair of B&W 801 loudspeakers, finished in rosewood, that were so attractive to view that they became a distraction to my enjoyment of the music they produced ! I actually traded them to a friend for a pair of the same speakers finished in plain black and can honestly say that my enjoyment of listening to music increased severalfold. I understand why the beauty of the cabinetry can be a joy in itself, but my experience with the 801s firmly set my future loudspeaker choices to the most neutral in appearance possible. It still works for me. Anyone else ?
Laufer Teknik The Note. IMO, it's beautiful in that is near invisible the only shortcoming is it's 85-93" tall. I have the height, but sadly, not the budget
I actually had Totem Forest speakers - I was looking / waiting for them for over a decade. But then... I walked into a shop and noticed the ones below even before hearing them. The metal rings almost shine and broke my heart (and wallet).
I added Gaia III feet underneath, put them on a black marble slate (for stability) and didn't look back ever since.
According to Dynaudio, "This is where Heritage Special takes shape. Literally. It isn’t a photo-set, carefully dressed to look like a factory. It’s a factory, left as it is, with a finished Heritage Special left on the bench after Martin went home (he didn’t want us distracting him with cameras while he worked)."
"hard to divorce the looks of speakers from their reputation"
yes and reputation comes from the quality
with industrial design, function comes first and that defines design. We are not talking about pretty boxes, it's about what they do. I get goosebumps when I see a gorgeous speaker and I want to HEAR it!
Best looking, most aesthetically pleasing speaker ever made? Gotta be the early generation Klipsch La Scalas in the raw birch plywood. (Sorry - I had to do it. No flaming, please - I'm actually a Klipsch owner!) 😁
Thanks to previous posters for sharing some real beauties!
A number of the most amazing looking speakers left me with indelible scars of their sound...
Well said, loudspeakers are to be heard. When looks are priority, sound quality recedes to the shadows. Any serious lisening session should be done with eyes closed anyway... if eyes are open when listening to music, you are barely engaging your eras & brains, you are missing out 90% of what the speakers can translate.
Also, keeping eyes open forces the brain to skew interpretation of the sound to fit what you see...
All that being said, the most beautiful speakers are the ones made from real wood cabinets. To me, nothing else comes close to their natural beauty, simplicity and honesty.
That's a very fine center. Does it never come with a grille? I don't see any photos of one online.
FWIW I own neither Phantom nor the Nautilus. The Phantoms, do they punch precisely? Everybody always talks about surround diffusion, but even with dipoles I locate everything exactly (my preference), and one thing I consider a must is precise bass impact when things fly overhead. Unless that is your gear is employed for multichannel music.
On topic I do like that Tekton offers colorful options, some of which come out almost ceramic in appearance.
@manogolfalso remember to avoid http links, use https. I made that mistake and now the image won't be shown to some people. Depends on their browser settings.
Here is an https linked image of the Bayz Courante.
I don't know if you can upload it to into a comment from your desktop/iMac, but if you post it somewhere on the web, facebook or any picture sharing site, you can link it in from the image source url.
How do I upload a photo? I recall instructions and do not find them readily available. Perhaps an add to FAQ is in order. Regardless, I am attempting to drop a photo in this message from my iMac and am unable. Is there a special suffix that is used for file type? .agonpic? Let me in on the handshake please.
I had the privilege of helping to set up four pairs of Stradivari. Most of them were set up using the Sumiko Method per the distributor’s recommendation. They sounded and looked nice.
I don't recall which speakers I had at the time of the intruder, but I did own Accoustat 2 + 2s, sans sox (I loved the look) with 4! servo amps, which I slightly modified with the help of a fellow Accoustat lover+ the medallion interfaces. Although I tried a number of SS amps, I much preferred the servos, but they were very unstable. Long after I sold them I heard of a guy who was able to resolve that. I built adjustable outriggers which got them off the ground some 5" with fore and aft adjustment
There was more to the whole story. I did the short version to keep from writing a book.
From past experience I saw the future coming. thought it best to exit ..... stage left.
and the speakers were (to stay on topic)
Acoustat SPECTRA III ESLs.
Not gaudy in my opinion. sounded great to me in ’89. Pretty good looking and massive panels at 66" tall and 32" wide each.
Funny. I met a woman on line, over a decade ago. Took her to lunch. Had a great time. Invited her over for our second date. My system is front and center, as soon as you walk into the room 21 x 36 x 12 (open beam ceilings). As soon as she walked in the door she looked around and said "this house is decorated for a man". That was our last date. I probably told her we weren't going to get along, and asked her to leave. Pitty, she had great legs, too
My preference is for art resembling music. One great example is Scaena point source Loudspeakers, which can be ordered in any color you want. Slender design does not draw undo attention. It's bewildering to know what outstanding sound comes from such delicate looking speakers
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