# World's 15 Sexiest Speakers



## huckorris

The World's 15 Sexiest Speakers Put Your Girlfriend to Shame [audiojunkies]


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## chauss

If you are going to spend that kind of money....

Top 10 Luxury Speakers Everyone Can't Afford - Born Rich


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## bigger_george

I've heard the Avante Garde horn speakers back in a 2004 high end audio show. Superb sound, sent shivers down my spine but of course don't exactly have that kind of dough on hand :laugh:


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## instalher

wow... must have the nautilus speakers...drool drool


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## chauss

2. Infinite Grande for me!
I love electrostatics for the lifelike voice quality.
I have a set of appogee's- that is all I can afford...(at least while remaining married!)


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## Silver Supra

Here is some more audio gear to drool over, this is from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last week.


http://www.fototime.com/inv/45177E7CFA0F88C


I like the Focals.


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## chauss

I put the Focals in my sons car- great speakers!
How did those sound?
They way the speakers are layed out looks like the transient response would be excellent.


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## Silver Supra

Those Focals sounded fantastic drive by all MBL electronics. My favorite room however was some Classic Audio horns driven by Atma-Sphere tube amps... just sick!


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## Builtlikeatank

This may be a dumb question, as I am new to the home side, but wouldn't the ceiling in those rooms cause some issues with bass response?

End thread jack.


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## chad

bigger_george said:


> I've heard the Avante Garde horn speakers back in a 2004 high end audio show. Superb sound, sent shivers down my spine but of course don't exactly have that kind of dough on hand :laugh:


I have a set of Duo's sitting in my shop right behind me.


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## chauss

Builtlikeatank said:


> This may be a dumb question, as I am new to the home side, but wouldn't the ceiling in those rooms cause some issues with bass response?
> 
> End thread jack.


I believe a standing 20Hz signal is a 176" tall wave...so probably not.
I could be wrong on the actual height...but I know it is 8' or greater.
176" keeps popping into my head for some reason.
Someone with more experience in this field will probably chime in.


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## Hispls

chauss said:


> If you are going to spend that kind of money....
> 
> Top 10 Luxury Speakers Everyone Can't Afford - Born Rich


I'd be pretty confident anyone who blows a quarter million on speakers:

a. Has more money than brains.
b. Has never done a day's worth of real work in their life.

For ****'s sake for a quarter mil, you could hire the best engineer in the business for a year to R&D, then commission a build-house of your choice to build to your specs, THEN either throw away the dies and manufacturing parts, or start your own super elite brand of half a million dollar speakers FTW.


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## Builtlikeatank

chauss said:


> I believe a standing 20Hz signal is a 176" tall wave...so probably not.
> I could be wrong on the actual height...but I know it is 8' or greater.
> 176" keeps popping into my head for some reason.
> Someone with more experience in this field will probably chime in.


I am referring more to the dropped ceilings. I was always lead to believe that they can act as a bass trap, just curious if some of the minds here on DIY would know better than I...


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## miniSQ

I must be getting old...they mostly look gaudy to me...give me the wilson watt/puppies anyday


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## 03blueSI

I personally think any of the Sonus Fabers look better than any of those speakers. I especially like the Cremona M and the Cremona Elipsa.


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## chuyler1

Hispls said:


> I'd be pretty confident anyone who blows a quarter million on speakers:
> 
> a. Has more money than brains.
> b. Has never done a day's worth of real work in their life.
> 
> For ****'s sake for a quarter mil, you could hire the best engineer in the business for a year to R&D, then commission a build-house of your choice to build to your specs, THEN either throw away the dies and manufacturing parts, or start your own super elite brand of half a million dollar speakers FTW.


Or better yet, you could just hire the performers to come to your house and play for you.

However we do benefit from the existence of these systems. Rich people pay for the R&D by buying these expensive speaker systems at their current price. Years go by and eventually the price of the technology drops to the point where the $19.97 boom box at Walmart will sound like it. Ok, not quite that much, but raw drivers with similar technology will eventually become available for us to use in DIY systems at reasonable prices and the acoustical concepts utilized will become common knowledge. just think of the first time a port was used, or a horn.

Even now you can find examples of this. Many high-end speaker systems in the $3,000-10,000 range use Fostex and Jordan drivers which can be purchased for less than $250. Build the box yourself and you have essentially cheated the system. Of course you may have to build several boxes to get it just right, and practice your finishing skills to get something acceptable to your wife (unless raw plywood and mdf is a desirable motif in your home).


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## HondAudio

Have you guys ever perused those home theater magazines? Some guys spend over a million bucks on speakers alone for their home theaters. They'll have like 7 towers of speakers that are 150k each


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## k-ink

Every single speaker above is HIDEOUS! I don't care if they're $2 or $200K! :lol:


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## KAPendley

I'll take a set of the entry level Tannoy's I had in my store (cosignment) all day thanks. Great sound for less than 1k.


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## thehatedguy

Those car speakers had alll field coil drivers in them...and a Dr. Edgar designed radial tractrix horn. I haven't seen one bad review of them ever.



Silver Supra said:


> Those Focals sounded fantastic drive by all MBL electronics. My favorite room however was some Classic Audio horns driven by Atma-Sphere tube amps... just sick!


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## customtronic

I'm really suprised that I didn't see the Morel Fat lady in the first link posted. They look awesome in my opinion and sound great. 










Also, one of the best looking speakers I've ever seen was made by a couple of our forum members, Matt Roberts and Randy Kunin from Sounds By Design. I got the chance to listen to it a few times and it is awesome.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sound...#/album.php?page=1&aid=182422&id=157227755010


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## Seth1784

a lot of those in the most expensive link look horrid, plus good lord at the 1 million dollar price tag!


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## soongsc

Most are for show and tell. Like these


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## huckorris

Yea it's for rich men who don't care about bang/buck. Like someone said, you could do a lot of decently professional R&D for the price of just one set of some of those.


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## soongsc

I would think they consider a different bang.


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## mcsoul

The only ones that floated my boat from either article.


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## kvndoom

Most of those top 15 are too shiny and artsy. I hate bling.

The Legacy Whispers have long been the most beautiful speakers I've ever seen...









Then again, that was before they made the Helix, now it's a toss-up...









Since the mid 1990's I have been hell-bent on one day being rich enough to buy some top end Legacy speakers. One day my dream is to drive up there in a truck and pick them out myself and drive home with them.


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## the other hated guy

Thanks sunshine... I hope to make a list or two this year with my pieces... 




customtronic said:


> Also, one of the best looking speakers I've ever seen was made by a couple of our forum members, Matt Roberts and Randy Kunin from Sounds By Design. I got the chance to listen to it a few times and it is awesome.
> Sounds By Design | Facebook


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## misterthews

All are "statement" speaker. What ever a company can throw together into a box and charge a king's ransom for. I used to sell "high end" audio in the '90 such as Wilson X-1, Avalon, Thiel, Mark Levinson, ARC. etc. High price does not = sound quality. However, high price always = exclusivity. The best sounding speaker to me was a pair of AVALON Ascent driven by MANLEY tube amp. Better than just about anything.


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## Thrill_House

I think the canton's deserve a look as well, nice clean and simple Die Reference - Handmade by CANTON | Reference 1.2 DC


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## fallbrookchris

I can't see spending more than $94K on a pair of speakers but to each, trust fund/lotto winner, their own
I know I guy with over 400 investment houses/properties, he would never buy a set of speakers that cost more than a couple grand, he worked for his money and knows the value of a dollar and has the self esteem such that he doesn't need *flash* to impress others; for God's sake he drives a 12 year old pick up the majority of the time

Though I haven't heard a lot of super high end *high cost* speakers, my favorite home audio speakers are the DIY Dayton 8's I built them myself for under $350, a friend saw them and heard them and loved them so much he paid my $3,000 for a pair and another $1,200 for a matching diycable.com Shiva-X subwoofer; which I run two of in my HT room each w/ 500 watts
So I and a few others, 3 of them musicians, have all been impressed with the sound and appearance of a system that cost less than $1,000 for the speakers and a few grand for the electronics; Bang/Buck their hard to beat and I didn't even have to sell a kidney, plus I get to say that I built them myself which is worth a lot to me


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## hobie1dog

misterthews said:


> All are "statement" speaker. What ever a company can throw together into a box and charge a king's ransom for. I used to sell "high end" audio in the '90 such as Wilson X-1, Avalon, Thiel, Mark Levinson, ARC. etc. High price does not = sound quality. However, high price always = exclusivity. The best sounding speaker to me was a pair of AVALON Ascent driven by MANLEY tube amp. Better than just about anything.


A pair of Avalon Eidelon speakers driven by an all Spectral Electronics front end takes the honor of most 3-D, musicians in the room with ya sound I've heard. I hope to one day drive out to Salina, Kansas and hear the Avalon Sentinel speakers at Acoustic Sounds.


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## teldzc1

I'm not a huge Focal fan, but the Grande Utopia EM are pretty ridiculous. Regardless of price, the engineering and design of these are quite incredible. The fact that they design, manufacture and assemble these in house gets my respect. Most companies buy off the shelf drivers with minor mods, Focal does it all in house. Plus, these are stunning.

Speakers Grande Utopia EM: Video.


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## tonym

I think I just SH*T myself looking at them prices!!!


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