Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Reader Tip: Stylish Speakers

Reader Tip: Stylish Speakers

Young-Ho wrote to say: "Thought you might consider the following list of stylish floorstanding loudspeakers. Most floorstanding speakers are essentially wooden boxes with mounted drivers. Sometimes they're painted or lacquered, curved or nearly cylindrical, or made out of metal. Unfortunately, they're often placed in the least conspicuous locations, such as pushed up against the wall or into corners, which usually result in the worst sound. Most speakers sound better if they are moved away from the nearest walls. Although the following speakers may draw more notice if you pull them out from the corners, they're stylish enough that they can stand the attention."

•B&W Nautilus
•Podspeakers MiniPod
•Duevel Planet
•Shahinian Compass or Starter
•Infinity Cascade Model Nine
•Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 9
•Martin Logan Clarity
•JMLab Grande Utopia Be
•Magnepan 1.6

Thanks Young-Ho! You've definitely convinced us that speakers can stand on their own as works of art.

Comments (4)

I would hope that anyone with enough cash to purchase high-end B&W, B&O or Martin Logan speakers springs for someone to install them properly and not just buy them and randomly jam them against the wall.

posted by Ondrej on 2007-03-22 16:04:10

i don't think B&O goes in the same category as B&W or Logan

posted by aaron on 2007-03-22 17:57:40

The Beolab 5's are $16k a pair. Don't know about the 9's.

Personally, I would go for either Onix Rockets (from av123) or Hsu's all around. A TON less cash and great sound.

posted by Jason on October 18th 2007 at 5:03pm
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I've always had a soft spot for the Revel Gems:
http://www.revelspeakers.com/products/product.asp?product=3

They are actually affordable now on the used market. Of course I now live in a small NYC apartment and don't have the right acoustics for them. Sigh.

The Sonus Faber Amatis aren't bad either:
http://www.sumikoaudio.net/sonus/prod_amati.htm

posted by Thomas on December 26th 2007 at 4:35pm
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