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Post by garbulky on Jun 7, 2014 23:40:35 GMT -5
I love both the sound and the look of these: Nice find! Very solid look to it and class! Are those Sonus fabers or KEF? They look a bit thick to be them...
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Post by deltadube on Jun 8, 2014 0:18:30 GMT -5
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,230
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Post by novisnick on Jun 8, 2014 0:24:04 GMT -5
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Post by clockwork33 on Jun 8, 2014 3:12:27 GMT -5
I love both the sound and the look of these: Nice find! Very solid look to it and class! Are those Sonus fabers or KEF? They look a bit thick to be them... I think it is the TAD Reference One. Wow! I totally agree.....
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 3:21:41 GMT -5
Estelon Extreme...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 7:32:33 GMT -5
We like these.
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Post by plm on Jun 8, 2014 18:55:28 GMT -5
Nice find! Very solid look to it and class! Are those Sonus fabers or KEF? They look a bit thick to be them... I think it is the TAD Reference One. Wow! I totally agree..... Yup, these are the TAD Reference Ones. One day...!
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tt
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by tt on Jun 9, 2014 2:49:08 GMT -5
The speakers in the earlier post are just a prototype from many moons ago. These new beasts are something completely different. The largest pair stand at over five foot tall. I understand that they have gone through numerous iterations since, radically improving not only their look but their sound. Have a look at the Cosmotron teaser site to see how different they really are. www.cosmotron.co.uk
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Post by Cogito on Jun 9, 2014 6:54:23 GMT -5
Elegant simplicity...
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Post by clockwork33 on Jun 9, 2014 7:20:17 GMT -5
I think it is the TAD Reference One. Wow! I totally agree..... Yup, these are the TAD Reference Ones. One day...! Same here! Until that day I am quite happy with their Pioneer nephews.
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,986
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Post by KeithL on Jun 9, 2014 8:44:25 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but they look like rocket ships. Much as I like rocket ships (I'm a rabid sci-fi fan), I rather prefer my speakers to look more or less like speakers. (But, then, I never had a bunk bed that looked like a space ship either.) The speakers in the earlier post are just a prototype from many moons ago. These new beasts are something completely different. The largest pair stand at over five foot tall. I understand that they have gone through numerous iterations since, radically improving not only their look but their sound. Have a look at the Cosmotron teaser site to see how different they really are. www.cosmotron.co.uk
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Post by Bonzo on Jun 9, 2014 9:17:16 GMT -5
Estelon Extreme... WOW!!! These are incredible. Beautiful.
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,986
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Post by KeithL on Jun 9, 2014 9:17:31 GMT -5
But how can a thread about speakers be ALL about looks? If someone showed you something that looked like a pen - and a really awesome one... except that it didn't actually write, would you consider it? How about "the world's best looking car" - but it doesn't actually run and you can't drive it anywhere? To me, if it doesn't drive, then it isn't "a car" - it's "a car model" or "a statue of a car". I can see buying a speaker, and paying extra for cool looks - but ONLY if it passes some minimum level of functionality AS A SPEAKER... and that's especially true for speakers that are in the obvious price class we're talking about. If it doesn't sound good, then it isn't really a speaker; you can take a repro of your favorite painting (or statue), slap a contact driver on it ($20 from Parts Express), and it will still look cool and play music, but I would still disqualify it from this discussion. (For that matter, if we're ignoring sound quality entirely, I can simply park a pair of Lamborghini Countach's in my living room, with the doors open, and call them "the world's coolest speakers".) To me, you have to include a requirement that there's some basic functionality involved, and, for things obviously this expensive, I set that minimum a tiny bit above a $29 TV speaker. Specifically, in the case of making speakers look like violins, I'm not convinced that even that bare minimum would be met. (If you're willing to concede that they don't actually have to work, then I think the coolest speakers would be a pair of 1/4" pinpoints of light that fly around, following you, always hovering the exact correct distance from each of your ears.) Beyond even all that, my personal sense of aesthetics includes some sense of things looking like what they are. To me, a speaker should look like a speaker, and so things that seem designed specifically not to look like what they are sort of offend that sensibility. Even on designs like Maggies, and the Radialstrahler, there is some sense that form follows function... the Radialstrahler derives its shape from wanting to be an omnidirectional pseudo-spherical sound source; it doesn't look as it does JUST because they thought it looked cool, the way it looks is related to the way it works. Can you honestly imagine saying that a sports car that looked like a violin, or a cantaloupe melon, or a hummingbird, or a cement block, was "a good looking car"? I dunno about you but, to me, a sportscar is supposed to look at least more or less a certain way - sleek, sexy, sort of aerodynamic - sort of faster and more "car-ish" looking than my family-car Nissan. I might get a good laugh out of a sportscar shaped like a violin, but I would not consider it attractive, and likewise for those speakers. As far as I can tell, those violin-shaped speakers look that way ONLY because either they hope some people are stupid enough to imagine that a violin-shaped speaker will sound good playing violin music because of the shape (which makes no sense whatsoever - although they do actually seem to be hinting at it), or as a novelty item (and I do not necessarily consider every novelty as attractive). Now, if you buy into that, I always thought it would be neat to have a set of HT speakers for monster movies that were shaped like dinosaurs (can you say "Godzilla sub"). I may have to check out those Earasers - although, from what I recall, they're limited to a few dB less attenuation than I usually use. It's funny, I went to their website and it seems blindingly obvious that they have no idea about what "high fidelity" means (or they're quite sure their customers don't). They say weird stuff like "a speaker that produces sound that is rich in harmonic content - like a violin". According to that, they apparently believe that a speaker should color the sound like a violin rather than reproduce the recording as accurately as possible. From that, I can only assume that everything you play through them will come out sounding like a violin - even a piano, a synthesizer, or a vocalist. You are in the wrong thread KeithL. This thread is all about looks. Here it's all about the cosmetics. Who cares if she's smart as long as she's hot with a great body. By the way, did you see my follow up on the ear plugs thread? The new Earasers brand definitely beats out old Emymotic champs in every category, except price. They are about $45 shipped. emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/36882/hi-ear-plugs-which-best
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Post by plm on Jun 9, 2014 11:54:59 GMT -5
Yup, these are the TAD Reference Ones. One day...! Same here! Until that day I am quite happy with their Pioneer nephews. You have the S-1 EX? I got a pair a couple of months ago and really love them!
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Post by frenchyfranky on Jun 9, 2014 12:07:56 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but they look like rocket ships. Much as I like rocket ships (I'm a rabid sci-fi fan), I rather prefer my speakers to look more or less like speakers. (But, then, I never had a bunk bed that looked like a space ship either.) The speakers in the earlier post are just a prototype from many moons ago. These new beasts are something completely different. The largest pair stand at over five foot tall. I understand that they have gone through numerous iterations since, radically improving not only their look but their sound. Have a look at the Cosmotron teaser site to see how different they really are. www.cosmotron.co.ukAre you sure Keith? I just took these spied pictures in your bedroom and your backyard...
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Post by Bonzo on Jun 9, 2014 12:30:24 GMT -5
But how can a thread about speakers be ALL about looks? If someone showed you something that looked like a pen - and a really awesome one... except that it didn't actually write, would you consider it? How about "the world's best looking car" - but it doesn't actually run and you can't drive it anywhere? To me, if it doesn't drive, then it isn't "a car" - it's "a car model" or "a statue of a car". I can see buying a speaker, and paying extra for cool looks - but ONLY if it passes some minimum level of functionality AS A SPEAKER... and that's especially true for speakers that are in the obvious price class we're talking about. If it doesn't sound good, then it isn't really a speaker; you can take a repro of your favorite painting (or statue), slap a contact driver on it ($20 from Parts Express), and it will still look cool and play music, but I would still disqualify it from this discussion. (For that matter, if we're ignoring sound quality entirely, I can simply park a pair of Lamborghini Countach's in my living room, with the doors open, and call them "the world's coolest speakers".) To me, you have to include a requirement that there's some basic functionality involved, and, for things obviously this expensive, I set that minimum a tiny bit above a $29 TV speaker. Specifically, in the case of making speakers look like violins, I'm not convinced that even that bare minimum would be met. (If you're willing to concede that they don't actually have to work, then I think the coolest speakers would be a pair of 1/4" pinpoints of light that fly around, following you, always hovering the exact correct distance from each of your ears.) Beyond even all that, my personal sense of aesthetics includes some sense of things looking like what they are. To me, a speaker should look like a speaker, and so things that seem designed specifically not to look like what they are sort of offend that sensibility. Even on designs like Maggies, and the Radialstrahler, there is some sense that form follows function... the Radialstrahler derives its shape from wanting to be an omnidirectional pseudo-spherical sound source; it doesn't look as it does JUST because they thought it looked cool, the way it looks is related to the way it works. Can you honestly imagine saying that a sports car that looked like a violin, or a cantaloupe melon, or a hummingbird, or a cement block, was "a good looking car"? I dunno about you but, to me, a sportscar is supposed to look at least more or less a certain way - sleek, sexy, sort of aerodynamic - sort of faster and more "car-ish" looking than my family-car Nissan. I might get a good laugh out of a sportscar shaped like a violin, but I would not consider it attractive, and likewise for those speakers. As far as I can tell, those violin-shaped speakers look that way ONLY because either they hope some people are stupid enough to imagine that a violin-shaped speaker will sound good playing violin music because of the shape (which makes no sense whatsoever - although they do actually seem to be hinting at it), or as a novelty item (and I do not necessarily consider every novelty as attractive). Now, if you buy into that, I always thought it would be neat to have a set of HT speakers for monster movies that were shaped like dinosaurs (can you say "Godzilla sub"). Well I'm afraid we could probably debate this all day, but I'm not going to do that. I get your point, and it's very true, for audiophiles. But I think you might be missing part of the point that, 1. Some of us are just having fun looking at the craziness and art forms used to build speakers and 2. It doesn't ALWAYS have to be about good sound, that looks can be more important. Regarding #1, this is just a forum where we are looking at speakers. Buying them has nothing to do with this thread, nothing, at least not for me. I think it's fun to check it all out without getting to rational about it. Like being able to go through a 3 million dollar Homearama house and not get jealous, but get excited by it. It's fun, not serious. I have a friend that can't go to Homearama because it makes him mad, and i feel sorry for him. And 2, audiophiles all seem to think that sound is everything, and "how" could anyone think otherwise. Well for the vast majority of people in the world, awesome sound quality is not all that important. Just 3 quick examples and I'm done. For many many people, especially women, the best looking speaker in the world is one you can't see at all, an in-wall hidden speaker. While very good sounding speakers like this exist, they are usually not the first that come to mind when thinking audiophile grade. In terms of cars, let's say Nissan, I'd rather have my lesser performing 370Z than the super performing GT-R. I think the GT-R is one of the fugliest cars on the road, performance be damned. I'd like to take a drive in one sure, who wouldn't, but I wouldn't spend my $100,000 on that car, never. There are many lesser performing cars under that price I'd much rather have, and looks alone is a major player in that opinion. And lastly, my wife and I used to watch a show called Ace of Cakes, where they made some way out crazy looking themed cakes. Some were very impressive looking. But a friend of ours who actually owns a bakery absolutely hated the show because to them it was all about looks and nothing about how the cakes tasted. To them taste is 98% of the cake, and looks were 2%. Well, I'm not into cake. If I never have cake again in my life it won't bother me one bit. So for me it was all about the looks of the cake. Needless to say we don't talk about this topic with out baker friends. Nuff said. But I would like it if people kept posting to this thread showing us all whats out there. I'm certainly glad I got to see these Estelon Extreme things. I mean wow, those are really quite stunning. I'm going to have to look them up. Yes, they are, and that's part of what makes them special. All the other ones knock out too much. At home on my Denon, for music, a setting of -20 is quite loud for me. -15 is very loud, and -10 is ridiculous. I want something that takes music being played at the -10 and turns it into -22. Other plugs take the -10 and turn it into -35. I'm at a concert so I don't want it to be THAT dull. Out of the box the Etymotic block WAY too much for normal concerts I go to (not super loud metal or punk crazy stuff). How I have gotten them to be more comfortable, block less sound, and sound better in the process is to cut off "mushrooms." They come with 3, which is too much. Cutting off the first smallest one is a must. After that, it's either the middle one, or the outside largest one. I can't decide which I like best. But then there are these new Earasers that are right in contention. They have more of a custom fit, and seem to fit and STAY in place better, without having to futz with them the entire show. I went to a Paul Rodgers concert Friday but it was not loud enough for me to tell which was best sounding. Good for the concert since I didn't have to use plugs, but bad for choosing plugs.
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Post by Bonzo on Jun 9, 2014 14:03:39 GMT -5
WOW!!! These are incredible. Beautiful. Oh yeah, just looked these up, and wow, they should be pretty considering what they are going to cost you. YIKES!!!!! Speakers like these make expensive cars look like bargains.
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Post by lionear on Jun 9, 2014 21:06:28 GMT -5
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Post by garbulky on Jun 10, 2014 1:03:48 GMT -5
They have so much swank they even have a vip section on their website called "restricted area"! Edit: I was trying to make sense of what sort of look they were going for until this came up in their ad.
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Post by Bonzo on Jun 10, 2014 8:41:15 GMT -5
Just one for now. These are some truly awesome speakers. Apogee Grand.
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