Friday format: A selection of unusual acoustics
Derrick Noh Photos
Back in the 50s of the last century, it was considered prestigious if the speaker system is hidden from the eyes of the listeners or fits into the interior as organically as possible. For this reason, people sometimes came up with original solutions for the placement of equipment.
One of the readers of High Fidelity, after consulting with his wife, decided to “hide” the stereo system in the oven: “All the necessary equipment got there; however, it looked very strange. ” A similar economical design offered an article in Popular Mechanic from 1955. The main idea is to place the Hi-Fi system on the clothes dryer.
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The passion for unusual and, at times, provocative solutions has reached our times. Even today, audio equipment manufacturers put their speakers in interesting enclosures. For example, the designers of the company Triple C throughout the entire existence of the brand have drawn their inspiration from nature. For this reason, the BluBOOM columns are made in the form of coconut halves (pictured above).
In 2003, Ferguson Hill developed an interesting model of speakers - FHOO1 . These are dipole speakers with a huge transparent mouthpiece. The whole structure takes indecent lot of space and costs about $ 20,000.
Another large and very strange columns came from the pen of Israeli designer Shmuel Linsky. The columns are made of concrete, and each of them weighs 56 kg. In addition to concrete columns, the designer also produced a concrete coffee machine and concrete canoe. It is not entirely clear what is the use of a concrete canoe, but the columns can really be used for their intended purpose.
The designer claims that when listening to music through this model, you can achieve the state of nirvana. At the top of the speaker is a small loudspeaker, from which comes a long 96-centimeter channel, which eventually turns into a subwoofer.
The following speakers, unlike the previous ones, are much more compact and do not take up so much space, therefore, they are able to fit on a bookshelf, a TV stand or in the kitchen. Soundragon's columns designed by Joacim Axelsson are made in the shape of a dragon, so that lovers of oriental culture will love it. Hand columns are made in Sweden from polyethylene resin.
The following speakers from the titans of the sound industry, Bowers and Wilkins, are distinguished by their ambiguous design. Top Nautilus audio system is made in the form of a clam shell. The material of which the columns are made is carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.
Formula 1 race cars are made of the same plastic. After five years of research and experiments with the shape of the speakers, the engineers achieved the sound they were aiming for. The price of such speakers is exorbitant - $ 90,000, but you can’t find a better sound, according to B & W engineers.
And again the pun time. Woofer is 2 speakers that look like dogs [woof ”from English means“ bark, growl ”, and woofer - like“ loudspeaker ”- approx. Ed.]. "Audiopsy" made of plastic and cost about $ 1000. In this case, it is difficult to talk about sound quality, because there is nothing outstanding here, however, if you decide to purchase this “miracle”, then, let's say, you will have two new best friends.
And for those who are allergic to animals, but have a desire to make a couple of new friends, we recommend paying attention to Munny Speakers . The speakers are embedded in vinyl pupae. A distinctive feature of these columns is a creative approach to their creation. You can upgrade them yourself. There are a lot of models of these dolls - all of them are of different colors, and sometimes with additional accessories: pens, caps, etc.
For those who can not live without Apple technology and do not part with the headphones from their ipod for a second, a gadget may be more serious. These are all the same headphones, only enlarged several times and turned into bookshelf speakers. Nothing extraordinary, except for the size, they are not - unless the safety manual with the advice "do not try to insert these headphones into your ear."
Star Wars TIE Fighter columns, made in the form of two space fighters, will appeal to movie fans and Star Wars saga fans. And if the subwoofer were made in the form of the Death Star, he would gracefully emphasize the style of the entire audio system.
The concept of compact and simple speakers presented Polish designers Vitek Stefaniak and Anielka Zhdanovich. In addition to the fact that the speakers can perform their main function - to play sound, they can store books or CDs. Quite an interesting solution that combines compactness and functionality.
I would also like to mention the column Lewis Hyman , which will be a good element of the decor. Lewis Hyman is a shelf with speakers that is compatible with any Bluetooth devices. Now the bookshelf will be able to read you books by itself.
Those who love compactness and unobtrusiveness in design will love the speakers from JBL - Control Now . Each column represents a quarter of a circle. If desired, they can be connected in pairs, or even to close the circle and make a tabletop column.
Thanks to its ergonomics, the column fits easily into the space of the room - it can be fixed between two walls, between the wall and the ceiling, put on the shelf. Such a column is worth $ 250, and for $ 280 you can buy the "street" version.
But the columns of the "Stone Age": AWR-650-SM can and should be used on the street. They will fit well into any garden, because their structure is very similar to natural stone. The columns are weatherproof, so the rain is not a hindrance to them.
If it is not possible to use the speakers in the garden, and you really want to see the plants, you should try the JVC Sound Garden modular speakers. The concept of the columns was developed by Japanese designers and presented at a design week in Tokyo.
The columns themselves are made of eco-plastic and can be connected together, forming a whole system. At the top of each "module" is a small pot, where you can plant bonsai or other small plants.
In conclusion, it should be said: of course, this selection of columns - from fantastically expensive, to simply entertaining - is intended, first of all, to amuse our readers. Still, for most music lovers, columns are part of a vital ecosystem that is designed to fit into a wide variety of interiors.
That is why when creating Arslab equipment, for example, engineers adhere to the classical approach to the design of cabinets. And when developing Penaudio speakers (also classical forms), they pay attention not only to the external design, but also to the tactile sensations that arise when you touch the column: we will talk about this and many other things in one of the next releases of the Sound podcast.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/395943/
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