Ugliest loudspeaker ever!!!!

[PHiX]

I went to an electronics store today and saw this hideous monstrous piece of equipment for sale. I literally ROFLed. With these looks they look like somebody ripped the horn off a navy frigate and put it in his living room. Some people thought the B&W CM7 weren't too pretty, but hell... I don't care about the sound, I would not put something like this in my living room.

http://avantgarde-usa.com/pix/duomega/2_1.gif


:16:


Don't hate me if you own a pair of these.

[audio_dude]

LOL these things are even freakier than Flo's 8.5 foot giants! (no offence to him)

[JoeE SP9]

I went to an electronics store today and saw this hideous monstrous piece of equipment for sale. I literally ROFLed. With these looks they look like somebody ripped the horn off a navy frigate and put it in his living room. Some people thought the B&W CM7 weren't too pretty, but hell... I don't care about the sound, I would not put something like this in my living room.

http://avantgarde-usa.com/pix/duomega/2_1.gif


:16:


Don't hate me if you own a pair of these.

Did you bother giving them a listen?:ihih:

[JoeE SP9]

LOL these things are even freakier than Flo's 8.5 foot giants! (no offence to him)
Have you ever listened to a pair of Apogees or any large panel?:ihih:

[PHiX]

Did you bother giving them a listen?:ihih:


Maybe I should go back some day and ask for a listen.... and bring some type of slayer deathmetal noise cd-r along so I can crank the volume up and run away.


One thing is for certain, if you have a wife that allows you to bring these into your home, she really DOES love you!

[JohnMichael]

I would love to hear a pair of those speakers. I have read some wonderful reviews. I listen with my eyes closed so it is the sound not the sight.

[GMichael]

Looks count too. But I like how the Apogees look. These I could do without.

[GMichael]

Now here's a look I could live with:

I like this one better than their top of the line VR-11


http://www.vonschweikert.com/vr9se.html

[jrhymeammo]

Since we are just talking about the appearance of the Duo Omegas I gotta jump in here. I think they are beautiful, and I must say whoever hates it has no taste( no offense). If wives and other spectators hate the looks, how can they like any boring black boxes. Speaking of appearances, it's about time I purchased Audio Rack instead of exceedingly heavy thrift store endtables and slabs of concrete. Yeah I have no taste, but I digress.........

[bobsticks]

The entire premise of this thread is surreal...

[filecat13]

Probably not, but ugly nonetheless.

Like others, I'd place looks behind sound. If they sounded fantastic, I might try to find a way to improve their visual appeal. Truth be told, if I heard them and thought they sounded great, and someone GAVE me a pair, I'd sell them and buy something that both sounded great and looked great (to me).

[JoeE SP9]

Maybe I should go back some day and ask for a listen.... and bring some type of slayer deathmetal noise cd-r along so I can crank the volume up and run away.


One thing is for certain, if you have a wife that allows you to bring these into your home, she really DOES love you!


Suppose you like the way they sound? What are you gonna' do then?:ihih:

[audio_dude]

i wasn't bashing the SOUND of Flo's speakers...just...it would be kind of hard to get 2 tonnes of speaker into my room...

[PHiX]

Suppose you like the way they sound? What are you gonna' do then?:ihih:

:cornut: Get angry that I dont have the space OR funds to get a pair?


BTW I do think Flo's speakers look great in his set up.

[DaHaq]

I think these speakers look pretty cool; I'm sick of cloth covered black rectangles. Too bad they have one of those at the bottom, ruining the whole visual effect. If you're gonna make a speaker look like that, you shouldn't be afraid to go all the way!

By the way, what is all this I hear about wives not liking big speakers? I think a good stereo system should be appreciated like a piece of fine furniture. It ought to have an interesting look, and not be afraid to occupy space in the room. In my mind, nothing is as offensive looking as those 5.1 out of the box home theater systems with the tiny little cube speakers and a sub shoved thoughtlessly behind the sofa.

[Feanor]

I have always considered Legacy speakers ugly in sort of Victorian retro way. In fact, I think they have a model called "Victoria" but it's not the ugliest.

Really bad is the Wisper, IMO. No offense to owners :cornut:

...

[Dusty Chalk]

I think the classic Magnepan look is kind of ugly -- they look like office dividers. But that wouldn't stop me from owning a pair.

Personally, I think most speakers are ugly. Just going backwards through Stereophile's Floorstanding series, I find these ugly as sin:

http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/506ap/
http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/306devore/
http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/306monitor/
http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/206pen/
http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1105ap/

But then again, I like wacky-looking speakers like O'Heocha's D2 series:

http://www.oheocha.com/images/slideshow/060312_615.jpg

[jocko_nc]

Hmmm. I'm thinking how the wife would react... Any one of those things would be a great "preemptive WAF strike" against anything else I might want to bring home! I would be fully innoculated against speaker critcism.

jocko

[drseid]

Boy, I actually *love* the look of the Whispers... I actually think they are some of the best looking speakers out there (I could say the same for any of the Legacy Audio speakers really). Just goes to show you that tastes are very subjective.

As for the VR-9s... In their case, I don't care much for their looks at all... For some reason, they kind of remind me of Daleks from the old Doctor Who series on the BBC... Exterminate, exterminate...! ;-) Sound-wise, however, next to their larger brothers the VR-11s they are my favorite sounding speakers at any price. So I guess I could easily put up with their looks.

My vote for ugliest would be any of the large Wilson speakers. I could never let those monstrocities enter my home. Ugly as can be, IMO.

---Dave

[Feanor]

Boy, I actually *love* the look of the Whispers... I actually think they are spme of the best looking speakers out there (I could say the same for any of the Legacy Audio speakers really). Just goes to show you that tastes are very subjective.

As for the VR-9s... In their case, I don't care much for their looks at all... For some reason, they kind of remind me of Daleks from the old Doctor Who series on the BBC... Exterminate, exterminate...! ;-) Sound-wise, however, next to their larger brothers the VR-11s they are my favorite sounding speakers at any price. So I guess I could easily put up with their looks.

My vote for ugliest would be any of the large Wilson speakers. I could never let those monstrocities enter my home. Ugly as can be, IMO.

---Dave

I agree about the VR-9's and especially the Wilson's. Can't agree about the Whispers, though they aren't so bad with the grills on. :wink5:

[basite]

i wasn't bashing the SOUND of Flo's speakers...just...it would be kind of hard to get 2 tonnes of speaker into my room...


heck, if flo said; "Here basite, i give you my grand system, you can have it" then i'd build a new house just for those speakers.

[kexodusc]

Pretty much any big fat 3-way fomr the 1980's...especially the likes of Cerwin-Vega, are about as ugly as I could stand.

[RGA]

The Avanteguarde Duo is a good sounding speaker but it's not the best horn design I've heard - personally prefer the K-horn which is kinda butt ugly as well but IMO it's way better value for the buck.

A good sounding ugly speaker can begin to look good after awhile. A bad speaker no matter how good looking can be the bain of your existence.

[GMichael]

Boy, I actually *love* the look of the Whispers... .Dave

Ditto.


As for the VR-9s... In their case, I don't care much for their looks at all... For some reason, they kind of remind me of Daleks from the old Doctor Who series on the BBC... Exterminate, exterminate...! ;-)

---Dave

I was wondering when someone would say that. I get the same feeling from them, but love them anyhow.

[kexodusc]

Oddly enough, I find speakers that look good generally sound good too...and ugly, tacky, trendy speakers tend to lack in the sound area...

FWIW - most of the speakers listed so far I don't find ugly at all...except those goofy Space Invaders speakers Dusty found...yuck.

It's pretty easy to make a speaker look good (by good I mean unobtrusive, I don't know of any speaker I'd own as decoration only because it looks good-I've never seen one), if a designer can't get looks right, why should I believe they can get sound right?

[KaiWinters]

lol beat me to the Dalek similarity.

If a company builds a speaker to reproduce sound as close as possible to the actual sound itself disregarding the cosmetics/appearance they should be applauded especially if it works.

that, however, does not mean I would want them in my home.
I would not call them ugly just very odd looking compared to the "standard" look of speakers.

[Worf101]

Now here's a look I could live with:

I like this one better than their top of the line VR-11


http://www.vonschweikert.com/vr9se.html

Run quick it's a Dalek!!!!

Da Worfster

[jrhymeammo]

For the time being, I just turn the lights off and imagine what she, I mean what speakers look like..... I'm sure 95% of people here have expereinced that at one point.
Here is a new question.
If your wife/girl/boyfriend was a speaker, what would they look like?
I would have to say, One of a Acoustat speakers. She's asian, slim, but has no rear end. Always have to be in a middle of the room. In bed, she's hungry for more peaks and wattages. Oh yeah.

[3db]

I went to an electronics store today and saw this hideous monstrous piece of equipment for sale. I literally ROFLed. With these looks they look like somebody ripped the horn off a navy frigate and put it in his living room. Some people thought the B&W CM7 weren't too pretty, but hell... I don't care about the sound, I would not put something like this in my living room.

http://avantgarde-usa.com/pix/duomega/2_1.gif


:16:


Don't hate me if you own a pair of these.


isn't that what the purpose of the bag is for..to hide the looks? *G*

[Resident Loser]

...in the right setting they might look OK...ya' know that proto-industrial look...Unfortunately a sofa made out of stainless steel, diamond tread isn't something I'd relish planting my keester on...and talk about hard, reflective surfaces...

jimHJJ(...BIG EQing nightmare...)

[E-Stat]

my favorite is the Beauhorn:

http://www.beauhorn.com/pages/images/b2_3.gif

Seems to ask a question. :)

Here's another one that at 4000 kg significantly outweighs Flo's Apogees.

http://aca.gr/pop_jyk.htm

rw