Despite being published nearly two years ago, our original "World's 15 Sexiest Speakers" article remains one of our most enduring and popular features. As the loudspeaker industry is continually innovating and improving, we thought it might be a good time to look back at sexy speakers we may have missed the first time around, as well as models that simply didn't exist back in 2007. The original "winners" have all been retired to the hall of fame, so the following 15 are completely different speakers that we consider the sexiest of 2009.
Brand: Adam Audio
Model: Olympus Sound System
Origin: Germany
Price: $325,000 per pair
Kicking off our list this year is the massive (and massively expensive) Adam Audio flagship - the Olympus Sound System, or OSS. The OSS represents Adam's assault on the state of the art of home audio reproduction, cost (and size) be damned. The tweeters, midranges, mid-woofers, and subwoofers each get their own column, with each channel comprised of 30 individual drivers and six amplifiers. A separate outboard DSP brings it all together.
Brand: Tidal
Model: T1
Origin: Germany
Price: $322,000 per pair
To create their ultimate two-tower T1 speaker system, Tidal started with their Sunray, adapted it for use as a dedicated midrange/tweeter tower, and added a "breathtakingly expensive" pure silver crossover. To that they added a new split cabinet sub-bass extender with opposing woofers. The system uses all Accuton drivers specially made for Tidal, with black ceramic diaphragms for the woofers and midranges and a black diamond diaphragm for the tweeter. Each tower stands nearly 80" tall, and the left and right channels clock in at over 1 ton each.
Brand: Goldmund
Model: Epilogue
Origin: Switzerland
Price: $268,000 per pair
Goldmund's Epilogue system uses a modular approach, which allows owners to add components to their speakers as their needs (and budgets) increase, and also gives the speakers their unique look. The full Epilogue system is made of 2 pairs of Epilogue 1 satellites, one pair of Epilogue 2 bass units and a pair of Epilogue 3 sub-woofers. The enclosures are made of brass and aluminum, with internal steel braces that absorb vibration and eliminate it through a "mechanical grounding evacuation bar."
Brand: MBL
Model: 101-X
Origin: Germany
Price: $250,000 per pair
All MBL Akustikgerate GmbH speakers and components have an air of elegance about them, but their new flagship, the 101-Xtreme, or 101-X for short, is their most gorgeous speaker to date. The 101-X starts with MBL's signature "flower bulb" full-range omnidirectional driver borrowed from the 101E and adds a second one above it turned upside down, with ultra low frequencies supplied by lacquered woofer columns with four 12" subwoofers each. Every hand-finished 101 X-Treme requires 90 days to fabricate and calibrate.
Brand: NTT Audio Lab
Model: 101S
Origin: USA
Price: $175,000 per pair
NTT Audio Lab is a fairly new company to the world of ultra high-end speakers, but they are establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. NTT Audio Lab speakers somewhat resemble some of the larger Wilson Audio models, but I think they are much more attractive, and the 101S is the best looking of the bunch, thanks to that gorgeous machined waveguide for the tweeter. More than 100 finishes are available using automotive colors and processes from companies like Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi and Ferrari.
Brand: GamuT
Model: S9
Origin: Denmark
Price: $130,000 per pair
The 9 is the flagship of GamuT's new El Superiores line of speakers. The cabinet is made from pressed Solid wood over multi layered Finnish Birch plywood, with machined solid brass ports which are threaded into solid stainless steel. Even the 9's grill is gorgeous; it's made from solid stainless steel rods which are designed to have no sonic impact. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the 9 though are the rubber damped body-colored solid wood inserts used in the bass drivers, which are said to optimize the acoustic behavior and dynamic accuracy.
Brand: Rockport
Model: Arrakis
Origin: USA
Price: $147,000 per pair
The Arrakis is Rockport's flagship - a massive 81" tall carbon fiber/composite behemoth that weighs in at 900lbs. Despite the seven drivers including two 15" Audiotechnology custom composite woofers, the Arrakis is surprisingly efficient, requiring a minimum of just 50 watts of power, but capable of enormous output. The Arrakis is the Veyron of speakers.
Brand: Arvus Loudspeakers
Model: Prerenaissance
Origin: New Zealand
Price: $140,000 per pair
If the Rockport Arrakis is a carbon fiber supercar, the Arvus Prerenaissance is a Salvador Dali painting. Its hour-glass shaped cabinet, squeezed impossibly thin in the middle, is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The Prerenaissance is fully active, receiving 3 channels and 1500 watts of amplification per channel. DEQX active room correction allows the speaker to be custom tailored to a listening space.
Brand: Lumen White
Model: Silverflame
Origin: Switzerland
Price: $28,000 per pair
Several European companies are currently making similar, somewhat bland looking speakers using the popular Accuton ceramic drivers (Kharma, Marten, etc). Switzerland's Lumen White has taken that idea and made it stunning, thanks to their proprietary formula resonance optimized plywood compound teardrop shaped cabinets. The Silverflame is available in ivory and piano black, but given the name, it works best in metallic silver.
Brand: Avalon
Model: Sentinel
Origin: USA
Price: $108,000 per pair
Most Avalon speakers are actually rather pedestrian looking, but the Sentinel, with its origami creases and angles is beautiful in a unique, F-117A Stealth Fighter sort of way. The Sentinel uses a mix of diamond, ceramic, and Nomex/Kevlar composite drivers, and has an incredible range of 16Hz - 100kHz. It also weighs 910lbs.
Brand: Raidho
Model: Eben X-5
Origin: Denmark
Price: $100,000 per pair
The X-5 is the top of the Eben range of one of Denmark's more obscure speaker builders, Raidho. The X-5 uses the same ribbon tweeter found in all of the Eben X models, flanked by ceramic midranges and composite woofers in a gorgeous painted carbon fiber enclosure. Designed and built by Michael Børresen, the X-5 was created to be an audiophile dream speaker, a mission it excels at.
Brand: Sonus Faber
Model: Stradivari Homage
Origin: Italy
Price: $50,000 per pair
It's difficult to create a list of sexy speakers without including Sonus Faber, as the company practically invented the category with their signature leather baffles and real hardwood enclosures made to resemble musical instruments. Sonus Faber's high-end Homage series (of which the Stradivari is the top model) was created to honor the great violin makers of Cremona - Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari, though the lesser speakers are actually inspired by the lute. Only the Stradivari is intended to look like a violin, with its unusual wide and shallow shape. As usual, the classic Sonus combination of stacked lacquered wood panels, leather, and piano black finish is breath taking.
Brand: Sunny Cable Technology
Model: H3W15S
Origin: USA
Price: $55,800 per pair
Sunny Cable Technology is probably not a brand that springs to mind when you think of high-end speakers, but that may soon change is the company is really making a name for themselves thanks to their amazing and beautiful horn speakers. The 16.5" horn-loaded midrange driver used in the H3W15S weighs 77lbs, more than many tower speakers! Inside is a neodymium powered compression driver with a massive 4" voice coil. What really makes the speaker pretty though is the magnesium horn supertweeter, finished in gold.
Brand: Haliaetus
Model: Firebird/Booster
Origin: France
Price: $50,800 per set
You wouldn't think jet engines and speakers have much in common, but Haliaetus of France has based their designs on "jet engine technology", though their products actually look more like rocket engines than jets. The Firebird is a 2-way monitor, and can be used independently of the Booster. It uses its "acoustic nozzles" to increase the dynamic capabilities of an otherwise small cabinet. When attached, the Booster bass driver acts as a stand for the Firebird, and extends bass response down to 25Hz.
Brand: Magico
Model: M5
Origin: USA
Price: $89,000 per pair
Rather than the usual way that loudspeaker technology trickles down to smaller, more affordable models, Magico's latest M5 is actually a scaled-up version of the company's V3. The M5 is also their first speaker to use completely Magico designed and built drivers. The main cabinet is constructed from the same naturally finished horizontally layered birchply used in the Mini II and V speakers. Magico's signature solid aluminum front baffle is attached right through to the back panel with tensioning rods which are visible from the back panel. The flush mounted drivers give the M5 an absolutely beautiful look.
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