Handcrafted Ceramic Speakers are almost too pretty to blast
By Darren Murph 
posted August 14th 2009 6:27AM
posted August 14th 2009 6:27AM
[Via Cool Hunting]
posted August 14th 2009 6:27AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Man, if I had disposable income, I'd be all over these.
yeah, with a sledgehammer.....
Reminds me a lot of the Austrian project to cast speakers from concrete molds.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/23/germans-build-concrete-cast-5-1-speaker-set/
Waste of money.
Fugly
get rid of the pink cables!
i'd tap that.
Hold them up to your eyes.
C-C-C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker?
Cute, but I seriously doubt that a designer can make something that also sounds good. There goes a lot of knowledge, thought and work into developing a good speaker, and I seriously doubt the designer cared about anything but looks. I'd rather spend the money on some Genelecs, thank you.
Some designers arent just artists you know. My degree teaches design and drawing, but also mechanics and electronics so I can make the things I design actually work.
Hm, didn't think of that, true. But considering that it takes quite a few good electrical engineers to develop a good speaker it might be difficult for a single designer with some knowledge in electronics to develop something competitive, especially since the speaker is tiny, and even good engineers struggle to get good sound of such tiny speakers (if that is even possible). The upper range yes, maybe, but I doubt there will be decent bass.
You hit the nail on the head dude
Considering the guy doesn't even have the speaker specs posted on his time (or even the cone composition for that matter) he probably isn't a sound designer.
These are like the octopus jar spears a few months ago (looked good, but sounded like crap), the entire shape of the speakers reek in the first place...that is a tiny resonating chamber (and I don't even see the vent)
There are 2 camps of speakers (and headphones for that matter) I have seen... cool designed speakers that look really nice and don't sound that good, and less "cool" looking speakers (doesn't mean they don't look good) that rely on physics for accurately reproducing sound.
400 dollars? for 10watt speakers? Even Bose doesn't have the audacity to charge something that redicouls. Its not like the designer developed the drivers for these speakers, he probally just bought some of the 10 watt drivers off of digikey or something and glued em in. Sorry, I shouldn't be presuming things, I'm just tired of hipster crap showing up on this site...I prefer real technological innovation.
Well, I do suppose these will sound better than Bose. It's quite difficult to sound worse than Bose.
Actually it's just a matter of taste, serious speakers can be really good looking. I like the white Nubert nuVero for example, and some people like the nuLook (at least they are something special).
Thanks for all your comments. This design actually came from a quest for transparent and detailed sound quality in a small enclosure. Everything, from the materials we chose to the type of external amplifier we used to the size of the binding posts, was selected in pursuit of this goal. I did try to make the final design as beautiful as possible, but the overall look is more a reflection of what produced the best sound than my personal aesthetic.
If you have any other questions about these speakers, just send me an email. I'll also keep checking this thread.
-Joey
Oh ok, that sounds better now. Though I'm still doubtful, and I suppose something like entry level Genelecs should sound better. But then again I don't care so much about size, if I could afford it I would get the 1,40m tall nuVero 14 as PC speakers.
I like them, they remind me of going to the beach.
The "full range driver in ceramic cone/pot/tube" thing has been done quite a few times before, the main problem is you will never get any kind of bass response from this design.
The asking price, given it includes the amp and its a nice and distinctive looking product, doesn't seem out of line though...
I don't see how this can be described as pretty.
Looks interesting and I'm looking forward to hear those things once. Though I guess I'll stick with this incredible German piece of handwork called Elac MicroMagic 2.1 BT - might be a little pricier but I never heard anything more incredible coming out of such a small design. And somehow they managed to make the little subwoofer almost resonance free - a friend of mine actually placed it on its glass desk with no problems... will have to await another paycheck though.
Personally, I love these. I like the way they are propped up on the wood. It's like the speakers came without the stands, and someone has fashioned their own - that sounds like I'm saying its a bad thing but its makes them interesting. And strangely, the different shades of wood with the ceramic and pink cables shouldn't work together, but they do. Really nice.
Nasty stands.
When it comes to good sound, i think that only a first hand experience will tell you if it was worth it or not!
Odd looking stands but I could see a high rolller or smug doctor type getting these for his beach house or soemthing. They have some clean style to them.
Was I just imagining RECESSION ANTIDOTE over the past few months? . . .
How's about reinstating with these.
A podge between:
http://www.norh.com/Welcome/3.html
and
http://sakurasystems.com/products/essence.html
I can't believe trees died for that ugly thing.
If you'd be willing to negotiate some prices I'd definitely buy some.