When we built our house, we made sure we had a guest room that, when we didn't have guests, I could do whatever might float my boat. When guests show up, my stereo is shunted into a corner and a bed is brought out. Luckily, this has only happened once or twice.
Integrating speakers into contemporary decor - can WAF ever be overcome?
This is a topic I'd like to see discussed more. Not a speaker issue per se, but it's speakers that usually cause the problems. My partner is a hard core interior design/aesthetics type. We will shortly be combining households with all the benefits and challenges that this presents. We're both fans of a "Music In Every Room" (MIER) lifestyle, so that's a good start. But we quickly diverge. And to be clear, we're not talking about giant screens on the wall or home theater. This is audio only.
Anyway, her idea of MIER is built-in speakers or, at most, tiny Sonos units on a bookshelf or behind furniture. I had some of that in my house albeit BlueOS stuff. That's OK to a point. But my LR had KEF LS50's on stands. Obviously difference in sound is dramatic, and she admitted it. But she doesn't care. For her the improvement in sound quality is negated by aesthetic horror of visible speakers.
It's worth mentioning that the decor/design aesthetic in question is basically high end transitional with mix of contemporary stuff, Asian antiques, some colonial antiques, large format abstract oils, etc. It's >not< traditional or frou-frou, really a look where the right speakers could easily be interpreted as industrial design pieces that mesh well with the rest. The LS50s fit that description I think.
So, getting to the question here... Has anybody had any luck convincing spouse that speakers can be a part of the decor? To think of them as some kind of sculptural elements, not "just ugly speakers?" That they're industrial design elements that somehow add to space? Have links to pix of living spaces that integrated speakers into the look? Any help or ideas would be great. Thanks for reading, a kind of odd topic, I know. Cheers,
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It sounds like some compromise is necessary. What about putting speakers in cabinets with doors you would open for listening? Among a number of manufacturers, Salamander makes furniture and racks for audio applications. With various decor styles, here is one relatively simple design: https://www.salamanderdesigns.com/av-cabinets/synergy-model-402/ This cabinet happens to be 41" high with flexible shelf heights, so "bookshelf" speakers might have tweeters at a decent 35-39" height. Support rigidity would be good, although cabinet walls would be subject to "some" vibration. You could even slide the speakers a few inches out of the cabinet when listening to manage diffraction effects. |
- 102 posts total