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,

128x128kletter1mann

It may be my own taste ; but you can’t go wrong , aestheticly speaking with     
the new    Tannoy Stirling III LZ Special Edition.

there are archetecturally friendly solutions

 

abasse rialtos  Streaming loudspeakers

artcoustic https://www.artcoustic.com/ on wall hidden art speakers

https://www.cabasse.com/io3-sur-pied/

then you van use an nad or naim streaming amplifier and vola you can have a grest sounding waf acceptable real music system.

Dave and Troy

audio intellect nj.

artcoustic,cabasse,Naim nad dealers.

 

most of these link above were aesthetically ... well.... strange, to me. Of course tastes are subjective - to some degree