A speaker that looks like a driver or a driver that looks like a speaker?


I want to present to you judgement NoLimits speakers. Waiting for your comments.
http://volya.audio/catalog/Nolimits/


volya
I would find it fascinating to review. It's a heavy brute, so it would be problematic getting it downstairs into my listening room; probably a deal breaker for that reason. :(

I do not mind looking at, listening to unusual products. Heaven knows there are enough truly weird speakers at shows, much less seen online. There is no telling what might capture the fancy of an enthusiast. This one, however, is a most ambitious statement piece, albeit not for ultimate performance. 

I do not see any apparent speaker binding posts. They may be located very low and between the arms of the speaker basket, but that's the only� location I see that they would have to be. Moving it would be a real PITA. I wonder how much movement those skinny spikes would take. The presentation of it on the website makes me wonder if the entire affair is not a joke, an in your face farce. But, I don't think most companies would go to the trouble of that much detail for a joke. 

I always wish audio companies well, and I'm sure there are audiophiles who treasure uniqueness as well as sound quality. This is one of the more avant-guarde inspirations I have seen. Kudos to the company for daring a vision so bold. While it is definitely not most people's cup of tea, it's a vibrant expression of individuality. 

I have in my family room a rare speaker, not so much for the price tag or extreme performance (it has no extreme performance), the Kingsound King Guitar Speaker. There are very few speakers like it! I saw it at a show and had to have it, not for performance, but for enjoyment of the design. We have had more people visiting get a kick out of the faux guitar design, and rightly so, as it's just plain fun. 
I can understand there are people who want more enjoyment factor in a whimsical way than hard core performance, just as there are people who crave nostalgia and go for the vintage gear. 

Hearing it, especially as it is a more difficult to drive design, I would not expect audacious performance, but would likely get a big kick out of the visual and auditory experience. Paired with some of those amps that look like lobsters (sorry, forgot the name)  it would be a big hit! :) 


@douglas_schroeder , that is an interesting design. Do you need 2 or is it just one guitar speaker? and, how do you mount it?
Bob
Bob, it IS an interesting design! Yes, you use two to form the stereo imaging. When people enter our home they think I'm a guitar enthusiast because they see them mounted on very realistic looking guitar stands! From the front the stands appear to be authentic as well, however they mount with solid hardware at the rear. On the backside is the internal amp for the electrostatic driver in the neck of the guitar. Observant guitar players would notice the relatively immense width of the neck and grow suspicious. 

Where the sounding hole would be located is the black dynamic driver which handles the mid-bass and bass. The entire speaker is so cleverly done that most people are fooled. The electrostatic element is open to the back (i.e. open baffle, or "open neck") so the speaker throws a nice bit of sound toward the kitchen as well, and coming off the wall behind them creates a bit of the panel spacious effect. 

The bass is not exemplary, very limited, but one does not buy these speakers for plunging bass. 

I have an inexpensive NuForce integrated amp driving them with Sonos as source. It's been fun and reasonable sound quality given the performance of the speaker is strongly constrained by the aesthetic. 


A very large, particularly round, baffle surface with a minimal of cabinet surface should work well to reduce reflections and cabinet/room interaction. The same that many fine manufactures accomplish with very minimal baffle and cabinet reflective surfaces (just one reason for my love of electrostats and ribbons). The problem is that not many of us have a 30' wide dedicated listening room. Not to be political, but maybe really would be well suited for DTs golden palace.
I think the look is opening the door to knitted speaker "cozies." Makes me nervous.