World's Most Expensive Sound System. $1.84 Million Gold & Gem Bang & Olufsen Beosound

above: the front and back view of the 24ct and diamond Beosound 9000 and Beolab 6000 speakers

Stuart Hughes just can't seem to stop making obscenely expensive versions of high tech items and gadgets, his latest being the world's most expensive custom music system and remote. He has manufactured a Bang & Olufsen Beosound system out of solid 24k gold, and studded it with diamonds and gems.



Designed in Liverpool U.K. by Stuart Hughes, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound 24ct gold & Diamond Edition is the world’s most expensive and Bespoke Music center. Priced at £1.2 million, ($1,842,900.00 USD) the B&O Gold Beosound System took a whole 7 months to manufacture.

The Beosound's whole body including the speakers have been reformed using 32 kilograms of solid 24ct gold. The outer screen guard area has a handmade solid gold veneer which houses 70 brilliant round cut 0.75 flawless diamonds which sit amidst surrounding gemstones of aventurine & topaz. A limited edition of only 5 units will be made.



Of course it wouldn't be complete without his gold and diamond Bang & Olufsen Serenata Mobile phone (I originally listed this as a remote and was embarrassingly corrected by a reader).



The Bang & Olufsen Serenata, exclusively in diamonds and solid gold. The diamonds are mounted on their own solid gold bezel sitting perfectly over the main scroll mechanism.



Diamonds used total 16.25ct in the form of VVS1 quality, F color. The main facia and rear release are reformed to precision using a circa of 140 grams of solid 24ct gold. This handset is of a limited edition only of 10 to be created.

Serenata Priced at £44,995 ($57,184.00 USD)

Both the gold and diamond Bang & Olufsen Beosound System and the Serenata mobile are available exclusively from www.stuarthughes.com

Davone Audio's Newest Speakers, Ray, Are An Homage To The Eames Lounge

Davone Audio of Denmark has just finished designing and producing their second luxurious set of high-end loudpeakers. Following Rithm, their new set of speakers is housed in a bowed walnut wood veneer and set atop metal legs. Similar in color, design and style to the iconic lounge chair by Charles and Ray Eames, the speakers are named "Ray" an obvious nod to the designers of the famous chair.


The iconic Eames Lounge chair and ottoman:

making the bowed veneers for the housing of the equipment:

detailed shots of the Ray Speakers:




The first set of finished speakers have just been sent to New York to appear as a prop in an upcoming major motion picture that will be released in 2011.

Purported to cost $6,000 a pair, no specs on the speakers have yet to be published, nor are they yet available.

Below is their first set of loudspeakers, the Rithm:

Davone audio

It's A Lamp. It's A Speaker. It's The Amplamp By Futuros

Is it a table lamp? Is it an audio speaker? The truth is that the amplamp is a unique combination of both. The amplamp is hand-crafted by Dominic Bromley, one of the UK's most successful lighting and ceramics designers - and the guy behind Scabetti.

what does it look like?
Available in black or white and with your choice of shade.




How does it work?

Amplamp delivers a unique sonic experience that easily compares to the most advanced consumer audio products. The sound combines tightly controlled deep bass with crystal clear presence, accuracy and precision.



By using a unique configuration of Airsound drivers and a transparent NXT panel speaker, the Amplamp is able to create a 360 degree spatial sound with realistic staging. The listener is enveloped in exquisite stereo sound, regardless of wherever they are in the room.



With the shade in place, the unit delivers above 20kHz, which is higher than you can hear - the domain of cats and bats. And at the same time it reaches down to less than 40Hz - lower than the lowest note on a bass guitar. So you really will not miss a thing.


Features include:

• On-board amplifier - 80 watts including sub woofer
• Spatial stereo from one amplamp
• NXT and Airsound technologies
• Optional docking station controls and charges your iPod


An exceptional speaker- The amplamp takes the speaker out of the conventional black box. An active speaker for an iPod, MP3 player or any other sound source, the amplamp uses cutting edge technology to produce a precision, room-filling stereo sound from a single unit.



The listener is enveloped in exquisite stereo sound, regardless of where they are in the room. A powerful, vertical-firing, bass sub woofer adds a depth and richness only found in larger, higher specification, hi-fi systems.




About NXT technology:

NXT's technologies are unique and based on harnessing the natural modes of vibration in a panel to reproduce sound. These technologies are derived from a profound understanding of bending wave physics and its applications to sound generation.

Traditional speakers act like a piston, pumping air with a rigid cone. NXT speakers are different. A transducer is used to excite a carefully designed panel, which vibrates, & converts the mechanical energy into sound pressure waves over the entire surface area. It is the same principle that makes an acoustic guitar or violin make its sound.

An additional characteristic is that the sound volume does not decay over distance like a standard speaker. This allows users to set a volume that is comfortable whilst they are sitting close to the unit while also being sufficient to fill the whole room with sound.

A powerful, vertical-firing, bass sub woofer adds a depth and richness only found in larger, high-specification, hi-fi systems.



About airsound technology:
It works by using small side firing speakers to reproduce spatial information contained within a stereo input signal. The resulting sound is used to interact with & modify the mono sound field generated by a forward facing NXT panel speaker.

Pre-order yours now here. Or call: +44 (0)1249 700 643
Read about Dominic and Frances Bromley of Scabetti here.


Other wild audio speakers worth checking out:

Ross Lovegrove's KEF Muon Speakers

Tons of unusual and amazing audio speakers

The G1 Giya speakers

the wireless Ferrari speakers

Symbio Design's Loud speakers

Artcoustic wall speakers

Mini-Gods speakers from Marka27