Odd shaped speakers

Bacon frying was actually mentioned the first time by Bishopwill in the thread started by someone on the ground floor, so to speak, of the analogue/vinyl thing (although I have used the expression in the past). The ham thing, I borrowed from another of the fine people putting lines together for this cyberspace discussion. When I caught a glimpse of the Norh, I was sure that was the speaker he was referring to. It's only later on that the newer B&W speakers came to my mind as the possible source for that description. Being of the waffling, "let's hedge our bets" type, I still own a turntable and I have not gotten rid of my LP collection. I have just gotten delivery of a CD replacement for my copy of the LP "Tales of a Courtesan" by the Toshiko Akioshi Lew Tabackin Big Band and just to reassure myself that my sorties on the side of digital/CDs are called for, I put the old LP on the turntable and the new CD in that nasty little drawer and attempted to a/b the two. My problem is that my analogue front end level requires that I crank the volume control almost to the very top of its range, while the CD player is loud enough at about the 11 o'clock position. So I have to adjust the volume as best I can when going from one to the other. Very interesting comparison. I am not going to turn this into a career, but they do sound different. Years ago, I tried the same sort of process with a Dire Straits recording and came to the conclusion that, aside from surface noise, it was a very close match sound-wise. So still waffling, I'll hang on to the turntable, but the CD player will remain the primary source. They do sound different enough though on this big band recording, which has me puzzled. On the box vs. ham thing, yes there may very well be some benefit in being able to analyze more complex organic-like structures and to find manufacturing processes and materials capable of bringing any benefits derived from such shapes to market. I still think that most people are greatly influenced by the look of a component though and that may, and probably does, colour their judgment of the actual aural quality of the component. I wonder what vision impaired people listen to and for in sound systems. This could possibly be a valid source of information based more on the sound quality itself, independent of the look of the product. Although I am sure that the blind do use touch more than sighted people to understand the world. This audio stuff can really cause a serious case of rambling on, so I'll cut out for now. Regards.

Did I actually use the word "waffling" as in "waffle"? Unintentional, I assure you. Maybe my obssession is more with food than with audio? Can one of the psychoanalists frequenting this site tell me which is worse: the audio or the food one?

The standing wave thing is why most manufacturers use odd shapes. Sooner or later these guys throw in the towel and make conventional looking units even if they hide the odd shape inside a box. The "ham shaped" Norh speaker is really a drum with both ends dammed up. The country of origin supposedly makes a lot of these drums for cerimonial purposes. Do they work as musical enclosures, don't know. There are a lot of fanatical owners who believe they do. I for one would find it hard to get past the odd shape. My wife and her friends think my obsession with sound is wacky anyway and these hams, I mean drums, I mean speakers would certainly confirm their suspicions.

Has anyone else read the latest article in Audio Xpress about cabinet vibration due to driver excitation ? VERY interesting article to say the least. You do have to read between the lines, but it does "debunk" a lot of what "tweakers" have always thought was "good" when building DIY speakers. Sean
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Pbb, I was most certainly NOT talking aesthetics. Clearly, the notion of sparking "debate on 'industrial design' LOOKS [emphasis mine] vs. 'organic looks'" WOULD be inane. Ditto as to change for change's sake, "symbolism," vapid "marketing ploy[s]" and so on and so forth. Rather, I was talking about form from which hopefully may follow vastly improved function; the notion of breaking ranks with traditional/conventional boundaries, e.g., square/rectangular enclosures, exploiting current/breaking technology that will allow for the infinitely more complex calculations necessary to conceive speaker shapes vastly better suited to reproduce the natural/organic phenomenon that is music/sound.