This is that rarity of rarities: a product so ridiculous that it makes even the most laughable of Gizmodo gadgets seem somehow intelligent.

First, according to the manufacturer's website, it is meant for outdoor use, yet:
1) It is constructed of laminated wood; and
2) It is painted white.
So, yeah, roll this thing across your brick or concrete patio and leave it out in your garden. Let's see just how long the soft wood surface stays scuff-free and clean.

Then, they proudly proclaim how it is designed as a single component "instead of the usual two separate elements". Umm...huh? Apparently, even though we can't see it in the photos, it does have two speakers--what they are calling "multi-directional coaxial speakers"--but they are placed on opposite sides of the tire...er, wheel...facing completely away from each other. And because of this bizarre arrangement, it produces what they are calling a "stereo effect". A stereo effect? How about just having two speakers facing towards you and having, you know, actual stereo?

Finally, as noted in Sean's story but still hard to tell from the photos due to lack of scale, the frakin' thing is HUGE. 23" in diameter and 10" in depth. Good gravy! And $21,000? Good gravy again.

bosskev

rofp
rolling on the floor playing

pardyhardy

So it double as a spare tire and the subs in my trunk while also costing twice as much as my car? So 3 in 1 is what your saying? Wait...yea I lost you start again at the 21,000 part...

Mhmm...

doobiebros2two

dude, you like totally missed the Viteo Shower:
[www.madeindesign.co.uk]
(and you know you want to hit that zoom...do it, DO IT!)

prsiii

Dude, "112dB output" doesn't make any sense. Speaker output is measured by dB measured at 1 meter from the driver with an 1 watt input of 1kHz signal.

poisonfist

Thank God it goes up to 21kHz. Those last 4K will be completely lost on me, but it's nice to know they're there.

Also, the fact that there's a market for this crap makes me want to punch kittens.

badhatharry

@badhatharry: The frequency rating to 21kHz isn't a brick wall with nothing above that. These figures include some sort of gradual decline (not stated here so we don't know what this spec really means) but could be, for example, at 21kHz the signal is -3dB and continues to decline precipitously above that. So, for all we know the 21kHz spec means that it's flat up to 16kHz and then starts to decline at a rate that the marketing dept feels comfortable claiming up to 21kHz.

Same with the bass end. 52 Hz only has meaning if we know 1) how many dB the signal is already down at 52 Hz, and 2) how rapidly it declines below that. For example, adding a port to a speaker will lower the low end spec, but will also result in a faster rate of decline below that. Without a port, the speaker may not have as low a low end spec, but the decline below it will be more gradual, with more "useful" bass than a single number might suggest.

That said, these speakers look ridiculous.

Speakers that move are anathema to good sound (which is why speaker mavens go to great lengths to immobilize their speakers). Any movement by the speaker itself interferes with the pure motion of the speaker drivers within it, that part of the speaker that moves back and forth to push air molecules and make sound. If the speaker cabinet is able to move, like a shotgun recoiling as its drivers pump back and forth, or sympathetically vibrate because it is not isolated from its own sound, that movement becomes added to the driver movement in the form of distortion.

frigg

...EPIC FAIL

Junginator

52 hz from a 23' speaker?

Junginator

@frigg: I understand that. My beef wasn't with how accurate the tech specs were, it was that the widely accepted limit of hearing is 20k, and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who actually can go that high. I'm an audio engineer, and I top out around 17K. Probably less now. I tested it in college and have mixed a lot of loud bands since then. My point was that saying these go up to 21K is a lot like saying they go to 11.

badhatharry

@badhatharry: I share your beef, but would add it to mine, that not only don't humans hear that high, but the spec, by itself, is misleading. Even with a 21k spec, it may, in fact, only be flat (or roll off) to a much lower frequency and within the range of human hearing.

It's not unusual for speakers (or mics - think of the wonderful Sennheiser MKH-800 with a frequency range of 30 Hz - 50 kHz) to be built beyond human limitations. The implication is that the additional range improves performance within the audible range.

But I doubt that's what going on here. I wouldn't be surprised if the actual point at which the freq rolls off is well below 21k, with the marketing dept's reinforcement of hearing myths not backed up by the speaker's actual performance.

frigg

Im thinking about getting 4 of them, and installing them in my car rims.

That would be super bad ass.

aliskaba

@frigg: Also, good call on the mobility of the speaker reducing its effeciency thing. That never occured to me.

badhatharry

Speaking of other things besides frequency "rolling off", in the photo, this incredibly expensive speaker appears to be sitting on a shelf only inches away from where it curves downward.

Xenobiologista