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The most boring $35,000 speakers ever

The price should buy some aesthetics too.

Mike Yamamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Mike Yamamoto is an executive editor for CNET News.com.
Mike Yamamoto
Electronic House

Considering all the interesting forms that loudspeakers can and do take, the latest pair from Snell is almost inexcusably boring. Then again, this is the same company that has deliberately tried to conceal other products, so maybe it's just not interested in appearances.

Electronic House gushes over the Reference Tower A7 Loudspeaker's "dual 5.25-inch magnesium midranges mounted over and under a silk dome tweeter, combined with twin 10-inch long-throw woofers for exceptional smoothness and dynamic range." Still, at a price of $35,000, one might expect a little more effort applied to the aesthetic factor. Instead, the speakers--the first in a new line amusingly dubbed the "Illusion Series"--reminds us of A/V equipment from our high school auditorium. But we really shouldn't complain; at least Snell didn't produce more floating eyeballs to keep us awake at nights.