Surreal Sounds: Avantgarde Acoustic's Trio Classico speakers

31 Mar 2011


Until recently, most high-end speakers resembled R2-D2 hiding in a waste-paper bin. But with celebrities such as Dr Dre and manufacturers including Bowers & Wilkins pushing the aesthetics, audio tech has taken a rather surreal turn.

Avantgarde Acoustic's Trio Classico (above) is a striking 1.5m-tall assemblage of injection-moulded horns and German-engineered audiophile components. Each unit blends the benefits of old-school horn design -- efficiency, range, nuance -- with hi-fi opulence such as 27-ohm voice coils, 5.5kg magnets and

Kevlar midrange cones coated in microscopic fibres to absorb high-frequency distortion. But at $65,000 (£40,000) a pair, you'll be lucky if you can afford to buy any music worthy of playing through them.