The $1,000,000 speaker

This is one pair of Ultimates!

(Credit: Transmission Audio)

High-end audio prices are getting crazy lately, but this $1,000,000 speaker--the Ultimate--may be the most expensive speaker in the world.

Please understand that $1 million buys one speaker, so you'll need to shell out $2 million for stereo, and at least $5 million for your Ultimate home theater.

The Ultimate is a rather large speaker--each one consists of six, seven-foot tall panels. Each Ultimate houses a total of forty 15-inch subwoofers, twenty-four 8-inch woofers, and massive arrays of 2-inch wide and 1-inch wide ribbon tweeters. All of this is for a single channel/speaker, double those numbers for stereo! A pair of Ultimates are nearly forty feet wide!

That pretty much rules out my chances of getting the Ultimate for review in my Brooklyn apartment, oh well.

Each Ultimate speaker comes with its own power amplifiers, with an output of 31,000 watts, and the manufacturer claims the Ultimate can generate up to 146dB SPL, that's a lot louder than a jet plane taking off. And just because it can play that loud, doesn't mean it has to. Just because a Ferrari can go 200 mph, doesn't mean it can't cruise at 55.

I first read about the Ultimate, where else, on the Ultimate AV Web site!

What's the most expensive speaker you ever heard?

Ever drive a Ferrari? Was it really that much faster than a Corvette?

[vvdiaz]

Most expensive speakers I've ever listened to? Linn Komris.

[stepyourgameup]

I be they will sell less than 10 of these.

[rafusee2]

ten? they won't even sell 3.

[jakemochas]

i just bought 7

[15danielp]

All they need to sell is one pair.

[douggdangger]

I just ordered mine from Amazon.

[troyoverton]

You'd have to be a real ****** to fill your joint up with these. Just because there are a ton of transducers doesn't mean they sound good.

As a note, scientific testing has proven that the majority of listeners will automatically choose a speaker over another if its louder (more efficient.) Maybe that was the goal here.

Call me surprised when an actual listening test says they sound like an entry level HTIB.

[jzh797s]

B&W Nautilus 800D or Magnepan 20.1

The Maggies are a little cheaper, but blew the B&W's out of the water.

[half_n_half17]

Most expensive speakers I've ever listened to were the Wilson Audio Grand Slam's. They were around 80k back in the late 90's. They sounded fantastic but I sure wouldn't purchase them, even if I had the money.

[orbit55]

If you have to ask how much it costs...

[make_or_break]

A proprietary Bose setup; actually, it wasn't so much the speakers themselves as was the cost of the packaging they came in...a Maybach 57. Frankly I think I was too stunned by the ride in the "wrapper" to even pay attention to any of the sounds coming out of the audio system.

[waldolc]

This is ridiculous. My hope is that this was one of those "what if" projects and not "let's make a lot of money!" I have had the pleasure of working with many concert (in and outdoor) systems and nothing ever needed to cost this much. And that was for LIVE audio.

[b_baggins]

There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a lot of money. Open your mind and let the propaganda drain out.

[waldolc]

Propaganda, whatever... ;o)
1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
3. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.

[d06svt]

Klipsch Palladium P39-F. $20K a pair and I am willing to say that they are worth it.

[ark_v2]

I wouldn't buy one, even if I could afford it. Come on...a million...seriously?

[strykernyc]

Why not? I know someone who has a $2 million dollars stairs. It is just a ugly glass stair to go from one floor to another thats it.

[Thrilla111]

they should just make those into walls and then you would have a complete surround sound system and you wouldn't even notice them

[OneIJack]

there's a sucka born every minute

[cbaisa]

and two to take him

[watchurbak21]

Sorry I'm a corvette owner, and sorry the ferrai is not faster than a corvette anymore, even the enzo. The ZR1 corvetter can do 205mph.

[synthetikz]

yeah but no one in their right minds would ever begin to compare a corvette to a ferrari. two entirely different stratospheres. top speed means almost nothing.

[baconstang]

Kinda like comparing processor speeds.

[15danielp]

Who wants to drive in a straight line?

[douggdangger]

Bose?

LOL! They're pieces of junk. Any audiophile will tell you.

[soundman45]

Hey did the guys who made these speakers used to work for The United States Deapartment of Defense ???

[CNET-C]

Imagine watching a movie like "We Were Soldiers" with this and you have the volume all the way up.

[bluemist9999]

Well, then you could say "I lost my hearing in the war" as long as you omit the last word "movie"

146 dB is a lot of sound! The safe maximum threshold is 80 dB, so, I think this is 10^66 times more energy than the ear can safely handle.

[synthetikz]

i just bought 7 of these for my 7.1 surround system. the speakers will also double as walls for my house since i wont be able to afford anything else.... ever.

[abcasada]

Ha! Seriously? And there's a comment at the top that says "they won't even sell 3 of them"

[Aras_Samy]

Your house should be in an island you own or in space or 100 feet under the ground to hear it at 146dB.

[djslack]

meh... I had a Samurai with two 15" subs that would make 146dB when I was 17. Best place to hear that was in the front seat, about 20" away from the subs.

146dB is loud, sure, but for all that driver area (and money) I'd expect a little more.

[J. Blow]

Please. If you owned these you'd have a special room built for them if nothing else then because you'd need the room.

That said, they may not be worth $1M but that much speaker area would sound great with right music. Mozert, Pink Floyd, Zepplin, etc.