The Duke from Austrian loudspeaker manufacturer Trenner & Friedl was unquestionably one of the most expensive and impressive loudspeakers showcased at CES 2011. All the components have been exclusively built for this loudspeaker system. On the top is a 0.8-inch ultra rigid diamond diaphragm supertweeter firing upward into a Swarovski-crystal disperser that creates a 360-degree radiation pattern. The two 12-inch fiberglass-reinforced paper-cone woofers are housed in respective enclosures, and are loaded by “a hybrid form of horn resonator and bass-reflex design. The cabinet and the crystal disperser have been designed in golden ratio. The cabinet is made from natural materials only, and the damping material used is the hand-felted sheep wool.
Approximately five feet tall, the Trenner & Friedl Duke weighs in at 284 pounds, and costs a whopping €130,000 (approx. $176,760). John Atkinson at Stereophile said that he was quite impressed with the sound of the Duke loudspeaker, but the hefty price tag made him gulp. He said that it’s a lot of change, even if the manufacturer will fly anywhere in the world to set the speakers up in the customer’s home.
Trenner & Friedl Duke speaker Picture Gallery
