Premiere Design

<I>Ne plus ultra</I>&#151;Latin meaning "no more beyond," often used to describe anything that is truly ultimate. I can think of no better way to describe the Ultimate speaker system from Swedish boutique manufacturer <A href="http://www.transmissionaudio.com">Transmission Audio</A>. This massive, hand-made system is exactly what its name implies, at least in terms of cost&#151;a million bucks per channel, making it the most expensive speaker system in the world as far as I know.

When I first saw a photo of this speaker, it reminded me of a Mexican chiminea, a free-standing clay fireplace with a bulbous lower body and tall, thin smokestack. But the only heat generated by this bad boy is of the sonic variety. Born of a collaboration between Serbian ribbon-speaker specialist <A href="http://www.raalribbon.com">RAAL</A> and American pro-audio designer <A href="http://www.requisiteaudio.com">Requisite Audio</A>, the <A href="http://www.raal-requisite.com">RAAL Requisite Eternity</A> is the world's only speaker with a cast-bronze woofer enclosure.

John Bowers founded British speaker giant <A href="http://www.bowers-wilkins.com">Bowers & Wilkins</A> in 1965, hand assembling speakers in the back of an electronics shop he ran with Roy Wilkins in Worthing, England. Nearly 45 years later, B&W has become one of the world's pre-eminent speaker companies, thanks in part to the spirit of innovation embodied in its flagship 800 series.

I know, I know&#151;this isn't exactly a home-theater product. But when I stumbled upon the CDM43 computer monitor from a company called <A href="http://www.ostendo.com">Ostendo Technologies</A>, I was intrigued by its potential to reinvigorate the rear-projection market.

I'm always on the lookout for extreme A/V products, so when I came across a Dutch company called <A href="http://www.kharma.com">Kharma</A>, I was intrigued by its Grand Enigma, one of the world's most expensive 2-channel speaker systems at a cool $1,000,000. I don't have enough info to profile that product just yet, but meanwhile, I thought it might be fun to take a look at the company's next-most-expensive Exquisite line, which offers a complete&#151;and still <I>very</I> pricey&#151;home-theater package.

In 1975, Meir Mordechai had a dream&#151;to create the perfect speaker. Since then, his Israeli company, <A href="http://www.morelhifi.com">Morel</A> (short for Mordechai Electronics), has developed a wide variety of innovative drivers as well as finished speakers. Its latest flagship is the Fat Lady, named in reference to the famous saying, "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings."

I'm always casting about for interesting high-end products to feature in this blog, so I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually find the
FH001 speaker from a British company called <A href="http://www.fergusonhill.co.uk/">Ferguson Hill</A>. As soon as I saw a photo of this intriguing design, I knew I had to profile it here.