Cabasse unveils $25,000 single-channel speaker

The extremely wealthy have a new stereo component to consider, and that is the Artis Karissima speaker by Cabasse. At $25,000 the speaker costs more than many annual salaries, but in return offers nearly obsessive engineering, down to the use of dampening composites and the selection of only the most powerful rare-earth magnets.

The cabinet itself is designed to eliminate standing waves, and uses cherry, Santos or Wenge wood finishes. The speaker's orb-shaped "lens" provides highly directional sound in frequencies ranging from 80 to 22,000Hz. The 12-inch woofer produces frequencies down to 27Hz with a power of 94dB, but is not intended to substitute for a dedicated subwoofer -- the Karissima merely covers one channel in a complete audio setup. [via SCI FI Tech]