jumbo stereos are everywhere — on the shoulders of coolheaded 90s teens , in the living room of finance fat cats , and on the stages of face - melting electronic show . Even though we have iPods and discreet speakers now , awesome vast systems have n’t gone anywhere .
About 140 years before everyone became a DJ, Thomas Edisonaccidentally inventedthe phonograph.
exposure : Keystone / Getty Images
In the early 1900s, artist Luigi Russolo created this “noise machine” for his futurist symphonies. Every time adults call a teenager’s music “noise,” Russolo’s legacy lives on.
Photo : Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Back in 1926, the USDA was in on the giant stereo game, as you can see from this photo of bug scientist W.J. Walton.
picture : Topical Press Agency / Getty Images
This guest at the UK’s 1947 National Radio Exhibition, in Olympia, is shocked at the size and sound coming out of the HMV machine—it had a record player, pop up TV, and two speakers.
In 1965, stereos had to be big. It takes a lot of cabinet to fit a tuner, receiver, speakers and a record player. Better make it stylish.
Photo : Three Lions / Getty Images
This 1960s set up seems giant, but it was made for a doll house.
picture : diepuppenstubensammlerin
This is a 1974 advertising photo for a Zenith Allegro F736W Quadrille system. It’s not, actually, a photo from the set of Austin Powers.
pic : magazine scan
More contemporary styles can still have classic aesthetics—Arcadian Audio’s Pnoe Horn is inspired by an upside-down tuba.
exposure : Arcadian Audio
The Avant Garde trio shows design cues from the earliest phonographs.
pic : Avantgarde Acoustic
Others borrow styles from different industries—the speaker outputs of this aluminum and carbon fiberPagani systemcome out of a tail pipe. Not surprising, since it’s designed by a car maker.
pic : Pagani
There’s a reason the Pivetta Opera One, a six-foot monster that weighs half a ton, looks like it first appeared on a space ship—the outside is made of aeronautic aluminum.
Photo : Only Creative
The 1980s were an apex for giant stereo design. Gemme Audio’s Vflex Katana Itokawa is a more recent model, but you can easily imagine it in Patrick Bateman’s living room from American Psycho.
Photo : Gemme Audio
This crazy sound system cost around $1.4 million and has an output of 40,000 watts. Enough to knock your face right off your head.
picture : Jan Bauer / AP
Wouldn’t you love to have this Wilson Mezzo set in your home? It’s more accessible than the $1.4 million system, but you’ll still need more than $10,000 to get it.
Photo : Wilson Audio
This A Capella machine goes by the name Excalibur. How could it not?
Photo : Acapella
This two-channel system is designed by five different Swedish companies. You won’t find it in Ikea.
photograph : Swedish Statement
Magico’s Ultimate II has 200-watt amplifiers, measures seven and a half feet tall, and weighs 800 pounds.
Photo : Magico
Gargantuan stereos are still a big business. Shown last week at the Gothenburg Show, the Wilson Sasha is one of the most pleasant new ways to blow out your ear drums.
picture : Wilson Audio / Facebook
But even some contemporary models maintain a classic aesthetic. The DaVinci Audio Reference Turntable Mk II, currently one of the highest-fidelity turntables in the world, looks like it came straight out of the 1960s. But it’s actually just a year old.
Photo : DaVinciAudio
trope credit : dual.pytalhost.eu
Image / enquiry curation by Attila Nagy
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