shaken or stirred...

It's no secret I'm a massive sucker for speakers.

Then add the fact that they look and sound like they have come straight out of a James Bond film and it's no surprise that I have to share them with you today.

Say Good Morning to the Bossa Moonraker sound system...

The most striking thing of them is obviously their deeply appealing spherical shape. When it comes to speakers I normally don't question the "boxy but good" aesthetic of them but as Bossa co-founder Nicholas Bletsch believes, pragmatic cost issues limit the imagination and design of most speaker manufacturers.

"In general, speakers are box shaped because boxes are economical to manufacture, not because they provide the best performance. Moonraker was conceived as a sphere to eliminate some common issues like panel resonances and internal standing waves. This approach has resulted in a shape that is not only beautiful, but also has substantial performance benefits."

Bossa claims their spherical design results in an eye-catching mod design, but also emphasizes their engineered “low-diffraction, low-resonance speaker” offers exceptional acoustic properties attributable to the Moonraker’s curved polymer shell.

Ok to you and me, that just means they sound as good as they look!

Moonraker is sold as a two-speaker system, with one powered speaker and one passive speaker. All audio travels and outputs from a pure analog signal chain. Bossa’s cabinets, legs, circuit boards, and packaging materials are all manufactured and handmade in California. Customers can additionally customize the all-white spheres with their choice of hardwood legs in reclaimed walnut, bleached as, or teak manufactured from cutoffs sourced from the yacht building industry.

At $2,399, I'm thinking that maybe even Mr Bond would find them a little pricey but I'm sure Miss Moneypenny would look the other way if he was to help himself to some petty cash.

Queen Marie