Here Be Monsters

Visit your local Best Buy, and you’ll get the idea that traditional loudspeakers are all but gone, replaced by wireless models from Sonos, Bose, Sony, and others. Visit a hi-fi show, and you’ll get the idea that the loudspeaker is in its golden age. As you move from demo room to demo room, you’ll find speakers that stretch above the height of the average human—with some priced beyond the cost of the average American home.

Although these extreme speakers have been