This is the new Goldmund Pulp + Hub set, a complete speaker package from the eccentric and luxurious Swiss manufacturer. Pulp joins a stable of ultra-high-end packages for fetishists of high fidelity, and like the brand’s recent monumental Gaïa system, Pulp was designed in collaboration with the French designer Cécile Barani.
Pulp now comes complete with a new optional stand system and Goldmund’s innovative self-developed ‘Hub’, which streams high-resolution music to the speakers from a variety of sources. The company suggests the WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Audio) hub can be used with conventional hi-fi equipment, or with a TV via HDMI or the usual clutch of streaming services.
Barani describes Pulp as a ‘family of pieces to be displayed in space… unfolding like a sound punctuation.’ The cylindrical speakers have a swivelling textile cover that can conceal or reveal the drivers as required. Available in silver grey with black grilles or matte black with matching grilles, there are also new floor stands that further emphasise the sculptural speaker’s presence.
Goldmund was founded in Switzerland in 1978 and continues to manufacture its products in Geneva. Materials and finishes are extremely high-grade, and everything is made by hand, using only the finest components. The gold-plated elements are sourced from a supplier to the region’s watch trade; its other customers are Patek Philippe and Rolex.
Other Goldmund audio products include amplifiers, CD players, audio processors and home cinema systems, but it’s in speaker design that Goldmund really pushes the envelope. The Apologue speakers, which were designed by the Italian artist Claudio Rotta Loria and appear as if they’re stacked within an architectural framework, have been displayed at MoMA in New York; the current Prana, Satya, and Samadhi series are the direct descendants of this esoteric 1987 design.
Barani’s Gaïa system is another case in point. A monolithic stacked array of five boxes, each unit is 2.1m high, with surfaces finished in ribbed and flat aluminium. Barani says that the speakers are ‘perceived as a monochrome monolith, by means of invisible assemblies… [they stand] in the space like a totem pole’.
Goldmund is one of a select few companies servicing the world of ultra-high-end audio. Quality and fidelity come as standard, naturally, but by taking the next step and giving its luxury speakers a truly distinct set of separate looks, Goldmund makes itself unique.
Goldmund Pulp + Hub, £15,500, optional floor stands, £3,250, Goldmund Sound Systems, Goldmund.com, @Goldmund_Official
