$240,000 (USD) buys a comprehensive package that makes up the Hermosa system which includes 8 Hypex nCore mono amplifiers and 8 SMPS power supplies, 8-channel DSP processing, one pair of large floor standing speakers, one pair of large woofer towers and to top it all off, a 24-piece array of speaker cables to link each driver.

Attention to detail is exacting. The Hermosa’s mid-range and treble cables use pure silver cables that are sheaved in PTFE tubing and covered in pure merino wool. OFC copper cable is used with all the woofers.

Aramis has ensured each driver has the cable chosen for the best sound and what’s more, there is not a drop of solder used inside the speakers.

The driver compliment for each speaker and matching woofer tower comprises no less than one ribbon tweeter, two 203mm midrange drivers, two 305mm and three 457 mm bass drivers.

Sensitivity is said to be better than 100 dB measured at 1-watt at a metre, frequency response spans 15-23,000 KHz and the driver impedances are 4 and 8-ohm.

The main speakers and woofer towers sit on four hefty solid aluminium and stainless steel stands. The system is wired from amps to speakers via 8 interconnects terminated with Furutech RCA plugs. Four of the interconnects are crafted from 6N purity silver, and the other four employ 4N purity gold.

Every speaker cable has a solid American black walnut handgrip finished using ultra-pure, natural oil and wax.

Some may understandably baulk at the asking price of a speaker system that's nearly as much as the cost of a one-bedroom apartment in some Australian suburbs.

But audio’s high end deserves a wider perspective. In the case of the Hermosa, Aramis Acoustic had a magnificent vision for a state-of-the-art speaker system, whose final price nudges US$240,000 because it couldn’t be produced for less.

As for a wider perspective, many who look at high-end audio pricing and adopt a posture of righteous anger, wouldn’t bat an eyelid at the US$1.4 million asking price of a Pagani Zonda F racer.

And the same naysayers wouldn’t think to censure anyone lucky enough to snaffle a $35,000 bottle of Penfold’s 1958 grange, nor would they raise a bushy eyebrow when Patek Philippe announces its masterpiece, Grandmaster Chime wristwatch which will set back a prospective buyer a not so cool US$2.5 million.

Aramis Acoustic’s Ivan Atilla told StereoNET the Hermosa was the result of an exacting search for beauty:

In our life, we are looking for beauty every moment whether we’re aware of it or not. It’s in our nature.  When we eat, we drink, or take a walk in nature; we are always looking for the beauty. Why should it be different when listening to music?

Translated to speaker design, our goal was to create a system which produces as lifelike and realistic a sound as possible. The quality and quantity of the materials we use in every product, reflects our philosophy of searching for beauty.

Reason enough to celebrate the existence of the Hermosa, the Grange, the Zonda F or Patek Philippe, even if anyone or all of these are beyond our wildest dreams.