No, it had nothing to do with 2001, A Space Odyssey.
Well... maybe it did for its shape sure was reminiscent !
However, unlike the other monolith (the origins of which shall remain unknown), this monolith came from Germany, had 24 drivers and 4 integrated amplifiers, measured at nearly 2 meters, weighted 83 kilos and cost the out-of-this-world price of 2800DM - per speaker.
A 1980 test in the german Stereoplay magazine pointed out some (pleasant) irregularities in the frequency response : a peak between 50Hz and 120Hz, and dips around 1Khz and 15Khz.
The 15° and 30° horizontal dispersion, however, was noted as excellent and it sure looks like that on the measurment graph.
The Monolith 190 was developped by Dr Arnold Glaab at Grundig. Herr Glaab joined Grundig in 1970 to work on reel-to-reel and started his work on loudspeakers in 1973.
However, plainly said, at 5600DM a pair, chances are this monolith is nearly as rare as the other one.