If these loudspeakers are hand-carved, how do you get them exact?

What is important is to get the inside volume to the correct size.  We do this using templates.  The marble speakers
are carved using diamond lathes. The wood speakers are carved using wood lathes.  Thiel Small allows for up to 10% error. We never get anywhere close to this variance.

Why not use plastics?

We have looked into a variety of processes to make our loudspeakers.  nOrh Loudspeaker's focus is to create jobs in the handicrafts industry for Thailand. We use wood, ceramics, and marble. We also employ cabinet makers for our MDF products. Our focus is to deliver a product that can not be built anywhere else.  We want something that offers lasting beauty and wonderful sound. We will leave to other companies to make speakers from plastic or chip board covered with PVC (wallpaper).

Aren't you worried about running out of logs or marble to build your speaker?

I am not worried about running out of logs as much as I am worried that the price will become higher. Today, there are still plenty of the trees we use. We encourage and support proper land management so that there will be a supply of  logs for a long time.   Trees are a renewable resource.  If these trees are properly managed, they should be a supply of wood for many years.

The Thai baht is now valued at a historically low value.  If the baht price increases, the labor and wood costs will automatically increase. The issue is not if there is a sufficient supply of logs, it is how long can I obtain these logs and keep the price of the nOrh loudspeaker down.

Why don't you bi-wire?

Speaker manufacturers are quick to promote features that don't cost them any money and often don't impact the sound.  BI-wiring is something that is very cheap for a manufacturer to do. You simply cut leads on the crossover and add another set of jacks. There are very inexpensive backplates from Taiwan that integrate the entire BI-wire system for as little as $4.00 (crossover included).

NOTE:  The Wilson X1 at $76,000 doesn't offer BI-wiring.

We use very expensive connectors and expensive wiring. Our crossovers are handwired and we use silver wire and solder for all leads.  I consider bi-wiring a gimmick unless you are going to use two amplifiers.  If we added another two jacks, it would detract from the appearance of the nOrh loudspeaker.

Bi-wiring (without bi-amping) is a theory that is hotly disputed.  The theory is that by creating two paths to the crossover and isolating the high frequency circuit from the low frequency circuit, you get two benefits. The first benefit is that you run more copper to the speaker and the second is that you reduce leakage of signal from the woofer to the tweeter.

I have seen many bi-wired crossovers. They are usually done by cutting a trace off the circuit board and running another set of jacks.  There are many backpannels available to speaker builders that integrate BI-wire in such a way it doesn't add any additional cost to building the speaker.

In reality, bi-wiring is more gimmick than benefit.  The fact is, you can not isolate the high frequency from the low frequency circuit in most cases. The reason is that there is a single circuit and not two.  The crossover performs multiple functions.  Besides routing the signal to the woofer and tweeter, the crossover had to match the impedance and amplitude of the two drivers. Some crossovers made some adjustment in the phase of the tweeter as well.

Many readers of this web have challenged me and said that BI-wiring has a benefit.   I decided to write to one of the experts on loudspeaker and crossover design, John L Murphy, author of Introduction to Loudspeaker Design.   Here is his response:

"I think of BI-wiring as the equivalent of using a heavier gauge wire. If your interconnect wiring is adequate then BI-wiring is an unnecessary complication."

Do your really think the nOrh Loudspeaker can compete with high-end loudspeakers?

There are many very expensive loudspeakers today that use exotic devices and cabinets that achieve stunning results. We do not claim to outperform speakers costing tens of thousands of dollars that have carefully selected their drivers, custom built their crossovers and use only the world's best drivers. What we do say is that the nOrh loudspeaker should sound better than virtually any traditional two-way loudspeaker--two speakers mounted in a rectangular box.  We build the nOrh loudspeaker so that even without the benefits of the cabinet, we are still using the best components possible.   If these components were mounted in a rectangular cabinet according to Thiel-Small formulas, we would be as good. Because we are building our loudspeakers using a solid piece of wood that has no parallel surfaces, our loudspeaker will sound better.

What about warranty?

Vifa has a one year warranty on their drivers. They will honor this warranty in any country.  The only other active component in the loudspeaker is the crossover. The crossover is a passive device and really should require no service.  However, should the crossover need replacing, we will ship you a new crossover and instructions on how to replace the old one. There will be no charge providing the original crossover is returned.   Should the cabinet be damaged, we suggest that any antique restoration shop should be able to make any necessary repairs. We would be glad (for a fee) to replace the original cabinet with a new cabinet.

Are you looking for dealers?

We are a small company capable of producing a limited number of loudspeakers. We have not yet reached our limit on how many loudspeakers we can build or sell.  However, we are not likely to be able to supply a major chain such as Circuit City or Best Electronics. We would be very interested in dealers that are willing to sell a few of our loudspeakers per month.

What does nOrh  mean?

When it came time to register the company's name in Thailand, almost every name we could think of was already reserved. This is also a problem for web sites. We decided we had to invent a name.  We took the letters in horn and created an anagram. The name is easy for Thais to pronounce. It sounds like Norway--the source of our speakers and it allowed us to create a simple logo.

How do I go about ordering these things?

What products are coming next?

We have some very exciting products coming out.  I believe our loudspeaker line represents a full range of very high quality products. Our speaker line will pretty much stay as it is.  We might experiment with new materials for the models we do have. I would also like to make a low-cost subwoofer for the 3.0s and 4.0s. Our main focus this next year will be on electronics. We have announced our monoblock. This will be a very high-end amplifier that will sell for less money than even most budget amplifiers.  We will release other new electronic products throughout the year.