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Older news - April 2001

I am very proud of nOrh Loudspeaker's record on customer satisfaction. A visit to www.audioasylum.com or www.audioreview.com will show that people who have actually purchased products from nOrh Loudspeaker enjoy them very much. There are many individuals and companies that are not happy with our existence. Some individuals don't want to believe that our products can actually sound as good or better than their very expensive products. Some people are simply conditioned that they should pay outrageous prices for audio.

The way most manufacturers sell their products is to use very glowing terms about the sonic qualities of their products. What is really needed in this industry is humility. There is no technical way you can improve on the original. Let's assume we record a performance. The best we can hope for is a very close approximation to the real performance. The technology simply doesn't exist to reproduce the performance exactly as it originally sounded.

The goal in producing audio equipment is to be faithful. We have to do as little damage to the signal as possible. Every single component and every single devices causes some degradation of the signal. It takes careful engineering to preserve and restore as much of the original performance as possible.

Picture of our CD-1 #1 (Enlarge)

Picture of our CD-1 #1 (Enlarge)

A year ago, we introduced our Multiamps. We originally never intended to produce electronics. We originally preferred to recommend electronics and produce the loudspeakers. Our customers often told us that the products we recommended were outside their budgets. We decided to produce the Multiamp. The Multiamp has been compared to amplifiers costing much more. All the reviews have said that the amp was fast, powerful and detailed. Some customers wished that they could have the bass that some of the more expensive amplifiers produced. There were several reviews that compared us against a particular $4,000 amplifier. The reviews gave the Multiamp a tie except bass.

We have been spending the last several months working on the issue of building a low-cost amplifier that can match the performance of the more expensive amplifiers in almost every detail.

By next month, we will finish a new project. The new project is a monoblock amplifier. Our goal is to introduce such a high quality product at such a low price that it will overwhelm all of the skeptics or people who simply don't believe it is possible to build high-quality products for such low prices. We will introduce the product at a price that is less expensive than even the least expensive amplifiers but we will offer performance that comes very close to even the most expensive.

Introducing Le Amp

Le Amp is a pretentious name for an amplifier. I hope that people will see the humor in using such a pretentious name for a product in this price range. Many audio companies name their products after great composers or musical instruments. I think that is pretty pretentious but I think calling an amplifier Le Amp is about as pretentious as one can get.

Le Amp uses the same TDA 7294 that the Multiamp and the nOrh subwoofer amplifier uses. For Le Amp, we have talked to the designers of the chip and we have learned out to squeeze every single bit of performance this chip can offer. We are using a custom designed tordial transformer. The transformer has an internal impedance of only .65 ohms. Many amplifiers have transformers with 5 ohms of impedance. All of the wiring will be of higher quality than even some of the most expensive amplifiers.

The transformer is a 400 V/A transformer shielded with a steel and silicon belt. The transformer is mounted 90 degrees from the PCB. All of the resistors are 1% metal film resistors. All of the soldering is done with silver solder. The TDA7294 is mounted on a custom designed heat sink that will allow the amplifier to be driven very hard without a fan.

We are rating Le Amp at 100 watts. However, it will support peaks of 200 to 300 watts. The amp will show virtually no measurable distortion playing music up to about 80 watts continuously. The amplifier is protected by DC offset using a high quality capacitor that has no impact on the signal above 5 Hz. The response is down 3 dB at 5 Hz and is only down less than 1 dB at 200,000 hz (yes, that's 200Khz). Most high-end amplifiers roll off at about 40,000 or 60,000 Hz.

Le Amp sounds very strong and powerful. At the same time, it is quite detailed and capable of amazing transient response.

I listened to our first pair of Le Amp with a pair of 6.9s. The combination was simply unbelievable. The bass from the 6.9s was shaking the concrete walls. Voices, violins and pianos all sounded the way they should. Everyone in the room was very excited. With the CD 1, ACA, pair of Le Amps and a pair of 6.9s, we had a very high-end audio system for under $3,500 (no subwoofer required).

In order to get the prices down on Le Amp, we will ship these units by boat to the United States where they will be distributed. The list price will be $295.00 USD (in the US). However, we will introduce these amplifiers at $195.00. This introductory price is a limited time offer to get as many of these units out there as we can. We realize that this is an outrageously low price. The fact is, we are doing this to illustrate a point. We believe that audio equipment is simply too high. We are going to use these monoblocks to validate "beyond a doubt" out commitment to producing the highest quality products for the lowest prices and best service.

We have encountered a lot of skeptics about our company. We shipped each Multiamp out by air and yet we were able to sell them for $900. Shipping by boat and distributing directly from the US (to the US) will allow us to shave our costs even more. We will pass this savings on to the customer. There will be a $10 handling fee from the company that distributes the amplifiers and there will be a domestic shipping charge added to the price.

As we have said many times, we aren't blaming the manufacturers. The system inflates the prices. The system requires too much to be spent on advertising and distribution. The Internet provides a direct conduit from the manufacturer to the customer.

You can reserve Le Amp now but please don't expect delivery until June.

We are running some pictures from last month as these speakers are just now reaching some of our customers. Scroll down for the new pictures and the latest news.

We realize that many purchasing decisions are made by the lady of the house. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to attract ladies to our website. I guess audio is generally considered a "guy thing". This month, I am going to put pictures to show that nOrh is not a male dominated company. A lot of my color and styling ideas come from my daughter. She is currently much more aware of what is fashionable than I am. In fact, I rely on the ladies of nOrh to help me with color, style and appearance.

Bryan, a customer in the USA wrote:

"I ordered Boy Thai's albums Spicy Brazil and Siamese Samba with the 3.0s to get a feel for the Thai drums. All I can say is WOW!!! The speakers have really opened up. They made me feel like I was there at the recording studio during a Boy Thai jam session! The sound is simply amazing. The bass of the speaker may not go deep (75Hz) but it is deep enough for me. I was running the speakers around 70dbs but am sure they will do much louder. At 11 at night you need to be considerate of those people so I'll crank them later on this afternoon."

Namphung, with a nOrh 3.0

About 10 years ago, I bought a pair of Shahinian Diapasons from Richard Shahinian. When I went to visit him, he showed me something he had been working on for years. He put a midrange driver on a table. He hooked up an amplifier to it. The sound was what you would expect from a driver outside a cabinet. It was thin and honky sounding. Richard Shahinian pointed out that this is the sound that most midrange drivers produce. He said that what the world needed was a driver that could produce the midrange spectrum accurately. He said that he had tried for 20 years to get such a driver built. He had discovered a driver made in Japan and used by Henry Kloss in his old Clock Radio that KLH used to build. He took this driver and played it - still with no case. The sound was very good. Voices sounded like voices.

Richard Shahinian told me that if such a driver were available, I would throw my new speakers in the fire. He explained that the company had gone out of business.

When I came out here to Asia, I started to search for a driver that would do what Richard Shahinian was looking for. I found a similar driver - the one we are using in the 3.0s. It turns out that this driver was not being used in any other loudspeaker. The reason is that this driver was much more expensive than other drivers available. We spent six months working on the cabinet and getting the sound just right.

The 3.0s sound remarkably close to the 4.0s. They don't play as loud. They don't handle as much power. Nonetheless, at only $150, you get a loudspeaker that does not sound fatiguing. It plays loud enough for most applications.

For those of you who have worried about buying a loudspeaker that you haven't heard, here is your chance to audition a nOrh product and not take a big risk. The nOrh 3.0 makes a great gift for your daughter or son. I am sure they will find it totally cool.

We are like parents waiting for a newborn whenever we have a new product come out. It is hard to believe that in less than three years, we have manufactured about 12 different loudspeakers, an amplifier, CD player,preamp and subwoofer. I can't think of any new audio companies that have been able to create a full line so quickly. We haven't stopped. We have new products coming out very soon. We have a mailing list starting up. Please make sure you subscribe at subscribe@topica.com.

We have purchased the rights to a very high-end digital master. We are considering what formats to bring out this disk. We will have information on this project and other projects posted very soon.

We started shipping the 6.6, 6.9 and 4.1s this month. We could hardly wait to hear what customers thought of these products. We put a lot of hard work making these products as beautiful as possible. We listened for hours and hours to each speaker. Yet, no matter how good we think a loudspeaker is, it has to make the buying happy.

This month, we had a very important visit from a major high-end manufacturer. They had heard a lot about nOrh and they wanted to see what we were all about. We had the 3.0s, 4.0s, 6.6s and 9.0s for him to look at. He was quite impressed but he couldn't stop looking at the 6.6s. He admired the craftsmanship and said he had never seen such cabinet work. I told him that this was the standard we have for all our Prism products. Some of our customers comment that they look as if they were carved from a solid block of wood.

Future

We are hoping to have our Prism version of the 3.0 out this month. The Prism version will allow you to put the 3.0 against a wall or on a bookshelf. We are working with the new driver and we have some ideas for home theater that we will disclose soon.

One of the most ambitious projects we have ever worked on is to build a loudspeaker from synthetic marble. The synthetic marble uses 77% powdered marble in a resin mix. The appearance is very close to marble. The synthetic marble allows us to bring the look and performance of marble to a wider audience. Our first synthetic marble product will be a drum version of the 6.9. The price will be $995.00 shipped. The Prism 6.9 is larger and will go deeper. The drum version will image better and sound more detailed. The drum version will have a -3 dB at 38 Hz so it will produce very good bass. We are very excited about this product and we believe it will set a standard in the sub $1,000 per pair loudspeakers that can not be matched.

We are working on a ceramic version of the 3.0. This will take a while to work out the kinks. Ceramics are not easy to work with. If they were, everyone would be using them to make loudspeakers from ceramics and marble.

We are also working on many new electronic projects as well. Word has gotten out about our monoblock project. We are getting very close to finishing this product so I have released some details now.

Audio should be fun. I am 47 years old. I realized that by the time I could afford my dream system, I was 42 years old. I want to allow people to enjoy their audio dreams when they are in their 20s and 30s. For those of you who are 40 or 50, I would like to let you get back into a hobby that has left you behind. The cost of getting started can be as inexpensive as a pair of 3.0s, ($150.00) a pair of ceramic 4.0s ($400.00) or a pair of Prism 5.2s ($500.00). If your audio system is over 10 years old, chances are it isn't offering you the performance you once enjoyed. I would like to invite you back to enjoy audio again (or for the first time).

Final words

I have lots of hobbies. I love photography, computers and audio. I like camping. I have lots of interests. Unfortunately, every one of my hobbies is a bit expensive. However, I can get into photography with a reasonable system for $300.00. If I am not prepared to spend that much, I can get a point and shoot camera and still get pretty good pictures. Computing has come down to the point where at least the hardware is reasonable. Of all the hobbies I have, only audio has an elitist attitude that I have never encountered elsewhere.

The only reason for acquiring audio systems is to listen to music (or as part of an A/V system). I can enjoy music whether it is broadcast over the radio, played on a CD or even from an MP3. I don't enjoy music more because I know it is being played on a very expensive system Years of listening has trained me to recognize the bad things that can happen during music reproduction. Years of buying good systems has trained me to expect a lot from audio equipment. Now that I have started this business, I want to offer the masses a chance to forget about the high prices and make this hobby fun and simple again.

By the way, should any of us ever meet, lets talk about music. The last thing I want to talk about is what cable sounds better. For your information, we use pure silver in our nOrh 9.0s, but do you enjoy talking about... cables?

Have you heard any good music lately?

Michael C. Barnes
President
nOrh Loudspeaker Company, Ltd

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