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Older news - May 2001

I get a lot of questions about vinyl vs. CDs vs. SACD vs. DVDA. It is very expensive to build a collection of music. Once you've done that, there is nothing more frustrating than to watch your collection become obsolete. I acquired a collection of Beta tapes, bought the same titles on Laser Disk and now I am buying them on DVD. I have a collection of 2000 records. I remember the first CD I listened to. It was the Dire Straits Brothers in Arms CD. I listened to it on the first Sony portable CD player. The sound was just terrible. It was very bright.

I could not resist getting into CDs. I bought a Phillips player first (under the Magnavox label). I performed some upgrades. The sound was not horrible but the sound was lifeless to me—but not as harsh and unlistenable as my first experience. I then bought a Sony ES player that was reviewed in Stereophile. My collection of CDs started to sound better and better. I started buying fewer records and buying more compact disks than long play records.

I eventually bought a California Audio ICON. This was about 1987. The sound from this player was improved over the Sony. I now felt that I could really enjoy the CD medium for the first time.

I remember records very well. I remember how fragile they were. I remember how easy it was to damage them. I remember how you had to flip them over to hear both sides. I also remember how easy they warped when they got hot. I have never missed records. CDs offer so much more convenience. My major objection has been how high they are priced compared to what tapes and records used to go for.

When I first listened to our own CD player - the CD 1, I discovered just how good compact disks can sound. I was quite surprised the amount of detail I had been missing all these years. It was a pleasure to rediscover music that I had not enjoyed for many years.

I have had a chance to listen to DVDA and SACD recently. I believe that the titles that I have heard sound extremely good. However, I am not certain they sound better than what is achievable on CD. The reason I say this is that I recently purchased the XRCD2 version of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms. This recording shames every other version I have ever heard. During the first song—So Far Away, I could hear a female backup group singing with Mark Knopfler.

This CD is simply spectacular. I like the packaging as well. Despite the quality of this disk, JVC spelled Mark Knopfler's name as "Mrak" Knopfler. I guess nobody is perfect.

I have the laser disk, CD, and DVD of the Eagles' hell freezes over. Undoubtedly, when someone comes to listen to our speakers, they will pull out this CD. I have grown tired of the CD from repeated listening. I also found that the CD sounded inferior to the Laser Disk and DVD versions. I recently bought the XRCD2 version of hell freezes over. I was astonished. The sound was better than any version I had ever heard. The recording was superior in every way.

It is going to be a long time before the world transitions to either DVDA or SACD. Most people will continue to use standard compact disks. I am convinced that much of the problem is with the source rather than with the format. There have been many efforts to attack the problem at the source. I recently bought the latest version of The Best of Santana on Columbia. There was a sticker on the CD that said this was a new CD and it was digitally mastered.

I have bought several Santana compact disks. This is the best sounding yet. Wouldn't it be great if the publishers would go back and remaster their collections so that we can enjoy the CD format even more.

My personal feeling is that a new format will not improve anything unless the producers and publishers make sure that the format is fully exploited and that they produce the best sounding disks possible. I could live with the CD format—particularly if the quality found in JVC's XRCD2 process became standard.

The response to the Le Amp offer has been amazing. We are getting more orders than we ever expected. We will keep the introductory offer going until the end of May. After that, Le Amp will sell for $295.00 each. This is still an amazing offer.

We have a chart showing unweighted performance of Le Amp at 12.5 Watts if you're interested.

Le Amp is an amazing performer by any standard. Le Amp is built more like a 200 watt amplifier than a 100 watt amplifier. It has a 400 V/A transformer. The wiring can sustain 600 amps. The bridged rectifiers are rated at 40 amps. The heat sinking keeps the amplifier running cool even when being pushed hard. The amplifier will handle peaks of 200 watts. It will drive 160 watts into 2 ohms. Le Amp will be properly grounded and protected from DC offset. The frequency response is 5 Hz to 200,000 Hz. The amplifier only shows .023% THD + noise at 45 watts (while hitting peaks well over 100 watts). The distortion only rises slightly up until about 80 watts (hitting peaks of 200 watts).

We are testing the amplifier using the most stringent tests we can come up with. Most amplifiers are measured using only 1000 Hz. As you can see in the picture, we are measuring the full bandwidth. Some people are asking for early delivery of Le Amp. They are willing to pay the air shipment. We have agreed to do this. Le Amp will be 6.5 x 6.5 x 12 inches.

Some customers have asked why we don't build a five channel amplifier. The reason is that each Le Amp draws up to 10 amps. Five of these will draw 50 amps. Few residential outlets support up to 50 amps. Most five channel amplifiers are designed assuming that all five amplifiers won't need to run at full power all the time. Le Amp will offer better performance and power than most five channel amplifiers and in most cases, will be less expensive as well.

I can't think of another audio company that has become a full line company as quickly as we have. We are about to turn three years old. We now have a full range of loudspeakers and a full range of electronics. Despite this, the job is never done. We are always looking for ways to make things better and to provide more value. One of the projects that I have been most excited about is the nOrh 6.9 project.

The 6.0 and 6.5 were our first products. The 6.5 had been our best selling product. We stopped selling the 6.5 many months ago. Despite this, we continue to get requests for this speaker. We also continue to get letters from people who say that they believe that the 6.5 is one of the best loudspeakers they had ever heard. The 6.9 is our replacement for the 6.5. We offer it in two versions. The Prism is a floorstanding version. The Prism 6.9 is a very large 34 liter loudspeaker that goes down to 33 Hz – 3dB. No subwoofer is required. The speaker uses the new XT tweeter from Vifa. It is a speaker that does everything right. We have received letters from owners who tell us they have never heard better.

The 7.0s and 9.0s are more refined than the 6.9. However, the 6.9s will make most loudspeakers pale in comparison. For the past eight months, we have been working on the most complex project ever. We have been trying to create a synthetic marble version of the 6.9. We are almost finished with the projects. The customers who have heard this speaker say it is absolutely amazing. The synthetic marble has all the sonic benefits of real marble but it is less expensive.

The synthetic marble version of the 6.9 has slightly less bass than the Prism. Its -3 dB is 38 Hz. The sound is more refined. The 6.9 is probably the best loudspeaker under $1,000 available anywhere.

We have not quite finished the grill yet. Our current plan is to make the grill look similar to the real marble speakers. We are trying to use stainless steel for a very high-tech look. We did not take photos of the grill yet because we have to clean the burns from the laser off the stainless steel first.

Green synthetic marble 6.9 without grill (Enlarge)

The synthetic marble speakers will be available in white, black and green. We can consider other colors as well. We are also planning a synthetic marble 6.1. The 6.1 is a more efficient loudspeaker with less bass response. The 6.1 would make an ideal rear speaker in a home theater combination or a very good match for a lower powered home theater system. The 6.1 and 6.9 will use the same size cabinet. The target price for the 6.1 is $600.00.

Synthetic marble is made from 77% marble powder mixed with resin and gel coat. The finish is more scratch resistant than real marble. The synthetic marble is quite beautiful. It does not match the real marble speaker in terms of richness but it certainly looks better than most of the PVC covered speakers that sell in this price range. The synthetic marble has real acoustic benefits as well—as does our inverted horn design.

While we have the nOrh 9.0s, considered by many to be the world's best two-way loudspeaker, most of our loudspeakers sell for under $1000.00 per pair. Below is a picture of our lineup of drum loudspeakers for under $1000.00. This does not include our nOrh 3.0 that is only $150.00 per pair.

Norh 5.1, Ceramic 4.0, 6.9 Synthetic Marble, Wood 4.0 and Wood 5.1—all under US$1,000.00 (per pair)

Prism 6.1 (left) and Prism 6.9 (right) (View Enlarged Image #1 and Image #2)

Pictured above are two photos showing the Prism 6.6 and 6.9. The 6.6 is designed to offer very high efficiency and is ideal for lower powered receivers, integrated or tube amplifiers. The 6.9 Prism produces fantastic bass. The 6.9 is ideal for receivers with 100 or more watts, separates or high-quality integrated amplifiers.

While we have worked very hard to offer the very best performance possible under $1,000.00 we have also worked on building the finest loudspeaker that can be built. We believe that we can do this by selecting the best components and using the best materials in the best shape. The inverted horn design is superior to the standard box loudspeaker. It has no parallel surfaces and no seams. Marble, ceramics, sand and cement are among the best materials for building loudspeakers. This is because their acoustic coefficients are very low. This means that the energy inside the loudspeaker doesn't energize the cabinets. While synthetic marble is equal to the marble loudspeakers in this regard, I honestly believe the marble nOrh 9.0s and 7.0s are the most beautiful and natural looking loudspeakers made.

Many of our customers have wanted to know why it takes up to several months to get a pair of marble 9.0s or 7.0s. We thought we would give a little tour of what it takes to produce the marble loudspeakers.

	The first step is to start with a large hunk of solid marble. There is no way to know when starting what the marble will yield. 30% of all our drums are lost during the manufacturing process. We start with 800 pounds of material to produce just one loudspeaker.
The second step is to cut the rock into blocks that will then be lathed into the drums. The saws use diamond blades and have to be cooled with running water. Thailand marble is very hard compared to Italian and other European marble.
	The drum is formed from a solid block of marble. The work is done using diamond tipped hand tools. Here a stonemason is shown forming the port out of solid rock. (View Enlarged Image ~ 287 K)
The marble is then polished. The baffle is also formed from marble. The baffle is sent out to be covered in leather. The leather covered baffle is returned to the stone mason where it is fixed to the marble drum. Metal rings are epoxied to the inside of the baffle to make it easy to attach the drivers. (View Enlarged Image)

The networks are made by hand using the best coils and capacitors. All components are hand tested. The speakers are wired with hand braided silver wire (at a cost of $50.00 USD per speaker). All soldering is done with silver solder. We also use very high quality gold plated speaker connectors.

The grill is cut from steel using a laser. The grill's strings are made from Thai silk and are hand strung. The feet are made from solid stainless steel.

It takes one day to form just the drum from solid rock. 30% of the drums will collapse during the manufacturing process.

White Marble 9.0 in it's full glory

I do not believe anyone will ever duplicate the process we have created to make the nOrh 9.0 and 7.0. Eventually, this level of craftsmanship will simply vanish off the face of the planet. Nonetheless, for those few who were fortunate enough to buy these loudspeakers when this level of craftsmanship did exist, they will have loudspeakers that are built to last generations.

Sincerely,

Michael C. Barnes
President
nOrh Loudspeaker Company, Ltd

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