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Older news - June 2001

Happy Birthday To nOrh

It would be hard to say when nOrh really started as we spent nearly a year developing our original inverted horn loudspeaker. However, this month marks the third year that our website has been running. I was very excited when I saw that we actually had people hitting our site. Back then, 1,000 hits seemed like a lot. Now we are getting more than 300,000 hits per month. The original staff are all with us. However, we have many more members of our staff. They all appreciate the business and the nice comments they receive about their craftsmanship.

TNT Audio Magazine will do a review of our lowest priced loudspeaker, the nOrh 3.0. We believe the nOrh 3.0 offers performance that is completely unexpected at its low price. There are two versions of the nOrh 3.0. The nOrh 3.0 inverted horn is made from real wood. All 3.0s are shielded so they work well for modest home theater applications. The 3.0 inverted horns go for $150.00 per pair shipped.

This month, we are introducing the Prism 3.0. The Prism 3.0 is very special because it is made of real Teak. Teak is one of the premium woods in the world. We are offering hand crafted real Teak loudspeakers for only $199.00 a pair, delivered. The Prisms version is ideal where space is an issue. As the port is located on the bottom of the loudspeaker, the can be placed flush against the wall, on a bookshelf or on a desk.

nOrh 3.0 drums (Enlarge)

We are very aware that it is often very difficult to get new audio equipment past the ladies of the house. We design our loudspeakers to have a very high spousal approval factor. All of the ladies who work for us love this speaker, so I am sure that this loudspeaker will have a very high spouse approval factor.

The Prisms can be placed against a wall, on a shelf or virtually everywhere. The speaker if made from real Teak wood - not veneered MDF. This is one of the richest looking loudspeakers available at a budget price.

We have completed our synthetic marble (SM) 6.9s. We will soon complete the SM 6.9s will be available in green, black and white. Other colors are likely to be added. We will also introduce a SM 6.1. The 6.1 uses a very efficient (90dB) Vifa driver and a horn loaded silk dome tweeter. The 6.1 will provide very dynamic sound, even on very modest systems. It an an ideal choice for budget home theater. The final price will be $700.00 but we will introduce the SM 6.1 at $600.00. It is available for order now.

The SM 6.9 offer deeper bass, more detail and better power handling. We think this is the world's best loudspeaker under $1000.00. The bass is very powerful. The SM 6.9 looks very much like real marble but is much less expensive than the real marble loudspeakers.

The Synthetic Marble (SM) 6.9 offers response down town to 38 Hz -3 dB and 28 Hz – 10 dB. The SM 6.9 is rated at 87 dB sensitivity. Power handling is 300 watts. The SM 6.9 uses the M18W0-09-08 woofer from Vifa and the newly introduced XT tweeter. At $995.00, it is a real bargain. It is available for order.

The SM 6.1 uses horn loaded Vifa silk dome tweeter and a high efficient 6.5 inch Vifa woofer. The – 3 dB is 50 Hz. The sensitivity is 90 dB. The power handling is 160 watts.

From this month, we are shipping both the SM 6.1 and SM 6.9. You may place your order.

The ceramic 4.0s are getting rave reviews for their sound and their beauty. Many customers are telling us these sound better than anything they have heard under $1000.00. The ceramic 4.0s look like pieces of art. They are hand made in every detail. The finish looks like art and not like a coffee cup. The 4.0s come in a variety of colors not typically available for loudspeakers. The grills are designed so you can easily change the grill cloth to create your own custom look. Combined with a subwoofer, the 4.0s can match the performance of some of the more expensive audio/video systems available. Special video set pricing is available too.

We have sold over 200 Le Amps. Shipping will take place toward the end of June. We will have photos here about the second week of June. We will keep the special pricing available until we ship. The introductory price is $195.00. This offer is availble only to the United States as we are shipping Le Amps by boat to the US. From there, they will be shipped by ground. The customer will pay a $10 handling fee and the cost of ground shipping inside the US. We will ship units by air to any location provided the customer picks up the shipping charges.

We will have details posted on Le Amp, including detailed test results in the next couple of weeks.

I get lots of questions about subwoofers. Many people will budget a subwoofer into their initial purpose without really considering whether they need one or not. I get many questions from people asking what subwoofer they should get for $500.00. Consider that if you have a budget of $400.00 (nOrh 4.0 range) and $500.00 for the subwoofer, you have a total budget of $900.00. In most cases, a $500 subwoofer is not really going to offer very good performance. My advise is to add the $500 to your speaker purchase and get a loudspeaker that produces good bass.

Both version of the 6.9 produce very deep bass. The overall dynamics and performance will be better than a pair norh 4.0s, even if you do add a subwoofer.

When should you add a subwoofer? I believe that a separate subwoofer designed for home theater makes sense. Even so, using a pair of 6.9 will yield better results.

We have taken some pictures of our factories making wood-drums, so that you can understand the process that goes into making this work of art.

and finally... here's the finished product - a beautiful nOrh 5.1 (Enlarge).

With all our products, we attempt to integrate the best craftsmanship with the finest audio technology. The end result is something wonderful to listen to and to look at. Even our modest nOrh 3.0 excels in both areas. The craftsman who do this work have trained all their lives to perfect these skills. We hope to keep these crafts alive by helping these craftsman create products that have high demand.

Sincerely,

Michael C. Barnes
President
nOrh Loudspeaker Company, Ltd

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