We started advertising nOrh Loudspeakers on the web June 1998. We actually started delivering loudspeakers in August. Our best seller is the nOrh 7.0. We were surprised that our most expensive speaker became our best seller. We had always expected our less expensive speakers to be our best seller.

We still believe there is a big demand for low cost speakers. These speakers might be used to upgrade the speakers in a mini component system, add rear or center channel sound to an audio video system, upgrade a multi-media computer system or simply to add music in a room that is too lifeless.

Most of our speakers take about three to four months to design. The nOrh 4.0 has taken us over a year. This has been the most complicated project we ever attempted. We wanted to build the best small speaker we possibly could. We wanted the loudspeaker to be reasonably priced. We wanted it to have the same high quality appearance as our more expensive speakers.

I purchased a Cambridge Sound Labs Model 11 suitcase system about ten years ago. I was quite impressed with the quality of the sound I got from this unit. It was not high-end but it sounded better than many much more expensive systems. Despite the fact that the amplifier was only 15 watts, this system played loud enough for parties and was never shrill or fatiguing.

The sound never approached high-end. It was never something that you could listen to for hours and hours. However, it did what it was designed to do better than anything I had seen before. I still own the system. I now know what components Cambridge Sound Labs used. I could easily copy this product if I wanted to. I wanted to build something better.

Today, there are many small systems coming to market for much more money than the Cambridge Sound Labs that don't sound nearly as good. One major manufacturer just got a review in Stereo Review's Sound & Vision. Stereo Review has long been a magazine that believes if you can't say something nice about something, then don't say it. However, they leave it to the reader to read between the lines to find the problems with the equipment. Many audiophiles dislike Stereo Review because they don't think that Stereo Review is objective. I find their reviews very revealing because they actually test the equipment and publish the results.

While the two speakers on the left cost about the same, note the difference in size of the tweeters and woofers. The cabinet on the right is made from plastic. The unit on the right uses good components but the unit on the left (nOrh) uses much better components.

In April 1999's issue, they reviewed a very well known mini speaker system that costs $1,399.00. This system included five speakers and a bass unit. The satellites each contained two 2 1/2 inch speakers and the bass module contained two 5 1/2 inch woofers.

At nOrh, we try very hard to keep the frequency response to + or - 2 dB until the frequency of the woofer begins to roll off. With most of our speakers, we actually achieve + or - 1 dB. It takes a lot of work to get this sort of performance. For this particular system, the response is shown on page 53. The review states the frequency response for the satellites at + or - 10 dB. I have never seen such an allowance when evaluating loudspeakers. Even with that allowance, this system produced from 280 Hz to 13.3 kHz. The graph looked like an elevation map of the Rocky Mountains. Even worse, the bass unit showed a response of 46 to 202 Hz + or - 2.3 dB. Why is this bad? If the bass unit produces out to 202 Hz and the satellites roll off at 280, there is going to be a huge dip before the two units match with each other. At 200 Hz a lot of directional information is going to be coming from the bass unit.

I recently had an opportunity to tear apart the Creative/Cambridge Sound Labs five channel multi-media system. To my surprise, the unit was actually pretty impressive. The amplifier section has a board that looks like an OEM board. The board features Zoran's newest decoder chip. The PCB is very high quality. Below this board is the amplifier section. It looks typically Chinese. However the output devices were from the SGS-Thomson TDA family of output devices. The amplifier, speakers and stands together cost about $300.00. Looking at what Cambridge is offering for the money, I would call it a bargain. Looking at what other companies offer for much more, I would call them Rip-Offs. We took that decoder amplifier from the Cambridge system and we used it to drive a high-end audio system. We didn't use the amplifiers built into the Cambridge. Instead we used the line outs to drive external amplifiers. The little Cambridge Audio device did an outstanding job decoding AC3. It was exceptional.

Unfortunately, it would not be easy or convenient to use this device to drive a conventional system. The unit required that the subwoofer be used at all times. It also had little flexibility. None-the-less, I believe that the Creative/Cambridge Audio product fills a niche and offers the customer very high quality and exceptional value. The question is, is it good enough?