The Long Table installation is nearly finished. When they originally contacted us, they asked us to do only subwoofers. They had bought a very well known brand name commercial loudspeaker and they were disappointed with the bass. When I listened, I found the sound to be unlistenable. Music sounded like the background music at a K-Mart. I brought in a pair of nOrh 7.0s with DC-Audio Gold 7 inch drivers installed. The sound was impressive and realistic. We decided to go with the 9.5 inch DC-Audio Gold drivers.
The results were very impressive. The DC-Audio Gold drivers are full range and produce unbelievably realistic sound in a very small cabinet. I believed that a subwoofer wouldn't be necessary. After doing the installation, the owner said that they still wanted subwoofers -- not so much for a lack of bass, but to create the feeling of a disco or night club which is a different sort of response you want from a pure audiophile system.
I have often written about the problem with subwoofers. Most subwoofers don't produce deep bass at all. All they do is produce lots of mid-bass. Some subwoofers start rolling off at 45Hz but because they are using larger drivers, they produce large amounts of mid bass due to efficiency.
We wanted to try the DC-Audio gold. Yuth designed a transmission line cabinet. We produced a system that doesn't require a crossover. It took some experimenting but the finished product was astonishing. The subwoofer produced deep bass and lived up to our design criteria.
The management is so pleased that they have asked us to do another of their facilities. We will be installing 17 more speakers for them soon. What's more important is that we are now offering this subwoofer to our regular nOrh customers.
Prototype DC-Gold Audio Subwoofer
We are now offering this subwoofer for sale. We did our testing with nOrh 3.0s. The sound was astonishing, even with single ended tube amps. One of the advantages for this new system is that we can produce deep bass from small amplifiers, receivers and tube amps. It would be possible to create a very impressive video system with 5 nOrh 3.0s and one subwoofer.
The subwoofer is ideal for small loudspeakers such as the nOrh 4.0, nOrh 3.0 or in combination with the new DC-Gold FR 4.0 or FR 5.0. The subwoofer can be easily mated to existing loudspeakers by simply plugging banana plugs into one another.
The nOrh 9.5 subwoofer will sell for $1000 each. If you are interested in , please write to yuths AT norhtec DOT com.
The nOrh 9.5 subwoofers should not be confused with the nOrh 9.5 regular speakers, which I will talk about in the next section. The nOrh 9.5 is a full-range speaker. The nOrh 9.5 subwoofer is also based on the DC-Gold driver, however, it would use a transmission line and that limits the bandwidth naturally.
nOrh is ready to accept orders for the nOrh 9.5 which is the loudspeaker described in previous issues that we have made for the Long Table in Bangkok. The nOrh 9.5 produces better bass and is more efficient than anything that we know of in its price range. The nOrh 9.5 is available for $1000.00 per speaker or $2000.00 per pair plus shipping. I can imagine that these systems will sound better than any of the speakers I have seen in movie theaters.
If you order the nOrh 9.5 full range spearkers, you would not need any subwoofer, because by itself it produces amazing bass. Again, for ordering information and details please write to yuths AT norhtec DOT com.
nOrh 9.5 - available now
The nOrh 9.5 reduces parallel surfaces
I tested the speakers with an old Antique Audio 35 watt per channel integrated amplifier. This was a leftover amplifier that I kicked out of my house after replacing it with an SE 9 several years ago. What was astonishing as the efficiency. The nOrh 9.5 is rated at 96dB. This is the most efficient loudspeaker we have ever made. What is astonishing is how loud this speaker plays using a very modest tube amplifier. What is also astonishing is the amount of bass this system produces. The bass was strong and powerful. In fact, this is one of those loudspeakers where in order to really feel the bass, you need to actually walk outside the house or go to another room.
While listening, I went outside and as I moved further from the loudspeakers, the more bass I felt. The nOrh 9.5 is truly acting like a subwoofer as well as a full range speaker.
nOrh 9.5 shown ready for ceiling mount
Above you can see a photo of me holding the nOrh 9.5. The speaker is designed so it can be mounted on the ceiling, placed on a stand or put on the floor. This expands on our research on angling drivers towards the listener's ear. We have found that so long as the high frequency sounds are angled at the listener, the height of the speaker is not important. The brain will treat a speaker mounted on the ceiling with the tweeter pointed down towards the ear the same as it treats a speaker mounted at ear level pointed at the ears. The same is true for a floor standing speaker with the drivers pointed at the right angle upwards.
nOrh 9.5 prototype showing driver angle down for ceiling mount
I got a call from our supplier for the nOrh SE 9. We were told that we can no longer get the SE 9 because the parts are no longer available. The SE 18 is still available. We will be introducing a replacement to the SE 9 which is higher powered. The new unit will be 15 watts push-pull. Please come back for more information.
We would like to hear from you about what you are doing with our products. Customer testimonials are very useful for new customers or customers trying to choose between different products. Some of you are using our products in systems that have audio components from other brands, and some combinations have worked out really well for you. We want to hear about these too. We want to hear about your honest opinion about our products that you have compared with offerings from other manufacturers. We at nOrh believe that our products hold their own very well against other products at a similar price range, and at times our products have matched or exceeded the performance of products costing significantly more. What do you think?
Finally, we want to hear about your purchase experience. New customers are hesitant to fish out their credit card and order a product they haven't experienced physically.
We have setup a new email address for collecting your testimonials: talkaboutnorh AT norhtec DOT com. Do mention the type of music you listen to, as well as your name and location in the world. We would publish some of these testimonials in our website in the near future. All this is a part of our plan to make this website a place for people to discover new ways to enjoy great audio.
I don't get excited by technology alone. I have many hobbies and many interests. I don't just collect technology, I use it. I know people who buy expensive toys but they are afraid to use them. I guess I am like that in some ways. I have an iPOD classic I rarely use. I buy cheap MP3 players as I do a lot of bike riding. I never know when it is going to rain or what accidents might occur. I have put 8,000 miles on my bicycle in 3 years. I know some people who buy expensive bikes but are afraid to get them wet or dirty. The photo below shows me finding shelter during pouring rain. Around my neck is a cheap MP3 player that I use to listen to new music and podcasts. I move my iPOD classic from one room to another but I don't take it outside.
Finding shelter from the rain
I love music but I don't love all music. In fact, I dislike more music than I like. I find so much music boring or annoying. I have changed genres many times in order to find something more interesting. When I was very young, my first recollection of music that I loved was by Nat King Cole. Other kids my age loved the Beatles (I later became a big Beatle fan) but when I was in th fourth grade, Nat King Cole was my favorite.
From the forth grade to the seventh grade, I grew to really enjoy the Beatles and then by 1968, it was Jimmi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, the Bee Gees, Traffic, Mountain and Cream. I started listening to Blues. When I became an audiophile, I listened to classical. After all, it is sort of impossible to become an audio snob listening to rock and roll. True audio snobs have to listen to classical music. To be honest, there is nothing more moving than seeing a live orchestra or watch a great solo musician. I can honestly say that I have never been more moved by music than attending a live symphony concert. I have never recreated the feeling or sound using electronics. As popular music became more boring, I shifted to Alternative music but found myself liking jazz. I still like jazz but I feel like listening to jazz, or classical, I will wind up like my father, who when I was young was unaware of anything recorded after 1948.
When I first came to Thailand, I found new music here that excited me. There were some groups, such as Boy Thai, that produced music that fused jazz and Thai music. I introduced our readers to this group years ago. Boy Thai made four great CDs and then like many great collaborations, they split up.
My new business venture has given me the opportunity to travel to Africa. Africa was never what I expected. Africa reminds me of Asia when I first came here 30 years ago. Africa is going through a great transition. Despite what we read in the news, Africa is mostly a peaceful continent. This website is not political so I can't elaborate on these issues but left alone, Africa shows very little inclination for one country to go to war with another. Africa is the birthplace of mankind. Africa is a source of resources needed worldwide -- including oil. Some countries in Africa have 25% or more of the populations under 20.
As I have gone to Africa, I have been quite excited by the music I have heard there. It shouldn't be surprising that Africa has great music when one considers how much influence African Americans have had on music. Most American music has its roots in rhythms and music created by African Americans. Jazz, Blues, Country and Western, Rock and Roll, Gospel, Soul, Rap (unfortunately) and Hip Hop can all trace their origins to Africa.
Most of my trips to Africa have been to Nigeria. One of the largest populations in Nigeria are the Yorubans. As I have gotten to know the Yorubans, I have become amazed at how much this one tribe in Africa has given the world. This one tribe established an art culture in Africa. They were one of the first people in the world who discovered iron without having to work with softer metals first. Their religious beliefs were later brought to the new world and become the source of Voodoo and Santieria. Yorubans in Brazil created a system of self-defense disguised as dance called Capoeria. What has recently amazed me is finding out is that artists that I have enjoyed for years are Yoruban. Sade is Yoruban as is Seal.
Last month I wrote about a new artist that I had found on YouTube, Bunmi Adeoye. I put two of her video links on this website. I have recently been in contact with Ms. Adeoye and she is releasing a new CD. You can find out information about her CD on her MySpace page listed below.
Additional music from Bunmi Ayode can be found on her MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/bedsidebusker
After putting Ms. Ayode's video links on this website, I have discovered additional artists of Yoruban decent that I would like to highlight. Both of these artists are getting a lot of attention internationally. The first is Ayo. Ayo is simply astonishing and I believe she is one of the most talented new artists in the world.
Another Yoruban artist getting a lot of attention is Asa.
In view of the increasing fuel prices and fluctuation of currency exchange rates, we have revised our pricing. You may find the latest prices here. The list prices no longer include shipping charges. Write to us if you need shipping quotes. Please ignore the older prices listed elsewhere in the website (newsletters, product pages etc.).
Sincerely,
Michael C. Barnes
nOrh Loudspeaker Company, Ltd.
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