Home
AudioAsylum Trader
Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: nOrh 7.0 Speakers by PJ

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

For Sale Ads

FAQ / News / Events

 

REVIEW: nOrh 7.0 Speakers Review by PJ at Audio Asylum

203.13.35.99


[ Follow Ups ] Thread:  [ Display   All   Email ] [ Speaker Asylum ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

At the beginning of 2000 I purchased a HT setup consisting of a Denon AVC-A1D, Krix Lyrix, Marantz 7000 dvdp, Velodyne VA-1250x sub, and it was put into the living room.

Unfortunately, I am a 3rd year university student and I spend a lot of time in my room studying etc, and I could not listen to the stereo when I was studying.

So the quest started for a bedroom system to get around my panasonic minisystem. My budget was around $AU3K.

Speakers available at the $1500-$1800 price point included the dynaudio audience 50, which was my favourite sounding speaker under $2k, but I knew I wouldn't be happy with it for a long time.

I first heard of nOrh at AR. They offered the finest components in the world, a radically new approach to cabinets, and a factory direct price. Apparently they sounded similar to dynaudio, and when I found out that I had the Australian Scanspeak Distributor 30mins drive away who sold the cheapest SS drivers in the world by 1/2, I took the plunge, and ordered the now discontinued marble 7.0 kit. I was able to get the 7.0's at an unbeleivably good price. But having heard them, $2k is cheap. As per other peoples recomendations (tyson in particular) I went with the 9500, as 10 different people all told me it was not as harsh as the 9700. I have not heard the 9700 myself, so I can not say for sure.

2.5 months after ordering they shipped. They came right in the middle of my exams, a nice little distraction....
In went the drivers after gasping at the workmanship (these really are a work of art), only to notice missing driver screws, probably lost by Australian Customs, who looked at them for a week, probably listening to them for all I know.. :)

I received the final screws today, the drivers have in excess of 100hours on them, probably 30-40 at over 90dB.

Associated Equipment:
NAD 540 cdp (new)
Cyrus 3 50W/chan Integrated Amplifer (second hand)
DIY sandstone 24" stands
Tara Labs Prism Omni Speakers Cables
Tara Labs Prism 3 interconnects
Heavily furnished room, speakers placed according to the cardas method.


All I can say is unbelievable. I took them down to the local Audio shop, and put them up against the entire Dynaudio line. Not even the $AU10000+ 3.3 (can't remember exact price, closer to $12k I think) was even close. They are too heavy to move around to every audio shop to make massive comparisons.

Imaging and detail was the biggest different between the 3.3's and the 7.0s. The 3.3's are a great speaker, but cant compete against the 7.0's. I listen to the French electronic band Air - Moon Safari's cd, and triangles etc that didn't even show up on the 3.3's were easily aubible on the 7.0's, far far more detailed.

They simply dissapear into the room. When I turned the lights off, and asked my friend to come and listen, he could not pick the speakers out in the dark, despite being only 2m away from them. I haven't heard that many high end speakers in my time, due to the limited companies in my city, but the sheer depth which they extract still startles me. I place them 2m away from a rear wall as the soundstage is VERY deep. They need more, but they will then be to far out in the room, asking for trouble. Soundstage is (using my limited audio vocab) extremely coherent, and very "thick". It seems very textured. This is another area where the dyn's just couldn't keep up.

The speakers around 2m apart, the room being 3.8m wide. Listening position forms an equilateral triangle. The soundtage I am guessing is 2m deep (to the rear wall), 2m high and 3.5 wide. I suspect the room is a big limiting factor.

They are also very natural sounding. It excels in making a female voice actually sound like a female voice, and a piano sound like a piano. On another one of Air's cd's, there is a trombone and you can hear the musician take his lips of the mouthpiece to take a breath. You can also hear the air being expelled from the end of the trombone.

Dynamics are unrivaled in any speaker I have ever heard, except the B&W Nautilus and the Dynaudio Evidence (as it should at its price). At no point are the speakers showing any sign of compression until you cross over the maximum linear excursion of the drivers. They will jump from silence to in excess of 100dB instantly, but more importantly, they will do it easily, without losing "composure".

Now for the weaknesses, I think I am the first to have a slight criticism about the sound.

I would prefer I slightly warmer sound. The problem is that on a good recording, it sounds great, but on a bright recording, it sounds bright and harsh. Whilst this is good in many ways, it obviously has it's drawbacks, making several of my cd's almost unlistenable. I don't think the silver wiring helps this, so I will soon change the silver tweeter wire over to a copper one, from the advice of Michael Barnes(no emails about DBT's please). I have measured using my RS SPL meter, and I have a ok room response, but I have a peak at 1kHz, which I suspect is the culprit. I have moved them around, and brightness was present at the audio shop, so I am mentioning it here.

But dont let this deter you. They are not really bright, just VERY revealing. The marble 7.0's are a true high end loudspeaker, and they produce a serious high-end sound.

Bottom line, I am yet to hear better from any bookshelf speaker. At $2k they are a steal, and I will almost certainly buy more nOrh products in the future. I cant think of a better recommendation than saying I will buy from then again.

Thanks goes to:

Michael Barnes and nOrh, for allowing me own a true high-end speaker on a student budget. Even if became a millionaire tomorrow, I would not buy another pair of speakers, except maybe the 9.0's.

Tyson, for helping my out with everything to do with nOrh.

Paul Lam, for leading me in the right direction, and his infinite wisdom in all things audio.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Signature Sound   [ Signature Sound Lounge ]



Topic - REVIEW: nOrh 7.0 Speakers Review by PJ at Audio Asylum - PJ 23:24:47 01/17/01 ( 2)