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Has AN considered single driver speakers or remaking the Snell Type A?

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RGA

Looking at Lowther drivers I found a driver that seems to pretty much be full range down to 30hz. I know nothing of the cabinet but I would invite you to look at Omega Loudspeakers which use a similar wide baffle cabinet -- even use AN knobs on their amplifiers. Now Omega is a budget speaker company and all but it seems like with AN know how and build quality etc that a single driver can really offer up some advantages.

And while I'm here -- the AN A beastie is something I want to see. If the Snell A is the speaker used as the master curve loudspeaker then why not a decked out changed port, corner beastie in the Tannoy Westminster sized speaker.

I suppose sales in Britain for such a big speaker would not be very large but then Tannoy is British and their Westminster is HUGE. And hey they like em in Korea with the tiny apartments.

The super 3XRS looks like it pays homage to the AN E. Even with the hemp drivers. I am wondering if this little company is owned by AN?

http://www.omegaloudspeakers.com/products.html (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

Lowthers... - Budrew 16:54:12 08/28/07 (2)
I recently took ownership of a pair of Lowther-based speakers and the experience was truly eye (ear) opening! They are the Teresonic Magus monitors. I ordered them a long time ago in the search for a single driver speaker to use with my Resolution Audio system, which is said by many to favor single drivers. The RA amp sounds fine with my AN-E's, but the match is not optimum. More on this in a moment...

The Teresonic speakers are simply astonishing. The thing that stands out most is that I simply get lost in the music. It moves along effortlessly, and the dynamics are full in their variation and the pitch and timing bounce along. Makes everything else sounds flat and compressed. And they are far more detailed. Not in a Mark Levinson kind of way, but in how they let the instrument come through in all its subtlety. On acoustic guitar, my most listened to music, they sound dynamic, beautiful and expressive. Instead of hearing recorded music you hear a story unfolding before your ears! You are drawn in to hear where it's going and what's next. It demands your attention like a musician sitting in your room playing their tune.

Going back to the E's with the RA amp was a letdown. Suddenly, a thick veil had returned to blanket the music. However, a return to an amp that better mates with the E's showed they can can really perform, but it comes down to flavors. And the E's seem to need some drive in their amp.

I don't use the Teresonic speakers right now because they were too wobbly on their stands and my toddler was bound to topple them. But they are reserved for use someday down the road.

There are some downsides to the single drivers, mainly the lack of bass. You do have to accept it and it makes some music sound horrible (mostly amplified rock).

I still love my E's and driven correctly they are also dynamic, expressive and beautiful. But indeed the crossover gets in the way and indeed they need some juice to get up and running whereas the Lowthers get up and go off the line.

Someday, I want town a pair of those huge Tannoy Prestige speakers too! I'll take my Lowthers, my E's and my Tannoys and be completely happy : )
- The Tannoy is interesting... - RGA 06:58:28 08/29/07 (1)
  I have listened to the Kensington in Korea and it is far better than the Tannoys I remember in the early 1990s...though those were budget lines.
  
  There is certainly something to the wide baffles. All the good speakers here are big fat chubby speakers and when you listen to the slim ones it just sounds bad IMO. Oddly I was expecting to see Audio Note speakers in Yongsan as well. I only saw AN Phono stages. Granted none of the stores have ideal listening rooms.
  
  I saw one of the Lowther drivers rated from 30hz -18khz and thought -- gee in an Audio Note like cabinet this could be really cool.
  
  I'd still take the AN's over the Kensington but at least it sounded all day listenable and that to me is hard enough to find in most of the Canadian shops I've been too. Although I have to say that the AN's actually look very good compared to the Tannoys...They are BUTT ugly -- retro is one thing but this line of speakers is just so old looking --- when I first saw them I thought they would be pretty good -- they'd have to be!
  - RE: The Tannoy is interesting... - Budrew 09:13:34 08/29/07 (0)
    I used to have a pair of Tannoy D500s which used a similar speaker, albeit not as sophisticated as the Kensington. I really enjoyed them for a long time, but preferred the E's once I had them. But the Tannoys were really nice and great at low volumes.
    
    The design of the Prestige line seems aimed at a certain audience. I would think with a more modern design they would be more popular. They did try one a few years ago, but it was even worse.
    
    From what i understand the lack of bass is a deal killer for AN and speakers. They want to be able to reproduce a full symphony and the E's certainly have the bass!
RE: Has AN considered single driver speakers or remaking the Snell Type A? - DRCope 18:17:59 08/26/07 (3)
Hi RGA,

Peter has worked with Lowther drivers off and on for a lot of years but as far as I know has given up on that route. He has owned several pairs of Snell Type A's and, I think, I owns at least a pair or two currently.

It's an interesting coincidence that Audio Note and Omega have both moved to hemp drivers within a year or so of each other, but the drivers have nothing in common, (other than hemp) and the companies are not related.

Louis and I are both in CT and keep talking about getting together so that our toys can play together, and we see each other regularly at trade shows and chat a bit, but that's about the extent of the connection.

Keep your ears and your mind open.
- it's interesting... - RGA 20:46:23 08/26/07 (2)
  because the Omega line seems to certainly "look" similar and obviously believe in SET amps.
  
  As for the single driver -- Peter said he very much liked the CM4 or something from Lowther but that it was too large for practical use. The driver has a range of 30hz-18khz or something which is outstanding. Certainly intereting stuff and not expensive.
  
  The Type A is just something I think would be cool. If the E has that kind of Bass then what does the type A do? AN has reworked the E, J and K -- is it an issue of not holding the rights to the A. Is it that they are just too big?
  
  Obviously Peter Snell made the A as his top end product -- and as such I would love to hear a suped up modified version of it. Hmm 10hz - 105db sensitive and what 115dbspl.
  
  That would be AWESOME!!!
  - Omega & AN single-driver speakers - DougE 13:16:07 08/27/07 (1)
    RGA, I'd like to see an AN single driver as well. Does anyone know if this is something that's been considered?
    
    The basic charachter of Lowthers and other single-drivers (I own Cain/Fostex and Omega/hemp) is quite different from most multi-ways and AN E's. Since the rest of the line (K & J) sound similar to the E, I'd think that going a totally different direction sonically with a single-driver wouldn't fit the AN plan. But, I'd sure like to hear them if they were to make them!
    
    I've got a pair of the hemp Omega XRS in my office system. They're made in Connecticut by a gent named Louis Chochos, owner of Omega. No connection with AN that I am aware of. The cabinet is substantially smaller than the AN E, probably about 1/2 the volume. The XRS driver is only 4" vs the E's 8". The XRS is beautifully finished, btw, although for $950 it's obviously not finished to the same standards you'd expect from the pricier E's.
    - Apologies, DRCope, I should have - DougE 13:26:06 08/27/07 (0)
      read your response before posting mine. Not surprising that Peter tried the Lowther given both their easy compatibility with SET and their English provenance. Appears from your comments that AN is not pursuing, but I still say if they did I'd like to hear 'em!
      
      On a related note, I heard the prototye Rethm Saadhana at CES this year and thought it was one of the best implementations of a Lowther I've heard.

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