Small speaker recommendations

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Its not a transmission line it is a rear loaded horn, so it shouldn't have damping.

I would like to know how they sound on NVA as this Singapore manufacturer does a lot of things I like and £400 is not a silly price either.

[Citrus]

Its not a transmission line it is a rear loaded horn, so it shouldn't have damping.

I would like to know how they sound on NVA as this Singapore manufacturer does a lot of things I like and £400 is not a silly price either.

I know little (to nothing) of horns and although the larger Loth-x speakers seem to be 'horns', I'm not sure these are... more like 'wanna be' horns, rather than proper ones. From having been inside these things, they are very similar to X-sections I've seen of PMC DB1 speakers (but bigger) and my GB1s - the 'woofer' air volume is a single, larger, void to the rear of the woofer & tweeter exiting rearward below the woofer, via a straight (opposed to flaring or narrowing) folded tunnel with 4 right angle turns inside. A review I found (it doesn't mean this is right either) said: "Unusual, too, is the bass-reflex cabinet, which features a topology the company calls 'bass labyrinth' and which strikes me as something in-between a transmission line and a horn"

They sound really nice with both my AP10P and A40s at normal/moderate listening levels, although for very low volume listening (background music) and my sound taste I prefer them on a Denon integrated where I can further enhance the bottom end (at background music levels) through the tone controls (yes, I know sacrilege ). If they were in a bigger room or the majority of listening time was at normal/moderate levels I could happily live with them on NVA (despite every review you'll find saying stay away from solid state amps).

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Well I am afraid that is the usual load of bollocks you will find on forums, it depends on the quality of the amp not the topology.

I really am coming to the conclusion that a majority of advice on forum is just people repeating what they have read somewhere else, spouted to hear the sound of their own voice. By the law of averages even if it is guess work it would be about 50% right, but I recon it is about 70 to 80% wrong.

I could list them here and I would be going on for pages, a majority seem to be about valve v transistor - just pure ignorance.

Though there is an excuse I suppose for these speakers as they are made by the Singapore importer of Croft valve amps, which must have been used in their voicing. So Croft make musically informative valve amps (not the normal musshy farty things) so the speakers should be good.

For the bass, push them further back to the wall and maybe try LS5 on them.

[Citrus]

Re. load of bollocks - Quite likely... made no odds to me as I don't have any valve amps anyway.

The only 'reviews' I read weren't forums, they were all 'magazines', ie. joe someone's write-up test/opinion of them and to be honest the reviews were a mixed bag, not overtly glowing praise but they all seemed to generally like them or really like aspects of them and how they responded well to much more expensive partnering. 'That' combined with the fact they 'looked like' transmission lines and might therefore fulfill the 'full' sound, in a small box, I was looking for made me take the plunge. To my ears, damping the 'line' has definitely improved the sound - they now sound more rounded and 'complete' to me without losing any detail - the only trade off I can see/hear is that they're not as loud as they originally were at a given volume level (no doubt I've tempered the amplification characteristic of the horn aspect), but that's an easy thing to take given my use and my sound preference (the gain outweighs the loss). I will have another play around with speaker cable, I traded-in my LS5 for LS6 which in their un-damped guise seemed to make them louder still, so now they are damped I really need to re-try it. I honestly think these are a great sounding little'ish speaker.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Sorry of course LS6 will do the same, I forgot you changed.

I just like simplicity and quality for a sensible price - so they tic my boxes.

The only problem with damping the line as you call it, is that will put a mechanical filter in circuit and also add a phase delay.

In fact the main difference between a back loaded horn and a transmission line is that the horn doesn't damp the line where as a transmission line does.

[jammy395]

Not sure if Loth have a uk distributer any more...............anyone ?
But simple design and value for money.......(talkin my language).
If i recall Emminence Audio could be found on the web.....And delt with Bluenote (turntables) - Croft - Loth - and others.
Remember listening to some of my mates Loth speakers....He had a bit of a fad with them 90s - He had x ion 1s & x ion 3s..........If memory serve's they were V.G.
A bit light on Bass but sweet none the less.

[Gromit]

Those look rather appealing - what sort of size are they?

[jammy395]

http://www.ossaudio.com/lothx/ion.html

Check em out Gromit.

[Gromit]

http://www.ossaudio.com/lothx/ion.html

Check em out Gromit.

Ta.

[Citrus]

http://www.ossaudio.com/lothx/ion.html

Check em out Gromit.

Ta.

I don't think that oss audio link has the BS1s on there but they're 200mm wide x 295mm deep x 400 tall

Some info/review links - truth or bullshit, you decide

http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/lothx-bs1_e.html

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/e ... thxbs1.htm

http://dagogo.com/loth-x-bs1-bookshelf-speaker-review