Probably not, as the only thing they really have in common is that both Lowther & Mark Audio produce wideband moving coil drive units. Everything in terms of design priorities etc. & how they're engineered is very different, so about all your comparison would tell you is precisely that: they're different.
Last edited:
Hello FXS and Hello Scott,
My first encounter with decent audio was a pair of Lowthers in Acousta cabinets, prior to that the Dansette record player with a penny on the arm. Jack whose Lowthers I'd listened to took me to a HiFi exhibition at a hotel near Heathrow, I had a headache, we eventually got back to the Lowther demo room, chose a record had a cup of tea and sat listening.
My headache went and I remember saying to Jack, who had got the plans for some behemoth multidrive unit thingies that we'd heard, that the Lowthers sounded much better. Some years later as my situtaion in life improved I made some mini-acoustas myself with PM6 units, as it does life gives you a smack around the head and I had to sell them, move to a smaller house and give up on the audio.
Now many years later I have a small room at the back of our garage to listen in, make my model railways, repair sewing machines etc, too small for Lowthers even if I could afford some.
Two weeks ago I went to Colin's [Toppsy] house to listen to his FH3's and when I heard the CHP-70's I heard that which I never thought I would ever do so again, the sound I first heard at Jack's. Easy is the simplest way that I can describe it and that's what I said to Jack in that Lowther room, everything else struggles.
I'm sure they do not sound the same, memory plays tricks but they've got to be within half a Gnats knacker of each other.
Jim
My first encounter with decent audio was a pair of Lowthers in Acousta cabinets, prior to that the Dansette record player with a penny on the arm. Jack whose Lowthers I'd listened to took me to a HiFi exhibition at a hotel near Heathrow, I had a headache, we eventually got back to the Lowther demo room, chose a record had a cup of tea and sat listening.
My headache went and I remember saying to Jack, who had got the plans for some behemoth multidrive unit thingies that we'd heard, that the Lowthers sounded much better. Some years later as my situtaion in life improved I made some mini-acoustas myself with PM6 units, as it does life gives you a smack around the head and I had to sell them, move to a smaller house and give up on the audio.
Now many years later I have a small room at the back of our garage to listen in, make my model railways, repair sewing machines etc, too small for Lowthers even if I could afford some.
Two weeks ago I went to Colin's [Toppsy] house to listen to his FH3's and when I heard the CHP-70's I heard that which I never thought I would ever do so again, the sound I first heard at Jack's. Easy is the simplest way that I can describe it and that's what I said to Jack in that Lowther room, everything else struggles.
I'm sure they do not sound the same, memory plays tricks but they've got to be within half a Gnats knacker of each other.
Jim
>>> we eventually got back to the Lowther demo room, chose a record had a cup of tea and sat listening.
I had a similar experience in NYC. A friend of mine and i ran from room to room listening to what we could but ended up back in the Rethm room listening to Lowthers.
>>> as it does life gives you a smack around the head and I had to sell them, move to a smaller house...
Thanks for that... life does give you a smack every now and then... when i get mine i wonder where my audio gear will go?
>>> Now many years later I have a small room at the back of our garage to listen in, make my model railways, repair sewing machines etc...
Yup... maybe not exactly what you are doing but for the most part similar enough... and i believe i will in fact end up in a garage.
>>> I'm sure they do not sound the same... but they've got to be within half a Gnats knacker of each other.
Exactly correct! They do not sound the same but provide the right kind of listening pleasure for you at this stage of the game. I understand completely. We can all enjoy white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate... all different but all enjoyable just the same.
Thanks for the enjoyable post.
I had a similar experience in NYC. A friend of mine and i ran from room to room listening to what we could but ended up back in the Rethm room listening to Lowthers.
>>> as it does life gives you a smack around the head and I had to sell them, move to a smaller house...
Thanks for that... life does give you a smack every now and then... when i get mine i wonder where my audio gear will go?
>>> Now many years later I have a small room at the back of our garage to listen in, make my model railways, repair sewing machines etc...
Yup... maybe not exactly what you are doing but for the most part similar enough... and i believe i will in fact end up in a garage.
>>> I'm sure they do not sound the same... but they've got to be within half a Gnats knacker of each other.
Exactly correct! They do not sound the same but provide the right kind of listening pleasure for you at this stage of the game. I understand completely. We can all enjoy white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate... all different but all enjoyable just the same.
Thanks for the enjoyable post.
My house was originally built as a 2 car garag with a crafting space upstiars, so i guess i'm there already
dave
Zilla, i can’t stand white chocolate.
Back in 1975 we order some PM6A from Wilmslow, put them in chipboard Acoustas, and used one of the worst SS amps of all time to drive them. They played loud, but they were no given an opportunity to shine. Haven’t but seen pictures since then…
but when i 1st saw the title i said, “very different”. The Mark Audios certainly provide huge bang for the buck, outperforming many more expensive drivers… but for what a set of Lowthers costs you could do all but the subs for a 12.2 HT system if you used Mark Audios. I will be interested in what those who have heard both chimes say.
dave
Back in 1975 we order some PM6A from Wilmslow, put them in chipboard Acoustas, and used one of the worst SS amps of all time to drive them. They played loud, but they were no given an opportunity to shine. Haven’t but seen pictures since then…
but when i 1st saw the title i said, “very different”. The Mark Audios certainly provide huge bang for the buck, outperforming many more expensive drivers… but for what a set of Lowthers costs you could do all but the subs for a 12.2 HT system if you used Mark Audios. I will be interested in what those who have heard both chimes say.
dave
No experience with either, I'm more of a 2-way high-effficiency mid-woof with compression driver on a CD waveguide kinda person... but then I just looked at the Madisound page for the Alpair 10-P:
Markaudio Alpair-10P Paper Cone 6" Full Range
and I thought to myself, hmmm, maybe I should re-think this whole thing for the small system... I see a $220 experiment in my near future... The SPL graph-- especially the 15-30 degree polars are remarkable.
Most of my listening is at modest levels in a modest space, unless it's party-time. The potential of these drivers just was an epiphany for me, if the graphs are to be believed.
Markaudio Alpair-10P Paper Cone 6" Full Range
and I thought to myself, hmmm, maybe I should re-think this whole thing for the small system... I see a $220 experiment in my near future...
The SPL graph-- especially the 15-30 degree polars are remarkable.Most of my listening is at modest levels in a modest space, unless it's party-time. The potential of these drivers just was an epiphany for me, if the graphs are to be believed.
really a 5.25” with a big bezel.
Nice to see my drawing on their webpage. Colour theme from the Seattle Seahawks.
These have been in my system for a while.
I’m a fan.
dave
>>> Zilla, i can’t stand white chocolate.
I finally heard Alpair drivers in NYC about two years ago. They were on display at the NY Audio Show. They sounded great. I think they were the 3” model in a small simple box. I asked if there was a subwoofer somewhere but their was not. They created a great image and everyone at the demonstration really enjoyed what they heard.
I finally heard Alpair drivers in NYC about two years ago. They were on display at the NY Audio Show. They sounded great. I think they were the 3” model in a small simple box. I asked if there was a subwoofer somewhere but their was not. They created a great image and everyone at the demonstration really enjoyed what they heard.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.