Need advice, should I jump into Lowther league?

question : as of topic

  • Yes : it will bring you a new nirvana

    Votes: 5 17.2%
  • No : it's a waste of time and money

    Votes: 24 82.8%

  • Total voters
    29
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I'm trying to reach my upper limit on speaker league, not that my current speaker is not good, i just want to get my conclusion that it's enough (my conclusion after building several class a amplifier).

my current speaker (posted on another thread too): 32" x 48" plain open baffle:
- 21" subwoofer driven by inuke nu3000dsp
- 12" Fane 12-200LT 1st order LP (inductor value option 1.2mH, 1.5mH, 1.8mH).
- Fostex FD600 & H550 horn with 1st order HP (caps value option 6.8uF, 8.2uF, 10uF)
- Fostex T90A with 1uf filter

I change LP and HP value based on my mood, no fixed value yet. they are driven by class a amplifier

Lowther is planned to replace 12" & horn tweeter, T90A will be kept and should be a good company. It is expected to bring me to a new nirvana.

Why Lowther? because i can buy it locally.

I'm sure that there are so many Lowther owner who previously used a driver that might be considered in lower class (which is usually cheaper), whether smaller size 4"-5" or bigger size 10"-12".

Can you share your experience? Are you satisfied or disappointed? Would you suggest me to get a Lowther?

btw my first thought on Lowther for OB is PM6A or might increased the budget into DX4.

Thanks
 

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If nothing else, Lowthers are definitely an acquired taste, and I think you'd want to hear a properly designed system using them before deciding to join that club.

I'd dare say that to replace the 12" woofer and compression driver horn mid/tweeter in pictured system would be a very heavy lift for any Lowther, AER or equivalent full-range driver, and would certainly require major reworking of XO and tailoring of system gain settings.
 
... doubt they're as good as my Eikonas anyway :p

Ha! Ask the guys at Lowther how the Eikonas sound, after all the first batches of Eikona came from their factory.

I guess they became so jalous with the sound that Ted Jordan, despite his personal interest in "proudly build in UK", had finally to resign again to fall into danish hands...:D

Btw, i personally owned a pair of DX2, one of the units rubbing like hell... Interesting sound, though the least neutral i ever heard in my life...:eek:
 
Mine are UK made, had to wait ages for them, kept being told they were held up in manufacture, were being built to order at the time, I wonder if that was Lowther

I remember Ted Jordan was semi retired and the brand held by a semi amateur swedish company while production in hands of semi pro Tympany in Asia ( I have a pair of JX92S with mistakenly Peerless sticker on it from this period...:D), and suddenly breaking the deal with the swedish company, the father of fullrange recovering its brand and announcing alive and kicking again the new deal with Lowther, the new mother in law...:yikes:
 
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GDO; you should chat with Colin about the recent (5yrs or so) rocky history of the brand, and the provenance of current production. Back to the topic of Lowthers, yes- neutral or tonally balanced would not be in the lexicon I'd use to describe any I've ever heard, and my personal brass ring chasing days are a but faint reflection in my rear view mirror.

Scott; if your query in post #7 above was directed at me - yes, I've heard a few Lowthers at several shows - the most recent almost a decade ago now - but never in a local home environment. To be honest, a couple of those were interesting - most notably the highly modified drivers in an early Rethm model, but none were life-changing.
 
To echo Chrisb's words, Lowthers are definitely an acquired taste.

When I was living in a Chicago suburb more than 10 years ago, I listened to the first Lowther system I'd ever seen at a gathering of some audio nuts in the Chicago area. I was not smitten by the sound, because to my ears there was something off about the frequency response. Later, the Chicago audio nuts met at the house of the owner of another Lowther system several times, so I became somewhat more "acquainted" with the Lowther sound. I was somewhat impressed by how detailed/dynamic the Lowther speakers sounded on certain tracks, but wondered whether the sense of details came from the frequency response imbalance -- over-emphasized midrange and low treble. It was not what I'd call "realism" or "neutrality." I recall sitting there listening to the tracks (one featuring a baby making some noise and another being a cello solo piece that sounded as if the microphone was placed right on the bridge), and thinking about an analogy of looking at the leg of a grasshopper through a microscope -- the details and the heightened sense of colors and contrast may be very impressive and gratifying, but that's not the image we see with naked eyes. I always wondered how the Lowthers would sound if they are EQ'ed flat. Would doing so take away the "magic" that many Lowther owners hear?

I have been playing with full-rangers on OBs augmented by woofers or subwoofers for a long time, by the way. If I have to live with only one such system using drivers I own and have tried, I'd pick Fostex FX120 or Tang Band W5-2143. Just my two cents.

Cheers,

Kurt
 
Thank you for your all responses, I have added a poll to make it easier on overall opinion. from other forum like audiocircle or audiogon, it seems that lowther also has it's lover or hater.

If nothing else, Lowthers are definitely an acquired taste, and I think you'd want to hear a properly designed system using them before deciding to join that club.

I'd dare say that to replace the 12" woofer and compression driver horn mid/tweeter in pictured system would be a very heavy lift for any Lowther, AER or equivalent full-range driver, and would certainly require major reworking of XO and tailoring of system gain settings.
at this moment, no one from my audio friend who owns lowther yet. I'm trying to reach out on my colleague who might have known someone who allow me to listen to his lowther. my thought that lowther will has no xo at all, only a helper by t90a+1uf.

Have you heard them? I've fantasized about them since I was a small boy! Anyone near me have any I can listen to? Certainly wouldn't entertain buying any without a listen, doubt they're as good as my Eikonas anyway :p
I have Alpair 10p which was easily kicked by 12" PA driver + tweeter, also borrowed Fostex 206En from my friend and I can say that A10p is better than 206En. Also listened to 103 SOL or sigma series, yeah this tiny baby only good at very low volume of my reference. crank it up and it will scream badly.

too bad that you can not easily find a store that sell fullrange driver, totally different with branded speaker. once i had visited medium end speaker store with around $5k price tag. with the sales guy keep on talking how good the speaker, my mind said 'is that it?'. Also had a trip to a shopping mall and i was surprised to find a store who sell Fonus Faber floorstand and its kind ultra high gear, I just bravely say "It's not good, very bad" because my wallet will never reach this league :D
 
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just noticed the poll added to this thread - there's definitely a very wide DMZ between the binary choices listed, but at the very least -
C) - only YOUR ears can tell, or some such waffling

it is very strange that i can not edit poll option, yes agree 3rd option will be about in the middle 50/50 which will need to listen first. but at the end it will be about to buy it or not
 
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