Norh Speakers from Thailand: High-end or Hype??

I share you instincts/sentiment sunnyjim. I did for awhile think of buying some, but was wise and didn't. They called there little pyramid speaker with 4 3" Tangband drivers something like "one the best av loudspeakers of all." (go check the webpage--its there) If 4 3" tangbands are that good in their lineup they must have done a horrible job designing with their Vifa and Scanspeak drivers. Which is what I suspect about the company: there is/was plenty of room for improvement in the designing phase. They may have the good drivers and cabinets but that's all they talk about. I think they look ugly too. I vote hype/crap. They even talk like BOSE about "musical instrument omnidirectional; therefore, speaker should be omnidirectional" I don't think he understands the recording chain, microphone types and placement, room acoustics as it relates to speaker/room/listener-interface, etc. If they are good, as people claim (but people like all sorts of junk and I'm always suspicious of subjective claims) the website isn't too technical as you noticed.

I auditioned a pair of nOrh Prism 6.9s, but ultimately opted for Meadowlark Kestrels. The Prisms weren't bad; fit and finish of the cabinets was poor, but they sounded nice enough - smooth mids and highs, bass a little over-extended, considering the size of the drivers.

nOrh products use Vifa and Scanspeak drivers, and to my ears, they don't sound radically different from all the thousand other speakers that use these same drivers. The odd cabinets detract from rather than enhance the performance, in my opinion.

Pretty generic, inoffensive stuff. There are so many speakers in this price range... unless you get a stunning deal on used ones, keep shopping. And don't expect performance that's out of the ordinary in any way.

I want to thank everyone who so far has contributed to this post. Though, my instincts of 35 years of reading audio mags, classified ads and working in the business, make me lean more toward the observations of members "Kasperhauser" and "Esmeralda". There is a great deal to be learned from a website, not saying this tells everything about a product or its real world performance. Nevertheless, as Esmeralda indicates, using great drivers does not automatically produce a great speaker.especially, if the design parameters for those drivers are wrong and the product is less well engineered than even some mid-fi products. In addition, KP has identified for me that this product just sounds like others, and is not extraordinary in any area of performance. So, why should I buy it?? I have not read the testamonials about the Norh speakers on the websites recommended by those members who responded; and, I am sure there are aspects of the performance of the "drum" model that are very satisfying; but, that does not in my opinion qualify as high-end. This comment is not intended to be smug or elitist, but a conclusion based on what I have read and heard. If this company had an outlet to audition their product, I would surely take advantage of it before reaching any final conclusion. But, I think asking a customer to purchase a product from a relatively unknow company on the recommendations of a few owners is not a strong or positive business practice. This type of "marketing" seems to be more evident everyday, especially accomodated by the internet. It would be wonderful to "find" a speaker that far exceeds the performance of similar products from well-know manufacturers, that is, an extraordinary bargain in sound and appearance. Unfortunately, such products seem fewer than were available 20 years ago.

Dismissing a product that could only be marketed at its price point via the internet on the basis of two opinions of people that you have never vetted or even met certainly will keep your life less troublesome (and, perhaps, less interesting).

Good luck.

TO Zorpman, While I was writing my response,I calculated that I might draw some criticism from the membership. Regretably, I wish I had the resourses of being more adventuresome, and you are probably right that basing my conclusion on the opinions of two members may be unfair to the Norh pedigree. Nevertheless,I have been burned once or twice on mail-order follies, and the price of the Prism 6.9 is too much money to gamble and possibly be disappointed. The aftermath of such an investment would also leave me with the task of having to resell the speakers that I received.