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Lowthers - Please educate a village idiot...

Hello.

Despite me spending way too much time and effort on audio, and having two systems where one would do most normal people, I will, at some point in the future have a third.

My favorite uncle has a Williamson circuit tube amplifier which he built from a kit. He is a Marine who served our country valiantly during the roughest stretches of WWII(Guadalcanal, Solomons, etc.) and is a proud man. This system would become my remembrance of him.

Everyone thinks his stereo is an antiquated piece of junk, but when he saw my eyes and enthusiasm light up when he told me about it, he was just as happy as I was. He found a taker to pass along his treasured amplifier, as he is now to the point where he sees the end of the road in front of him. To have someone view him passing along this piece of him as an heirloom rather than something which should have instead be left at the curb swells his heart with pride and honor.

In order to do him justice, I want to give this amplifier a system which provide it with its proper level of importance. I have been toying with the idea of building a retro style system around this piece, albeit with a CD player.

The idea I have is to pair the amplifier with a pair of Lowther Medallions. The speakers would be done up in black, with maybe a tan grill at the mouth of the horn. A 1950s look to be sure.

The only issue is that I have no experience whatsoever with the Lowthers. And, more specifically, the Medallion.

Would someone please be so kind to educate me as to the Lowthers. I realize they are not for everyone, and I don't even know if they are for me. But, many have told me that if you fancy them, they are just pure magic. Some have even told me that it is the closest speakers to live even after all these years. Also, as I try to live by the mantra about not buying speakers I haven't auditioned(unless a KILLER deal comes along) are there any outlets for me to go give them a listen? I live in the Philadelphia, PA area.

Thank you all for your help,
Joe
trelja
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lak
4,614 posts
 
To demonstrate one aspect of what Twl said above regarding different amps, in my system I power my Abby’s several different ways:
1) Cary 2A3 monoblocks (5/watts per channel).
2) The same as #1 but with added Fostex T90A Horn super tweeter 106 dB and a crossover.
3) Bel Canto Evo 200.2 amp (120 watts per channel) with the Abby’s.
4) Same as #3 but with added Fostex T90A Horn super tweeter and a crossover.
5) Evo 200.2 powers the Abby’s, the Cary 2A3 monoblocks power the T90A.
6) When I want the lower bass I add my powered subwoofer.
You can see pictures of the system by checking out Lak’s two-channel system. I’ll probably add a most resent picture this weekend, which will show added room acoustic treatment.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Tom - I don't own any Madonna recordings and haven't heard "Vogue" on a good system, but I wouldn't be surprised if the production of a largely synthetic recording like this plays deliberate phase tricks to create a larger-than-life 'surround-stage' effect. What do you think?
twl
3,251 posts
 
Zaikesman, I'm sure that it was recorded in that way. But my point was that if the system isn't very phase coherent, then it wouldn't reproduce it so well. When phase-tricks cause the images to be behind you, I think that it won't work well if the system can't properly reproduce the phase-tricks accurately. That's where I was going with that comment. It is a very uncommon occurrence to have that on a record, so that is why I mentioned it and why I use it for reference. If the system isn't doing this, the phase coherence is not good. It's not that I love that song or anything, but it is a useful tool. The sound comes from all around the room. I've often wondered that if they can do this with 2 channel, why do they need surround systems? The two answers that I can come up with, are they want more money, or many systems can't capture this properly. Could be that both are true.
pmwoodward
94 posts
 
I was interested in the Lowther's and did some research. During my travels, I found this site:http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/lowther/menu.html
It may be of interest to those following this thread.

best wishes in your project Joe!

Paul
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
It's an interesting question Tom, and I'm not sure what the right answer is. Of course the Lowthers, as a crossover-less single-radiator point-source and usefully wideband design, must be phase-coherent or very nearly so. However, when it comes to the type of 'surround-stage' phase manipulation that produces these wild and frankly enjoyable (at least on certain programs) effects, I'm not so sure it's as simple as saying that the result of the effect depends on the phase accuracy of the speaker system. My hunch, based on expereinces with boomboxes and TV's having built-in 'surround' settings, is that that the speaker positioning and playback environment has a lot to do with exactly how the program will come across. I suspect the psycho-acoustic result, for things such sounds appearing to come from way outside the speaker boundaries or even another part of the room, is largely dictated by chance anomalies in the entire system's (including the room) response. My assumption is that TV's and boomboxes will display many phase and response variations that will help affect how the program is perceived in space, but that these variations do not destroy or degrade the 'surround' effect - indeed, it's often greater than I find through a mostly phase-correct system (and my Thiels are this - however, it's also hard to be sure about preceeding characterization, as lots of TV's and BB's *are* single-driver per channel deigns, albeit with irregular cabinet and baffle loading and one would think polar- and time-response). In other words, I'm not sold on the concept that one can really draw any conclusions about a speaker's phase purity based on auditioning material designed to deliberately distort phase relationships for the 'surround-stage' effect. I tend to think a better measure is the degree of natural-sounding image solidity, focus, and stability displayed when replaying phase-correct program material (...which I'm sure you'd be quick to add the Lowthers will do very well :-)
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