nOrh owners please read! I have questions!! (1 Viewer)

[Adam_Reiter]

I have a question for all of the nOhr owners! BTW, kewl looking setup Greg! Nice stands. Did you paint them? Are the 6.9 nOrh's as big as the 9.0's?
Anyway, tt looks like the reviews on the nOhr 9.0's are BIG! I am impressed that everyone says the nOhr uses the finest drivers availible! That is a BIG statement. Specially if they are the same drivers that are used in $15,000 speakers. Greg,(and all nOhr owners that use nOhr for HT) how does the HT perform? The 6.9's look alot bigger that the 4.0's. How does the 4.0 perform as far as a center channel? any distortion. I would assume that at 130W/Channel the Onkyo DS989 would drive the nOhr's sufficiently?
Here is what I like about the nOrh's. First, the shape is growing on me. The more I look at them, the more a kinda like them. I like that they are made in marble. Hard, steady, and rock solid. I like that people are saying that they take their marble 9.0's into high end audio shops and the sales people cant put anything to compare to it until they hit 5-7 times the price! Those are BIG words! I like the thought of buying a pair of Marble 9.0's as a main set of speakers for only $3000 shipped, and having people say that these are the finest loudspeakers they have ever listened to! Those are HUGE words as well. I certainly dont see anyone saying that about Klipsch speakers!! I would feel VERY good about buying speakers that many people have thought were the finest they had heard. And for only $3k to boot? Can that many people be wrong? And, if so much more clarity comes into classical and jazz, maybe I will have to start listening more to those types of music out of sheer amazment of the sound!?
One possibility I am thinking about is dropping the Onkyo DVD player, since I allready have the DV-444. Then take the extra money and get a set of nOrh 9.0's with two nOrh 4.0 marble shielded speakers for front and rear center channels, and then a set of regular nOrh 4.0 marbles for the surround. Would nOrh owners recommend this setup? Or, would you go with nOrh 9.0 mains and Prism centers and surrounds?
I am interested to hear all of your opinions. I also did send an email to nOhr requesting if they could give me contact info for San Diego owners. Particularly ones that have purchased 9.0's and marble 4.0's.
------------------
Adam Reiter
Network Engineer
San Diego, CA

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

My first double post.
[Edited last by Ryan Schnacke on October 15, 2001 at 08:38 AM]

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

Adam,
If you think nOrh has a good following here at HTF, you should check the discussion forums over at www.harmonicdiscord.com
They've got an area dedicated to nOrh products. Tons of owners participate in the discussion and even the creator and owner of nOrh, Michael Barnes, stops in on a regular basis.
The 4.0 does a wonderful job as a center channel IMO. Be aware that while the 9.0 does indeed have a lot of low bass extension, it is a 5 inch driver. And there are limits to how much volume it can produce at those low frequencies. You'll still want a subwoofer for the LFE channel. And you might even consider setting the 9.0s small for movies and then running them full-range for music. This is easy to do with Onkyo receivers - just switch to "Direct" mode for music listening. The receiver will disable the bass management and send the full range signal to the mains.

 

[Adam_Reiter]

After some further research. It seems to me the best way to go would be to Purchase the nOrh 9.0's as mains $3,000. And then complete the system with the nOrh Prism series. 2 Prism 4.1's for the Front and Read centers $275/ea, and then get the Prism 5.2's for the surrounds $500. This setup would seem to be a definate "can't go wrong" setup. Then, with the SVS sub for bass, shit, looking good to me. I will have to ponder this setup. I like the fact of being able to count on a flat rate price, instead of having to haggle with ebay'ers and shipping rates. It would be a flat $4,050 shipped! That is nice as well. Also, I really like the owner of nOrh. I like his attitude and his outlook/view. He also seems like a real "stand-up" guy. I have read some pretty cool things he has done for his customers. I think this guy would be totally deserving of my money!!
------------------
Adam Reiter
Network Engineer
San Diego, CA

 

[Tyson]

Just a few observations. First, the 9.0 is an excellent speaker, and if kept within its limits it is one of the best 2 way speakers I have ever heard. Its main weakness is that the 5.5 inch woofer can produce so much bass & the speaker is tuned very low (30hz). So, if you run it full range, you will be limited to around 100db on bass heavy music. However, if you are going to run a sub with it & high pass it at 80hz, the 9.0 will play VERY loud, and very clean. Tonally, it is very similar to a Dunlavy speaker, or one of the upper end Dynaudio speakers. But the 9.0 resolves a lot more detail than they do, even the Dunlavy's don't have as much detail, IMO.
Mating with the SVS is an excellent idea, they match very well indeed. However, if at all possible, go with the inert drum speakers for the surrounds, and especially the center. The marble or ceramic 4.0's match up quite well with both the 9.0's and 7.0's for HT. The marble 4.0 would match better visually with the marble 9.0's for the front, but you might want to look at the ceramic 4.0's for surrounds since the ceramics are much lighter than the marble speakers, which makes them easier to mount, like on a wall shelf. The prisms don't match up as well with the 9.0's or 7.0's. Plus the marble 4.0 is simply flat out a better center speaker than the prism 4.1. Clearer, with more detail.
Make sure to email Michael before you place your order - sometimes he will give a lower price if many speakers are ordered at one time, sort of a bulk rate discount. It doesn't happen all the time, and it is at his discretion, but it is worth asking about. Since nOrh has very little profit margin (I am told) they don't have much to work with, but hey, any little bit helps, right? Can't hurt to ask. But even at full price these speakers are a complete steal, IMO.

 

[Due N]

Hi Adam, I think Tyson gave you pretty good advice. The only concern I would have for rear speakers is how much room do you have for rear placement? Will the rear speakers be on stands or wall mounted? If the answer is that the you have room for rear placement, I'd go with the ceramic/marble 4.0 as Tyson suggested. If not, I'd look into the prism 4.1 for easier rear wall mounting. Btw, the 9.0 is an amazing speaker. Plus the marble adds so much to the "cool" factor. Look around your neighborhood and see if anyone has marble speakers.

 

[Greg S]

Adam,
CYM as I tried offer my humble words of wisdom.
Greg

 

[Adam_Reiter]

Well, honestly, I think nOrh has me sold. Plus, my wife really likes them. She also thinks it is really cool that they are marble. What I am thinking is to get marble all the way around. See, I wont be able to very acurately setup my surrounds and rear channel very well in the house that we are in. As it stands, the couch is allready against the wall. I might be able to somehow rearrange somehow, but I doubt it. The house we are renting sucks! $1500/month for like 1200sqft. It is horrible. But that is not going to stop me from buying the ideal setup I want whilst I have the money to do it! I might not get a second chance! As it stands, I have allready bumped up the initial "Honey, I just need $6,000 to build the home theatre!" to "Honey, I just need $9,000 to build the home theatre!"
Okay, one more time, as it stands, here is my ideal plan of how to spend the money.
Onkyo TX-DS989 ($2100) or Denon AVR-5800 ($2400)still cant decide!! Oh well, I've got a couple of months.
nOrh marble 9.0 pair for Front Left/Right mains. ($3000)
2 nOrh marble 4.0 sheilded. One for front center, one for rear center ($750/two)
nOrh marble 4.0 Rear left/right surrounds ($700)
2 SVS Ultra Subwoofers with 1000w Samson amp ($2500)
Now, if I go with the Denon, that is $9350 (CHRIST!!!)
If I go with the Onyko, that is $9,050 (CHRIST!!!)
That is alot of money. Does anyone have an opinion as to the recievers? The Denon is 170w/channel, the Onkyo is 130w/channel. I assume since they say you only need a quality 100W/channel amp that either of these recievers would do just fine?
There is a possibility I might have to cut the SVS down to one sub, but, especially since I would have the 9.0, I think it would be nice to put each sub either behind or close by each of the 9.0's! Any opinons on this as well?
------------------
Adam Reiter
Network Engineer
San Diego, CA

 

[BrianKM]

Adam,
I'm all for spending a little extra money to get the toys you really want, but in this case, I honestly think you should scale back your purchases initially and upgrade later if you feel it is warranted. If you were to start with:
Onkyo 696 ($600) or Denon equivalent
Norh 4.0 Ceramic Video System($850)
SVS 20-39PC ($675)
I think you would be amazed at the quality of sound your system would be producing for a total of $2125. If you were inclined, you could later add 3 Le Amps for your front soundstage and a pair of 9.0s for ~$4000, and be within spitting distance of your original estimate. I'm thinking two SVS Ultras is gonna be overkill for a living room in a 1200 ft^2 house. It's your money though ...
If it was my money, I would get the above system, throw in a Toshiba widescreen and a nice prog scan DVD player, arrange for an ISF calibration, and call it a day.
Brian
----------
Onkyo 595, Norh 4.0 Ceramics, SVS 20-39PC

 

[Adam_Reiter]

Thing is, it is all or nothing! I wont have another chance to blow thousands of dollars on HT. We are gonna get the biggest tax return of our lives. We are estimating $16,000 or so. If only I didnt owe my grandmother $4,200 for Cisco Equipment and $1200 to my mom, this $9200 would be no biggie, but I am definately pushing it. So, this is my ONE opportunity!
Yes, I agree that 2 SVS' will be overkill for this house. THIS house. We hate this house! We are going to move to Oregon as soon as next year possibly. But when we move, I will not have the opportunity laster to add another subwoofer for a grand. It just wont happen.
Starting JAN, we are gonna save $2000/month for down payment on a house! We should actually put the $16k in the bank for the house but, I'm allready set on a HT. I am comming off getting Beth a certified diamond ring valued at $11k last year. So see, that is fresh in her mind, and probably the only reason she is letting me spend this ridiculous amount of money! I basically had alot of stuff I was planning to get for myself last year, but when I had the opportunity to grab such a beautiful ring, I spent it all on her instead. So, I think this is me cashing in my Brownie Points!! It is possible that this system might have to last me 4 to 5 years. It has been 6 long years since I last bought HT equipment.
27' JVC tv. Pioneer reciever, Pioneer 6-disk cd changer, pioneer double cassett deck, JVC vcr. Pinnacle 5 speaker center channel, Pinnacle book shelf speakers for suround, and Cerwin Vega 12 inchers. All this for 3 grand! SIX LONG YEARS AGO. I have suffered LONG enough! I recognize this opportunity to be my last to make such a signifigant purchase. Beth is almost backing out as it is. I have to stike quick.... and furious!! hehe
------------------
Adam Reiter
Network Engineer
San Diego, CA

 

[John Gates]

Hi Adam,
The Prism 4.1 works extremely well, IMO, as a rear center channel (that's what I have in my setup), but as a front center, you really should consider a drum speaker. Better detail, higher volume, and it matches both visually and sonically better with drum mains. I like the Prism 4.1 for rear center because it's easy to wall-mount, and if your couch is up against a wall a drum for rear center won't work because of rear porting.
The 9.0's are a world-class speaker, to be sure, but they won't play as loud as the Klipsch's you have heard before. The 7.0 (real marble) and the 6.9 (synthetic marble) play louder, though the 9.0 is more "refined" and carries a little more detail. Still, I own the 6.9's, and Michael Barnes has said the 6.9 synthetic marble drums are 90% of the 9.0's at 1/3 the price.
BTW, my wife feels the same about the design, philosophy, and marble cabinets of nOrh as your wife is beginning to feel... she'd kill me if I ever sold mine. For her, they are "art" as well as speakers. They are conversation pieces that visitors notice, and the story of nOrh and how the speakers are built is very fun to tell. Totally adds to the fun of owning them.
If you want a 6.1 setup, here are a couple of alternatives that would sound great, IMO:
Marble 7.0 pair for mains ($2000)
Marble 4.0 center ($375)
Marble 4.0 pair for rears ($700)
Prism 4.1 rear center ($275)
Total: $3350
Another option:
3 SM 6.9 drums (front 3, will only work with RPTV since the 6.9's are not shielded: $1500)
2 Ceramic 4.0's for rears ($400, $700 for marble)
Prism 4.1 rear center ($275)
Total: $2175
If you have room for a drum speaker as rear center, this would be a KILLER setup:
6 SM 6.9's ($3000)
Total $3000
I'm concerned that the 9.0's might not play loud enough for your taste, but see Tyson's message above.
As for the woofers, given the size of your home, a pair of Ultras would be absolute overkill. The bass would overwhelm everything, even calibrated to the lowest possible place. I understand your desire to get it now while you can, but you might just want to get the Sampson amp and one of the Ultras now. That leaves you with an extra channel of amplification available for a second Ultra if one is needed down the road.
Once you decide what speakers to order, the truly hard decision comes: What colors? If I were ordering the real marble, I'd look long and hard at WHITE. The black is also totally classy, IMO, but there is something that's just too keen about white.... As for Synthetic Marble, there are many colors available (including blue, green, black, even red).
One other thing I'll warn you about: ONce you pick up some truly fine speakers, your love for music will just blossom. That will, in turn, drive you on a quest to improve the sound. Poor recordings will start to irritate you. Down the road, you might want to get a dedicated pre-amp just for music. You might want to upgrade the amps. Cables. It goes on and on.... It's a fun journey though, and I think you'll enjoy it (particularly if you have some disposable income).
AS for your choices of HT receiver, I like them both and have heard both. The sound of the Denon is a bit warmer than the Onkyo, so I think the Dennon sounds a bit better with nOrhs for MUSIC. For HT, I prefer the Onkyo. I own an Onkyo 787, and I'm happy with that. However, for 2-channel music, the 6.9's exposed the fact that the amp section of the Onkyo is not designed for quality 2-channel. I ended up with a pair of nOrh le amps ($500) to offset this issue. I'm very satisfied now.
Have you found anyone yet who can give you a demo?
Sounds like you are having fun doing your research.
John
PS. Check the FOR SALE section of http://www.harmonicdiscord.com as there is a member there who is selling a pair of black marble 9.0's for $2000. You should contact him directly if you're interested.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Boy I sure am glad my speakers don't have to look like "Art"
rather they just have to sound astounding
Every time I look at the nOhr's and the B&W Nauts I think to
myself, I can respect the quality and the workmanship but
the whole art deco/Jetsons thing was over in the late 50's.
Adam good luck with whatever you purchase I hope it meets
your imediate and future plans.
------------------

 

[Tyson]

Adam,
I have a friend locally that is setting up a 7.2 system with 9.0's all around. If you want to hold off a week or so on your purchase, I can report back how the 9.0's do at getting to reference level SPL's. I know the 9.0's crossed at 80hz to a sub will play a lot louder, but I am not exactly sure what the ultimate limit on volume would be. I can get them to 100db run full range with no sub, and with bass heavy music. Reference is 105db, so they should not have a problem getting there once you filter the bass they are trying to re-produce.
BTW, the Scan-Speak mid-woofer used in the 9.0 is in fact used in the Krell LAT-1, but the LAT-1 uses a Vifa tweeter, which is not as good as the Scan-Speak tweeter used in the 9.0 (the Vifa tweeter is actually used in the nOrh 6.9). Oh yeah, the LAT-1 is $38,000/pair not $15,00/pair like someone posted in the other thread. . .

 

[John Gates]

Tyson,
Thanks for the correction on the LAT-1. I had that $15,000 figure in my mind from somewhere....
So the SM 6.9 has the tweeter of the LAT-1, and the 9.0 uses the same woof.

Finding these high-end parts in a relatively inexpensive speaker is interesting, IMO.
Brett: LOL

I understand where you're coming from, bud. The "art" thing is not really a requirement, but rather a nice side benefit. I've always been a form follows function kinda guy, and I'm just glad the form also happens to be nice to look at. Never really made the Jetsons connection before... I always thought they were very, well, "War of the Worlds" - ish.
John

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Scan-Speak Revelator 5.25" Mid/Woofer at Parts Express
$174.00 each.. Geesh now I see why the guys over in the
DIY forum build thier own speakers.. They would have less
than a grand tied up if they went with only the "best"
components and they could finish them however they so
chose. Where's the money at in these speakers? (any brand)

My AR9's use the HiVi 5.25" Mag-Alloy mids and I am unsure
who manufactures the 1" Titanium Tweeter but I do know the
tweeter costs $76.00 each from AR and the AR9's list for a
grand.. Boy these companies are makin money I should
start a speaker buisness!
It's neat to be able to research the drivers used in a set
of speakers to see what they actualy cost.. And you know
that there isn't $30,000.00 worth of "finish" materials in
the LAT-1's
------------------
Brett DiMichele
Certified Audio Nut
My Home Theater Site!
[email protected]

 

[Adam_Reiter]

Okay, I have rethought my purchase... AGAIN! For like the 4th time now. I have about $9200 to work with. I am so godamn impressed with nOrh, and Michael Barnes, his attitude, his commitment to quality. I have only known about nOrh for a week! I have read every single piece of info I can get my hands on. His articles have really opened my eyes to hifi manufacturing and I can't believe how we can spend so money on sub-grade electronics. But because there is a "brand name" and an "avertising slogan" we buy into it. Or, I least I always have.
My original idea was to have an (after being converted from possibly buying Klipsch RF-7 line to nOrh)
Onkyo ds989 $2100
nOrh 9.0 $3000
nOrh 4.0 marble 5 pack $1600
two svs subs with samson amp $2500
However, after all of my reasearch. I am really giving thought to:
Onkyo DS898 110w/channel x7($1100 -ebay)
or
Onkyo DS787 100w/channel x7($700-$800-ebay)
This way I get my 7 Channel, and Dolby Pro 2, and DTS, and THX EX processing.
Then, nOrh Marble 9.0's ($3000)
nOrh Marble 4.0 5 pack ($1600)
4 LeAmp's for the 9.0's to biamp them($1000)
nOrh Audio Control Amplifier (ACA) ($900)
nOrh CD-1 ($800)
1 SVS Ultra with Samson AMP ($1400)
Now, I can hook up HT, but preout the L/R mains to the ACA(for the 9.0's) when running HT right? And then just let the Onkyo power all of the 4.0's? Would this work?
That way, (for my budget) I can get the finest quality two channel stereo, AND some ass-romping HT!! Would this setup work? I sure the hell hope it would.
Maybe since I would order all this nOrh stuff at the same time, Mr. Barns could give me a package deal? *wink *wink My email address is SlaggBot@hotmail. if you are reading Mr. Barnes.
Actually, I would expect any further discount that this gear seems to be already.
Please give me your thoughts on these please.

 

[Peter Johnson]

Just a quick comment.
I own the 7.0's, and I am using the 9500 tweeter, which is less revealing than the 9900 in the 9.0's.
Be VERY careful running the 9.0's on a reciever. I have a Denon AVC-A1D, which is apparently sonically superior the 5800 (its basically the 5700, but it has no tuner).
It is only *just* good enough, and a decent 2 channel int. kills it in music. My cyrus 3 is a better match.
Just be careful you aren't buying speakers that are too good for you electronics.