Loudspeakers

We have finally found a pair of affordable, domestically proportioned, loudspeakers which we can recommend. They are the Living Voice Auditorium. At 94dB efficiency and only £1500 per pair, they look lovely, sound fabulous and work with sub 10 Watt valve power amps. What more could you want. Further information can be found towards the end of the catalogue.

For those of you interested in building your own loudspeakers we can supply the much discussed Audax PR 120il tweeter at £45 each, data sheet available on request, and the Lowther Voigt range of sensitive drive units.

These all use Alnico magnets and have sensitivities of between 96 and 98dB per Watt. They are all designed as short throw units for horn loading, and are best used as a single unit, no crossover, for wide bandwidth. When placed in a plywood cabinet to one of Lowthers designs they can be extremely good. Service exchange of old repairable drive units is also possible, and the range of cheaper Type "C" units with Feroba magnets are also available. Due to enormous current demand it must be pointed out that the PM7A can currently take up to 16 weeks to arrive from Lowther.

Lowther's DX range of drive units use the same cone and coil technology but use a new Rare Earth magnet system to produce very high levels of magnetic flux from very small magnets. The small Neodynium magnets give a smaller reflected wave than the larger C range magnets, while giving a higher flux density. Both these help to give a faster cleaner sweeter sound. The smaller magnet also reduces the change of movement within the gap of the voice coil. With many of the very large magnets the frame can become distorted due to the mass of the magnet forcing the basket of the speaker. Initially the DX2 is available as an alternative to the PM6 and PM7 A and C versions. There will shortly be a DX3 to replace the PM2A, PM2C and PM5 units. Later in the year there is due to be a DX4 as an alternative to the PM4.

The most recent range of drive units to be released by Lowther is the new EX series Each model in the 'EX' range incorporates an acoustic chamber tuned for "better" performance. Cone assemblies are pressure balanced between the acoustic chamber at the rear and a phasing equalizer fitted to the front. This is reported to greatly reduce unwanted oscillations of the speech coil. Only bass frequencies will pass through the acoustic chamber, so avoiding bass/mid-range confusion, often a cause of coloration.

The latest rare earth magnet technology is employed to enable improved control of the diaphragm throughout the entire audible range. The 'EX' series Drive Units are probably the best full range drive units Lowther have ever produced. They are designed to fit into every Lowther cabinet design, both past and present, without any modification being necessary.

For more information on Lowther loudspeakers, and links to many worldwide sites, why not take a trip to Lowther For Life for the official Lowther UK web site.

For those of you without the necessary wood working skills to build the large complex cabinets for the lowther speakers we can offer a full cabinet building service. These are built by a local furniture company who have experience not only of building high quality bespoke furniture, but also complex loudspeaker enclosures. Quality and finish are excellent, and prices can be quoted for any cabinet design you desire in either Birch Ply, or if you must save money MDF. They have recently finished a pair of the corner horns detailed in Electronics World designed by Ketil Parow of the Lowther Club of Norway. These are an excellent design, with low radius curves, low coloration and an excellent sound. They are probably about the best Lowther sound I have heard to date. We now have a couple of lovely photos which illustrate the quality of these speakers. Big Fun photo 1(100K) | Big Fun photo 2 (125K)
Other items they have built for us include Edgar style midrange horns, some record shelves and a bedroom cupboard!

The set of plans for Lowther horn cabinets now includes more information about the drive units. We are frequently asked for the Thiele-Small parameters, these are unavailable, and of little meaning. These drive units pre-date T/S parameters and do not fit within the scope of their articles. Lowther drive units have small cones, very small maximum displacements and massive magnet assemblies. The enclosed air within a box is not the controlling function with these units, the magnet is. Lowther drive units are primarily for horn of open baffle loading, a load of maths for vented boxes is not going to help you. Build a horn cabinet, even design your own, and the Lowthers will blow you away.