I bought the first norh 7.0 from Thailand around the year 1998-1999 so I have had the first models in more than 13 years in total, we have purchased 6sæt = 12pcs. ! All Norh 7.0
They are all real wood and I have crossover with both Audiocap 1% polypropylene metal-film capacitors and crossovers with MultiCap capacitors.
All cables are high quality silver wire from Germany,
- Scan-Speak 18W/8545 7 "carbon fiber woofer and Scan-Speak D2905/9300 1" silk dome tweeter.
D2905/9300 tweeter together with silver wires and transistor amplifier with a warm and natural sound. I have also Scan-Speak D2905/9700 tweeters but be careful because they may well be too revealing .. ½ portion of all album recordings are not good ..

A very musical speakers that fit in your sleeping room, the little room under 30m2 otherwise a subwoofer to give the final bottom.
Norh 7.0 can play very loud and still sound good ..
I give 5 stars for this product ..

Quality of parts, very musical, looks, scanspeak drivers, customer service.

Long time to break in

Yep, I sold my maggie 1.6s for the nOrh 7.0. I loved my maggies but both my wife and I like the look and sound of the norhs MUCH better. Thanks to Neil Walker and Tyson for all their advice on these speakers.

First off, the quality of these speakers and how there made is quite impressive and first rate. The speaker is made from a rain tree trunk and patterned after a thai long drum. It is one piece solid harwood at least 1" thick with no glue or sound deadening material (not needed, no edges, no resonence) The shape is an inverted horn. Each cabinet is hand made and hand finshed. High quality parts are used from silver internal wire to multicap capacitors. Scanspeak drivers are used, which are among the finest in the world (Sonus faber, proac, and nova use them.)

Note, the scanspeak 7" woofer needs about 200 hours to break in. I have about 30 hours and they sound fantastic already. I can imagine what they will sound like after 200+ hours. I went with the 9500 tweeter based on Tyson's recommendation over the 9300 which is a teriffic tweeter also (I bought the kit and acquired the drivers in the U.S.) The speaker is very musical with great seperation of sound. Having had a very revealing speaker in the maggie 1.6, I was worried about the norh's sound. I was not disapointed, infact the sound is not as congested (maggie is a dipole speaker)and clear. In my room, my wife and I prefer the sound of the norh by a large margin and I dont have to worry about positioning, small sweet spot and gobs of high end power. The norhs play very loud and clear.

Customer service is first rate, all e mails were answered fast no matter how dumb the question was. Michael Barnes has created a world class speaker at an incredibly low cost ($1400 with drivers, $625 kit, source your scanspeak drivers.) I think these speakers represent one of the finest values in all of audio and have become my best audio purchase. Im glad I took the leap of faith and tried these unheard, trusting the reviews and talking with audiophiles around the world. Check them out at norh.com. They have one of the best, informitive websites. You will need to spend some time, there is a lot of info! I finally found a speaker that is high quality, high end sound that I can afford. It is a relief I dont have to upgrade again.

I will post a more comprehensive review once the drivers fully break in. Check them out, you wont be disapointed. If I could give 10 stars I would.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan mmg, Magnepan 1.6, Sound Dynamics RTS P100

Very accurate, detailed loudspeaker. Great imaging & soundstage. BEAUTIFUL craftmanship on cabinet.

Binding posts too close together, and method of grill attachment needs improvement.(wow...that's about all I can think of!)

I, like many others I'm sure, was skeptical about ordering in the first place. I am big on auditioning before purchase. However, I was familiar with alot of the components used in production, and recognized them to be of very high quality. I am sure there are those who will disagree, but I believe if one uses great, matched drivers, with an appropriate crossover, in a carefully, and specifically designed enclosure, you are going to end up with a pretty nice sounding loudspeaker. I think the Marble 7.0 has covered these bases VERY well....

Highs are very detailed and clear, yet never harsh, even at high volumes. I could not even detect a TRACE of sibilance. Midrange is full and accurately reproduced. Bass is VERY tight, and rolls off quite gracefully. Depending on your music tastes, you MAY want to combine them with a sub though, and obviously for HT use. These of course, are not HUGE floorstanding loudspeakers, and can not be expected to reproduce the ENTIRE spectrum on their own, especially for HT. I believe that the 7.0 does everything a "bookshelf" should, and does it WELL....

Build quality is top-notch, aside from a few minor gripes. The grills themselves are built well and look nice, but I believe they would benefit from an additional set of pins(one on top & one on bottom) for attachment to the speaker. The pins themselves leave little to be desired IMHO, and it would be nice to see a little "sturdier" ones used. All five grills I recieved needed to be bent slighly, in order for them to attach evenly and properly to the baffle. I assume this minor "warping" happens somewhere in the manufacturing process, and really can't be helped, but it would be nice if they were individually "adjusted" before being shipped out. This, as I said, is a MINOR complaint and is easily rectified in a few minutes time. Heck, you may not even have to adjust your grills at all. This, and the fact that the binding posts are a tad bit close together for my tastes, makes up my entire list of complaints. Not bad....

In my experience, these speakers are very dependant on break-in, especially in the bass region. I don't want to get ANY emails asking if I performed some kind of government funded, double blind, pulse-modulated, board certified A/B test, in a controlled, well decorated listening chamber, with scotch guarded carpeting, and reverse-gravity ceiling fans. I TRUST MY EARS...and that being said, I know, and will admit if something improves over time, either gradually or imediately. BELIEVE ME, if these speakers sounded the same now as they did when I plugged 'em in outta the box, I would have packed them up, and got my $4500 back. And you may have to trust me on this, but my 7.0 changed so drastically in the time I've had them, I believe it would be no small feat for a skeptic to deny the impact of break-in, AT LEAST on THIS particular loudspeaker....

I am using five Black Marble 7.0 in my HT, along with a single Velodyne HGS-18 sub. The results to my ears are UNBELIEVABLE. I could not be happier about my purchase. Now that the production delay on these speakers seems to be coming to an end, I feel I can recommend them with confidence. Oh...and yeah, I suppose the looks of the nOrh speakers may not be for everyone, but then again...what is?? I happen to think they are very exotic, and beautiful, ESPECIALLY in person. I imagine some of those who "bash" them without having seen them up close, might also look at a Picasso, and wonder, "why would anyone in their right mind want such a funny looking thing?" ;-)

Made from Marble, musicality, dynamics, Looks (best looking speakers I have ever seen)

Time to get them

Well I upgraded my wood cabinets to the new marble 7.0. These happen to be the best looking speakers I have ever seen. Black marble with white veins, very heavy, dead (no resonence) cabinet. Leather covered baffle, and a grill cover made of large silk strings that does not change the sonic signature. Big stainless steel feet provide a stable base. Scanspeak revelator 9700 tweeters with the 8545 7" mid base. These speakers are a work of art that you will be proud to own.

Now the sound: First off the marble cabinets are superior to the wood. Where as the wood was very laid back, almost to dry, the marble is very dynamic and pushes the huge soundstage forward. I admit I bought the marble upgrade soley on looks. Mr. Barnes stated that the marble sound was "30%" better than the wood. I don't know how he came up with those parameters, but I agree with him. I like the sound of marbles much more, if I had to put a percentage like Barnes, I would say 50% in my setup. These speakers are very musical and get you involved. Detail is very good as well as the seperation of instruments. Some find the 9700 revelator bright, I don't. I find it more refined and a bit smoother than the 9500 that were in my wood cabinets. Play Steely Dan's "2 against nature" track 3 and listen to the cymbals and the seperation of sound. I heard detail and the "metal sound" of the cymbal I never heard before. Not just some clank clank, but true, you are there sound.

I think these are the best speakers I have ever heard and seen. As good as the wood 7.0 are, these take it up another few notches. At $2K a pair they are a serious steal and probably are the best value in audio. As good as these are, I can imagine what the 9.0 sound like. In fact I am thinking about upgrading to the 9.0!!! TNT-audio just reviewed the 9.0 calling them the best 2 way speaker they ever heard. Take the leap of faith and try these speakers, they are that good. You wont be sorry.

My Simple System:
Speakers: nOrh Marble 7.0
Receivers: Outlaw 1050 and Sony 777ES
DVD: Toshiba 3109
Spaker Cable: Analysis Plus 14ga theater
Digital Cable: DH Lab

Similar Products Used:

nOrh wood 7.0, Maggie 1.6, mmg, countless others

These are unique and great loudspeakers. They are look like drum made of solid wood. All hand carved by skilled Thailanders and engineered by an American, Mr. Barnes. No cheap material is used. All wriring are done with silver wire. Sound? "Alive." Under 8k usd speakers, you do not need to go any further. The company offer five different models including subwoofers. The previous reviewer said that NORH 7.0 cost around 1k, but that was for DIY kit sold during a promotion period. Now all models are sold in fully finished. The prices are still very low when you compare them to other similar speakers. Visit . (I have no relationship with the NORH speaker Corperation except I bought a pair of NORH 7.0) The web site is a great source to learn the system of speaker and some audio related issues, such as tu be or not tu be etc. Fantastic speakers and web site!

Nice crisp treble. Wooly midrange (very warm)

construction is not so up to par with other speakers in this price range. Mine cracked after 3 months (hairline). BAD SERVICE.

I have to say when I received these, they looked different and average at the same time. Wife hated the looks, but it was for the bedroom so it was okay. Don't know if it was the room but these speakers have a subpar soundstage. Also, I believe the large round baffle and lack of beveled edges can decrease imaging. Bass was okay, but what'd I expect for a bookshelf speaker.

My biggest disappointment was that the finish cracked after only 3 months of use. I wish I could get a hold of the same people who got such "unbeatable service" and voice my opinion. Otherwise, my emails took forever for them to respond. Plus, they wouldn't replace them! They wanted to charge 300 dollars to change out something that was their fault!

Anyhow, these are for sale now if you're interested. Maybe you'll have better luck in your setup.

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber Concerto series : Dunlavy SC III : Minipods

xxx

xxx

Mel,Pang,
Let me give you a lesson about trolling :
First, when you decide to troll a product, especially a very good one, you shouldn't make 2 bad reviews at the same
day. that will be too obvious,
Second, you should give your reviews different appearance, they need to look like they were really made by two DIFFERENT people, not by the same ass-hole.
GET YOURSELF A F-U-C-K-I-N-G LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

xxx

loud n proud. They sound great & look fantastic

not so wonderful at low volumes

I bought these used wood 7.0's from Tyson who reviewed them way down on this list. After all the reviews there isn't much more I can say about these speakers. I really like them. I'm not very technical so I might not be able to describe this little problem but at low volumes I can hear the tweeter a little more than the woofer. The frequencies aren't very flat. Really this is only at a volume lower than I would normally listen to music though. When the phone rings or something & I turn the volume down low I think they sound a little raspy. This could be my room or maybe marantz amps, or cambridge audio cd players or even kimber kables aren't the best match with these speakers. I've only had them a few days so far so I haven't messed with them much. They did sound a little better at Tysons place but his other equipment is all completely different than any of the stuff I use. I don't have stands for them yet. When I 1st set em up I used kitchen chairs as stands & thought the sound lacked a little in the midrange then I upped em around 8 inches & set em on 24 inch bar stools, then they sounded much better. I'm still looking for some good stands for them. Once you get the volume up to a good listening level the tweeter & woofer blend together perfectly & that's not a problem at all anymore. They can take a lot of volume without distortion. Even at high volumes the woofer hardly moves for how much great sounding bass these things put out. I'm really happy with them. They sound great all through my place & not just in the sweet spot. I've played them non stop the last couple of days & put all types of music through them. One thing that I really liked is that they can rock. I played 2 black sabbath cd's all the way through for the 1st time in a few years (since I had large advents). I've had mmg's the last couple years & couldn't listen to much heavy rock guitar though them. Even though I criticized the tweeters at low volumes I hafta say they are pretty amazing when played at a normal to high volume (mine have the 9500 instead of the normal 9300 scanspeak). Cymbals & little chimes sound just like they are supposed to & when Johnny Cash or Tom Petty strum an open chord on an acoustic guitar you can really hear every string clearly. I was afraid I might be losing some of the detail I was getting from the magnepans but I'm not missing them. Fiona Apple's Tidal cd was one of my favorites with the mmg's so I had to give it a close listen & I wasn't disapointed. Her piano sounded huge & clear & all the delicate little things like her breathing sounded sexy as ever. They sound different than what I'm used to but I'm loving them more & more as I get to know them. They aren't as transparent as the mmg's but they sure don't sound like boxes either. They are very lively & easy to listen to anywhere in the room. The one slight problem I had with the mmg's is that sometimes I would hear some reflections off my fireplace on that side of my room. I don't seem to have that problem any more. I'm rattlin on & I'm mostly just tired from staying up all night listening to them. I must have played well over 100 different songs all day yesterday & into early this morning. I was having to much fun & just couldn't stop until I actually passed out. One more thing to sum this up. When your girlfriend says those speakers sound great then you know she's a keeper & so are the speakers.

bass hits you harder, detail, soundstage

bad recordings (& there are soooo many) are worse...

I got the wood 7.0's used from Tyson a while back & they had some tiny hair thin cracks in them. The cracks ended up getting pretty bad so I got some marble cabs to replace them. It was easy to switch em over & quite an improvement. Just like Tyson himself said before there is more detail. One of the 1st things I did was play a few old heavy metal cd's through them. I find it so much easier to find things I don't like over things I do like. I knew I didn't like the sound of monster magnets guitar's much in the 1st place (I'd just recently listened to it thru the woods) & I wanted to see if I heard anything differently. I instantly thought it sounded worse than ever...same with the guitar on an old Cult disc. Just like that little warning on cd's that I didn't understand years ago when cd's 1st came out states. "Compact disc's may reveal limitations of original recording" or something like that. Now I hear it more than ever & it also helps I've spent some time in the studio myself recording guitars. You can hear so much detail with these speakers that the bad stuff is worse than ever. If the tape was overly saturated you can hear the tapes distortion.
On the other hand...Diana Krall, fiona Apple, Aimee Mann & all my "clean" cd's sound more lifelike & natural than ever.
That's the curse of high end stuff...but this double edge sword is totally worth it to me. Lot's of very heavy music still sounds great...it's just the poorly recorded stuff you have to look out for. I'll stick with more punk & metal in the car. I am constantly amazed at how much I love these speakers...& I loved the wood previously.

tight, firm bass
imaging

Dry and analytical sound,
took forever for me to get them (~2 months)

Overall I think I'm starting to like this speaker. The overall spatial rendition and soundstaging are superb and the bass it tuneful and tight. I meant to buy these to replace my totem mani2's as my main speakers but the totems are just so much more musical, involving, and holographic. They are more expensive however. I think that if I had to do all over again, I'd see if I could get an audition first..Hard to do because they're factory direct
Placement is very easy as the sound hardly changed when i moved them around on my atacama's. my setup has nordost wiring all around, atacama stands, audio research tube preamp&. the treble is superb! best way to describe is that it has a forward presentation that makes triangles and high pitch sax notes very sharp and clear. I'd compare the treble to higher end B&W's ie-801 matrix. I don't know why some others feel the need to bash an above average product. the service was excellent, however it took over 2 months to receive. that's probably my only caveat. Ultimately they are good sounding, but value wise you may want to check out some low end Magnepans and Hales Revelation series before taking the plunge and buying these. You can email me if you want more information

SETUP;
Audio Research Tube PReamp and amp
NORDOST WIRING THROUGHOUT
Rotel CD PLAYER
Chang Lightspeed
room dimensions 16X12
various acoustic damping material

Similar Products Used:

KEF models
B&W Matrix 801
Magnepan MMg's - awesome little speaker
Hales revelation series