Lithos- Noah1-Auditioned

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roshan
Ist häufiger hier

#1 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 10:44

Guys,

10 days ago I picked up a pair of Noah1 (2sats+p. Sub)for 14 k. My first choice was the Pro10 but that wasn't in stock so I bought the Noah1 with a request to upgrade to Pro10 and also have the Studio 1 for a few days to get the feel of the full range. Rajive agreed, or, I thought he did!!!

I bought the NAD320BEE. Yamaha @@@450/550 was also in the rekoning but I am really a music guy and figured NAD would be better, plus so did many of the forum members. Currently it's coupled to a Pioneer DVD and a panasonic world space receiver. Monster junior inter-connect cables.

Why I bought Lithos in the first place is that I was fascinated by a product which I thought sounded as good as, or better, than many of the speakers, costing 2-3 times what these cost. Not having owned any seriously expensive stuff before, I was also not confident of my judgement, so I wanted to listen at leisure, at my place, before passing judgement.

My listening area is a 10'x12' room- very quiet. It's my home office and I spent most of my time in it- no visitors either!!!

First thing I noticed is that the sound is very detailed. Good tight Bass. I always thought that the bass would need pumping up, but within a few days I was mostly listening to it flat, with tone defeat engaged!!!

Rock sounded great, no bass boost required!!

Blues were a pleaseure to listen to. Tonality was perfect.

Mid range well spaced out and the high, not shrill. Best loudest, listening position 10-11 o'clock on the volume control indicator. My favourite position was near 8 o'clock.

With Western Classical, I realised that many of my CD recordings were BAD!!!! I am looking to buy some good stuff.

Indian classical- good separation and clarity.

Trance - no complaints, enough thump, and then some!!

Country- sweet!!

Overall, unbeatable as an entry level configuration- no competition anywhere close by!!

Last evening, a distant cousin from Toronto was here on the way to the Airport. He owned a of set Bose speakers once (His ex-wife took it with her

). He is musically more enlightened than I am. Plus he is an elecronics testing and QC professional. So I was keen for him to give an opinion.

He really liked it. At Canadian $ 400 he said he said it was a steal!!! He put the money on my desk, packed up the speakers and left!!!

Now I wait for the Studio1, a bookshelf, which is to be delivered tomorrow. Watch this space for my two paise worth opinions!!

End of part 1.

Roshan.

Manek
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 11:27

alright !

Good going roshan, good going Rajiv(lithos).

Its always a pleasure to read about local talent being preferred over the imports.

Manek.

hifinovice1
Stammgast

#3 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 12:12

Roshan,
Thanks for the detailed report on Lithos,will wait for your Studio 1 bookshelf,review.
Why can't Lithos make them available in all metros at least?

abhi.pani
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 13:21

yah that makes me anxious as well as curious as my hunt for speakers seems incomplete without looking at the Lithos

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#5 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 13:48

now you gotto tell the lithos guys.that you have helped their brand reach Toronto..so maybe more discounts or other benefits.yipeeeeeeee...

roshan
Ist häufiger hier

#6 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 13:57

Abhi, HiFi Novice1,

Rajive's is a one man show at present. I think that's the secret of the competitive pricing. Plus his focus is on the design, development and testing. The actual manufacturing is outsourced. Add cost of adspace in magazines and News papers + Add dealer margins and these would be priced 100% more.

Besides that, think what would happen if dealers had these speakers on the same shelf, competing with a product twice as expensive. Every customer would gravitate toward's these speakers, purely on the sound, and then how would a dealer explain the high pricing for the other set's. Even if they were 90% as good as the others, how does one explain one product costing "x", sounding as good as something costing 2x and 3x???

Either he has to find another delivery model or he has to raise prices 2-3 fold's to use existing delivery modes.

My suggestion to him was to have some dedicated customer in each metro maintain a small listening studio and ship direct against advance payments, by GATI or UPS etc.. Else he can have an internet based credit card payment mode and have a 30 day no questions asked refund policy!! How that would work in India I do not know. But I personally feel if you are seriously in the market to buy and you hear these speakers, you would buy them!

Again I must add that we are talking about a much broader base than audiophiles. Any body who spends 25-30 k on a compo system that will be unused in 2 years is better off buying an entry level speaker-Amp combo at that price. The exponential difference in sound quality cannot be ignored.

This is a marketing challenge. Any suggestions?

Roshan.

Manek
Inventar

#7 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 14:16

yep, rajiv should expand his base to other cities, maybe one city at a time. The problem he faces I think would be support and service of his products.....which has to be in place or use the courier guys to pick up the faulty stuff and pick up the tab as well.

Manek.

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#8 erstellt: 03. Mrz 2005, 14:42

30 day trial is not gonna work in India .yes it does for the yankees..I suggest that he should have a contact in major cities with his models displayed prominently for auditions..this would work.but it depends what margin the guy who agrees to sell it will have.yes this is business if rajiv makes money even I need to.....he is not doing the testing,research for charity....so controlling price is an important factor....he cannot really try n push his agents to sell his products.....he can try the dealer and showroom route.......and if he uses this route then costs will shoot up and nobody would buy his stuff as it would be expensive than his competition..so he has to have a controlled price on the net..yes of course with the margin of the agent he chooses to route his product...

[Beitrag von SUB_BOSS am 03. Mrz 2005, 14:46 bearbeitet]

vinodt
Ist häufiger hier

#9 erstellt: 04. Mrz 2005, 07:19

I must agree with the others that Lithos may do better with a wider marketing network. I was seriously thinking of buying one but I didnt want to take a chance to buy without hearing it, what to do if there are problems etc etc. I even talked to Rajiv and I have a very good opinion of him - he was most helpful and even offered to take back the speakers if I wasnt satisfied at a small price. Eventually I felt all this would be a hassle and I dont have much time and purchased something else from a local dealer.
I hear good mention of some other products like Norge, Pulz, etc and all of them too lack exposure in our major metros...

Manek
Inventar

#10 erstellt: 04. Mrz 2005, 07:29

yep,,

lithos, norge, pulz are predominantly western region based(bombay), I think.

Manek.

vinodt
Ist häufiger hier

#11 erstellt: 04. Mrz 2005, 08:00

Hi Manek,
Nice to hear from you. Yes I live in Hyderabad (not a city for music lovers!!) and all these are in Mumbai maybe explains my comments.
And nice to see you changed your bottom line about Cadence being BEST!!! Really would love to hear them.

Vinod

Manek
Inventar

#12 erstellt: 04. Mrz 2005, 08:21

Hi vinod,

Hyderabad will pick up in the future, music and audio are universal passions, they just need a small but the right stimulus to blossom....

I believe there is a dealer in hyderabad who does cadence.
Dont know the name off hand.

Manek.

roshan
Ist häufiger hier

#13 erstellt: 04. Mrz 2005, 10:13

Hey Sub-Boss,

I didn't mean to say dealers don't have their place in the food chain!!! I believe they play an important and irreplacable role.

My point was that in the internrt age there must be a way for a niche producer to connect to his niche consumer and allow both to exist.

Brands commanding the power that they do, will continue to rule. I am sure that a lot of people would prefer a Panasonic or Sony to decorate thier living rooms rather than put in a Pulz, Pandam or Norge.

For those, whom their ears and personal preferances are paramount, there must be a way to evaluate and buy such products.

Roshan.

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#14 erstellt: 04. Mrz 2005, 12:02

Hi Roshan,

gotto work out some possibilities to help these guys flourish......so much talent and hardwork goes without acknowledgement.........the best way for buyers to evaluate is more samples available for demo's,,,,and thats quite load on these guys who churn out small quantities...