[DavidS]

any Lowther USA Alerion owners out there - looking at single driver speakers for my small 11x12 room with very affordable but sweet sounding Vista Audio tube amp.  Is it worth going Lowther vs Fostex or other smaller single driver speakers?  What is your experience. 

[rajacat]

Not Lowther or Fostex but
I suspect that these Omegas would be great for your small room. http://www.omegaloudspeakers.com/super5.html

The Hemp Cube would round out the package .http://www.omegaloudspeakers.com/deephempcube.html

-Roy

[JLM]

Don't know your budget, musical genres you enjoy, or listening priorities.  And don't know what you mean by "smaller single driver speakers".  Do you mean smaller drivers or smaller cabinets?

In a room that small, you'll be listening nearfield if you and the speakers are properly set up (not too close to any walls).  In that case the coherency of single driver speakers is a huge advantage in my book.

Any in a room that small developing its full deep bass potential won't be very hard, so a 6 inch extended range driver should be adequate.

I've not heard the smaller Lowthers, but the 8 inch ones are just too detailed for me.  They "force" the analytical side of the brain to work overtime to the exclusion of emotive enjoyment.  Nearfield would make this effect even worse.

If you settle on a mid sized driver like the 55s and want affordable, check out http://www.geocities.com/rbrines1/.  There's a few of us ACers that own his stuff.  Bob's a pleasure to work with, his workmanship is good, and you can't beat the prices.

[SteveH]

Yipper

My FT1600 MkII's are fantastic!!!!

[DavidS]

the Alerion is an odd one - it has received several critical raves including no less than Nelson Pass gushing about it.  This combined with the growth of interest in all things single driver and relative affordability ($2500 or so per pair with probably $1200 worth of drivers - so Zu Druid territory) would seem to translate to lots of sales and user buzz.  But nothing, nada .....

What gives?

I had a pair of fonkens with enabled fostexes (sp?) for about a week about 2-3 weeks ago.  A sweet deal in my little room with my little Audio Vista amp but I am very slow moving about these new speakers I am looking for.

[JLM]

The lack of responses is probably due simply to the relatively small number of customers for this niche of the single driver cult within the tiny community of audiophiles.

[rodge827]

I'll have to second the Omegas. Perhaps the Super 3's, and a Deep Hemp sub. Louis is a great guy to work with give him a shout you won't be dissapointed. 

[Dmason]

I would second the Super 3. Not having heard them, but the clarion peal of a growing cadre of happy owners. Two other things:

It has been equally well established that the EL84 tube and the hemp cone go together exceedingly well.
Second, even the Tone Tubby guys think the FR4.5 is the pick of their litter.

This leaves a trail of breadcrumbs straight to the Super 3 Hemp. Hope this helps.