A quick Lorelei demo at Klaus' house - thank Klaus

Chris_B · « **on:** 18 Nov 2004, 07:21 pm »

I was out in western Ohio for business earlier this week and on a chance, I call Klaus to see if he was around. Sure enough, Klaus was home in Indianapolis and had me over for a 2 hour Lorelei demo in his living room. As has been said before, Klaus is a great guy. How many other audio manufacturers would have you over to their house, give you something to drink and a personal demo? Thanks again Klaus.

In reality, Klaus and I didn't do a very structured demo; we just hooked up the speakers and sat down and enjoyed some music. That is the way it is supposed to be anyway

. The speakers were not positioned optimally and didn't have spikes. I didn't take notes but I did form a few quick opinions. First, the Loreleis can put out some serious bass. I honestly didn't believe the past reviews and comments. How could such a small driver go down that low? I don't know how but it produces chest thumping bass that has to be heard/felt to be believed. Either way, it is enough for me and reproduces low octave music quite convincingly.

Second, these speakers sound huge. I really could not get over how big the sound was that they produced - especially for speakers that are not that big. People keep saying how good speakers just disappear. With the Loreleis, I would go a step further and say that when listening to them, you have a hard time believing they are producing the music. It is really amazing. As far as the disappearing thing goes, the music seams to be coming from everywhere else from left to right so they do disappear.

The Lorelei were very enjoyable to listen to as has been said before. Saxophone and acoustic guitar never had that high end glare. We played them very loud on some very dynamic music (much louder than I would ever listen) and they didn't distort. Their construction is very solid and they are pretty heavy and stable. Female vocals were very immediate without being too lush. Detail was very nice without being overly analytical. Are they perfect in all things - probably not but for the price, they are a hell of a deal. I am going to listen to a few more speakers that retail for over $1,000 more just to see what else is out there but I seriously doubt they will beat the Loreleis for pure enjoyment. I now understand where you guys were coming from when talking about the Loreleis. They are nice speakers.

F-100 · « **Reply #1 on:** 18 Nov 2004, 07:51 pm »

Chris,
You're a lucky man

. Not many of us get the opportunity to visit Santa Klaus's house for a private demo.
Just curious, what other equipments is Klaus using for his setup? Is he using Symphonic Line or Odyssey equipment?

Thanks

Chris_B · « **Reply #2 on:** 18 Nov 2004, 09:41 pm »

The amp was the stereo Stratos with cap upgrade. Both the Pre and CD were Symphonic line equipment which obviously didn't hurt

. The other point to figure in is that we just carried the speakers into his living room, set them down and played music. No special placement at all plus the amp didn't even warm up until half way through. Bottom line, the setup was not optimal but it sounded pretty darn good.

odysseyhk · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Nov 2004, 12:24 am »

Chris,

I talked to Klaus the day after your visit. That's probably the Lorelei produced for the HK showroom. He just pulled it out and have audition with you. Klaus is very happy with the sound and there is a lot to do with the crossover. Klaus is very proud of it.

The speakers are on the plane right now and I'm so excited to hook it up in my showroom.

vpolineni · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Nov 2004, 12:55 am »

Quote from: odysseyhk

Chris,
Klaus is very happy with the sound and there is a lot to do with the crossover. Klaus is very proud of it.

Have any updates been made to the crossover in the loreleis recently?

DeadFish · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Nov 2004, 01:35 am »

You *are* a lucky guy to get to hear those speakers that way, Chris!

You said it yourself, that you got to flop the speakers down in the living room and listened.
A 'real world' experience if there ever was one, compared to showrooms and show rooms.
A lot easier to imagine in your own home compared to knowing you are going to have to get out the transit and tape measure with new speakers to figure out how to make them sound good in your room.

Glad they sounded well in your demo!

Regards,
DeadFish

Chris_B · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Nov 2004, 02:49 am »

odysseyhk - let us know when you get them. I think you will be happy

.

DF - I was thinking the same thing as we listened. With just a little position tweaking, spikes and a few room treatments, they would have really tightened up and probably had better focus. Even without the tweaking, they sounded great. Also, imaging was something I forgot to mention earlier. I was very impressed with how well they placed instruments and the singer across the soundstage to include outside the speakers. On a few songs, it really sounded like the vocalist was sitting right between and a little behind the speakers. Pretty cool.

satfrat · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Nov 2004, 04:57 am »

The cones definitely make a big difference in tightening up the detail w/o taking away from their lack of presense. If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's being able to pinpoint the driver that each note is coming from. That type of accuracy ain't for me. I'll take that spacious soundstage where the notes seem to linger in the air any day. These loudspeakers require very little toe-in also.

Regards, Robin

Chris_B · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 09:58 pm »

Well to bring this thread full circle, I thought I would let you guys know that my apair of Lorelei's arrived yesterday. It will be a fun weekend getting them set up in my new room. I will post a few more impressions soon.

Dave G · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Jan 2005, 10:10 pm »

So Chris, you've had the Lorelei's over 72 hours now. When are you going to give us a report? What finish did you get, by the way?

Dave

Chris_B · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Jan 2005, 11:31 pm »

I really have not had the chance to listen enough to provide any good comments yet. I have a 3 year old and we had a lot of sledding to do this weekend. Also, I need to add the cones, good speaker cable and interconnects. Overall, they sound great. Very easy to listen too and toe tapping enjoyable. I will do some critical listening and get back to you. My wife even likes how they look. She described them as "retro".

Here are some pics if that helps.

from the sweat spot:

they are just pretty to look at. Notice the Khartago mono.

jasonc · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Jan 2005, 11:57 pm »

Chris,
They look great .. look a little dark for cherry are they oak? Very nice!

Dave G · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Jan 2005, 11:58 pm »

Thanks, Chris. Special thanks for the pics -- your Loreleis really are beautiful! Cherry finish? I think I know what your wife means with her "retro" comment. They do sort of look like the plain box speakers we bought 30 years ago, although they are much bigger and nicer looking than anything I bought back then.

Let us know what you think once you've had some time to break the speakers in and form some impressions. I'll be especially interested in how you think they compare with the GMA Europas.

What are you using for a preamplifier? Your profile mentions the Khartogo monos, but I don't see anything about a preamp.

Dave

Chris_B · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 01:49 am »

They are indeep an Oak finish. The pictures from the 6moons review are better than mine and really show the beautiful finish. The way they taper from top to a wider base gives it a stylish retro look which is very simple when compared to other "busy" speaker designs.

Note these are Cherry and mine are oak

My current preamp is a heavily mod'd Bottlehead Foreplay, however in a few weeks I will take delivery of a brand new Modwright SWL 9.0 SE linestage. I really like tubes in my system and can't wait for the new preamp.

I still need to listen a lot more to compare the Lorelei's to the Europas but for now, the Lorelei's sound much more natural. I do like the Green Mountain sound but I have discovered that full range speakers can deliver much better "realism" to the music. I would say the Lorelei's are more laid back than the Europas but at the same time, they are not lacking in micro detail delivery and, in my opinion, have a wider sound stage. To be honest, they cost more than twice as much too.

I have also noticed that I want to turn the volume up more even thought they are a little more efficient than the Europas probably due to their more "laid back" sound. They sound a little smoother overall.

Sound · « **Reply #14 on:** 8 Feb 2005, 02:43 am »

Chris B

So how are the Lorelei's coming along? Any chance for a review soon?

Tony