OK guys,
I'm finally in a position where I can make an official announcement for 2 new products.
1. Epiphony II. Courtesy of Alex, who did most of the work. I only did the listening and criticizing.
Scoop: Brand new design. Has absolutely nothing, 0 in common with the original ones. We don't have them OEM'd anymore, building them in house, and overall, we now have nearly twice (yes, 2 x) the amount of $ in parts with much higher quality cabinets and drivers, etc. than before. Also, because we do it ourselves now, we have the qc under control ourselves as well. Actually, I'll be in charge myself for all speakers now.
Changes: bigger, fully veneered cabinet made by a custom furniture maker, conveniently located only 2.6 miles from us. Phenomenal cabinetries. Looks exactly like a Lorelei mini-me.
We went from 2nd order to 1st order x-over, more of a direct and purist approach for my sonic performance goals. Drivers: also a big upgrade here. Cables - Groneberg Quattros, Connectors WBT's
Sound: Well, very, very nice. On a good recording, the massive wall of sound coming at you is breathtaking and to die for. Absolutely fills any space perfectly. Also, I would call it polite, but precise. A bit on the harmonically rich side with tons of emotions (here I go again). Biggest thing for me is that you can literally listen for hours without a hint of fatigue.
Cost: Right now we're looking at around $ 700., which is a gift considering the production cost.
Available: we start shipping the first 12 pairs next week.
Negatives: Well, the price is up a hundred bucks. Also, the $ 1,500 / $ 1600 complete system will go up a bit as well. You still need stands.
Options: We'll have some very, very cool and brutal looking wings planned for them in the future, which can be retro-fitted. Will actually improve the sound b/c of the rear port design. Will make the speaker appr. 30 - 35 " deep. Veneers: same as before, plus custom stains. Also, we'll ship the first lacquer Loreleis early next month, and we'll have a complete color line available with the exception of piano black, which is a pain in the a$$.
2. Our new midline speaker:
Scoop: With the demise of the Nightingales, we now have a void in our lineup. Enter the new speaker. I don't want to call it the Nightingale II's, because it is not even close in looks, and actually, the Nighties never really took off, to be honest. This will be different, big time now.
Changes: It is essentially a scaled down version of the Loreleis. Same identical 90 % version cabinet. 4 " less from the bottom. Same x-over design as with the Loreleis. ScanSpeak tweeters (of course) and an Usher woofer, which is really a near perfect copy of the ScanSpeak unit, sounds very good, and is much less $$$. After all, these speakers are build for the bang for the buck. Of course, WBT's and Groneberg cables.
Sound: Expect exactly that Lorelei sound. Sweeeeeet.
Cost: Projected (not 100 % finalized yet) @ $ 1,700.
Available: We take orders now and start the first 6 pre-orders 3rd week of March.
Negatives: For the money, none whatsoever. None. I am completely, absolutely happy with them. Well, for us maybe there is one negative in that the speakers are so good and so close that we'll lose some Lorelei sales for people who don't want to have the extra nth degree of performance. I am aware of that.
Options: Same veneer and color choices.
3. Loreleis: Hehehe, no changes planned whatsoever. After all, how can we possibly improve this $ 8,200 German SL design at this point ????
I believe that at the price points of $ 700, $ 1,700, and $ 2,700 we are very, very reasonable, and offer the right cost spacing with some nice units for most people.
We'll add some pictures here very soon. Alex ???
Hope that this is of interest,
Klaus
