The story behind Kronos AV & Lowther
Lowther Loudspeakers
Many of our customers may be familiar with the Lowther name, this company for many people is synonymous as the manufacturer of very high quality full range drive units but we believe the current range of Lowther loudspeakers is so much more and the following story is the reason Kronos AV is taking on this iconic brand.
As I mentioned Lowther are best known for making high efficiency full range drive units and while Lowther did make a few complete speakers many of their customers built their own cabinets from kits. These were extremely complex horn loaded designs and required exceptional woodworking skills so really Lowther were not known a mainstream speaker supplier. Also their speakers were a horn design so were often extremely large in size and designed for corners so had a limited market.
We first came across the new Lowther speakers at the CapitalFest Hi Fi Show in Washington DC last year. We had gone over to the US show to see a number of brands and purely by accident saw the Lowther speakers which were playing in one of the rooms with valve amplification, a turntable source and Titan mains cables and mains blocks.
Not only did the Lowther Edilia speakers we heard sound fantastic but they looked stunning as well. No hand built cottage industry, made in your garage speakers but a beautifully built stunning looking cabinet which was relatively compact with extended bass and exceptional midrange and high frequency. So we were massively impressed and spoke to Martin and the guys from Lowther at the show.
It turns out not only were they making a brand new range of speakers which start at a very reasonable £7,600 ( I appreciate this is still an awful lot of money for a pair of loudspeakers but not when they sport Lowther drive units and a horn loaded cabinet) but they also produce gin in house, and I have to say it was some of the best I have ever tasted (bonus!). We sat down with a glass and had a listen.
We discovered that Lowther were demonstrating the Edilia model which at £26,500 however there were four models below that starting with the 205 (£7,600), then the Acousta (£10,100) the Fidelio (£13,200) and the Almira (£21,600). There is a more expensive model, the TP2 which you can buy from £33,900 or with a super tweeter at £35,300.
The Lowther Edilia that we sat down and enjoyed was simply a pleasure to listen to. It was everything you want form a horn loaded speaker, and it was so enjoyable to sit back and just enjoy the music wit Martin. The Lowther made me want to keep listening ,and for me there is no better compliment you can give a speaker.
We believe that Lowther will add a completely different type of speakers to our portfolio, they will appeal to valve owners , class A or lower powered amplifiers especially because of their exceptional high sensitivity but also the full range drive units give such amazing clarify in the midrange and top and the horn loading gives great bass response.
We do hope you get the opportunity to call in and hear these amazing speakers. We are honoured to be one of their first retailers in the UK and look forward to demonstrating them to our customers.
David Campbell. MD - Kronos AV.