NTT Audiolabs Model 101 Anybody heard this Loudspeakers?

[jpetek]

Hello,

this Loudspeaker is not cheap but I never found a review from this speaker. Has anybody experience with this speaker? Compared with Wilson for example?

Thanks for your help


Josef

 

[kach22i]

I don't know that speaker, but back in 1979 I owned some AudioLab's which were basically Fisher speakers with fake vinyl in lieu of real wood veneer.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Ive seen them on higher fi which seems to be the distributor , looks like a serious attempt at a SOTA loudspeaker .
Wouldnt mind hearing them as well

 

[Steve Williams]

They look like a knock of of Wilson X2/XLF

 

[andromedaaudio]

Some models they make may look a bit like them,but they use different mids different tweeters different housing materials different internal volume dimensions how much more different can you get , they definetively are not wilsons and will not sound like one .

By the way , i cant recall also that wilson has the patent of placing an mtm on top of a basscabinet , anyone building a large modular speaker will run up into building something like that

 

[jpetek]

yes this this is the reason why I ask. The tweeter is very good a Fostex 500. I think better than this one from Wilson.

 

[andromedaaudio]

The wilson titanium dome is also not the end in tweeter design in my opinion , and ive heard it quite a few times

 

[JackD201]

They look like a knock of of Wilson X2/XLF

I was thinking X1

If I was Mr. Le I would've avoided looking so much like the largest selling loudspeaker family upwards of $100,000 in history. It wouldn't have taken much. Just look at the Quintessence Stealth which is also modular MTM over large twin woofers. There's no way you'd ever do a double take. I'm not saying that they are bad speakers or that they did copy the X series. I'm just saying that if people suspect that, you really can't blame them for thinking it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Steve Williams]

The wilson titanium dome is also not the end in tweeter design in my opinion , and ive heard it quite a few times

you're right, it's not and Wilson has gone to a new silk dome tweeter in the XLF

 

[andromedaaudio]

There is a saying in holland , a wise man learns from others mistakes , only a fool learns from his own.
Any technology essentially developes from work that others did before them and perfect it to a larger degree , but i also agree a bit on that the larger ntt models have maybe to much incommon with the big wilsons , but it wouldnt stop me from buying, proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

[kach22i]

They look like a knock of of Wilson X2/XLF

I did a Google image search and found this.

http://www.higherfi.com/dealer/ntt/

 

[andromedaaudio]

Also from the specs quite different , ,very high efficiency model , the choice of the
tweeter limits to a great deal the overal efficiency of the speaker , on a 98 db a fostex would qualify , but they use also focal , a td 5 which has a eff of 94,5 db iirc, that might also be the reason the xlf(sodft dome ) is 94 db instead of the 95 db X 2

Look forward what you think of my design , got the first 3 D computer graphic iso metric models in from the MTM today

My mistake : they both use focal bass speakers (audiom series?) but the ntt uses 2 15 inchers and at one time they also used fostex in their topmodel


3 - Way Bi-wire or
4 - Way Bi-amp
Drivers: 2 -15" Focal W.2 Rear-ported
2 - 6" .5 Sealed Focal 6WM
1 - Inverted Dome Sealed Focal TD-5
Freq Response: +/- 3db 16Hz - 45kHz Sensitivity: 2.83/1m at 98db
Imp: 8 Ohm rolls down to 4 Ohm
Crossover: 16Hz / 250Hz / 45kHz
Power Needs: 15W - 1000W
Dimensions: 70" H x 18.5" W x 31.5" D
Weight: 1245 lbs each
Shipping weight with 4 boxes: 2700 lbs

 

[Steve Williams]

I hate to sound totally clueless but what is MTM

 

[andromedaaudio]

Its a short for Mid Tweeter Mid configuration like YG acoustics

If Joe was really the first ever i dont know , and according to him it needs a 3 order xo filter to work best , but i disdagree
By the way I use MTM configuration for another reason than dispersion characteristics

Joseph A. D'Appolito is best known as the developer of the "D'Appolito Configuration" which was first described in his "A Geometric Approach to Eliminating Lobing Error in Multiway Loudspeakers".[1] This configuration is recognized by loudspeakers which have two midrange or woofer drivers arranged vertically above and below the tweeter[2] and implements the 3rd order (18dB/octave) crossover allowing the drivers to have similar horizontal dispersion, resulting in absence of any sudden change in directivity with frequency. The loudspeaker configuration is also known as a midwoofer-tweeter-midwoofer (MTM) configuration. D'Appolito is the author of "Testing Loudspeakers" and a contributing editor to AudioXpress magazine.[3] He is also the owner of a consulting firm, Audio and Acoustics, Ltd. whose clients include Snell Acoustics; HECO/Recoton, GmbH and Usher Audio Technology

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

We can dance around but one thing is clear: The speakers look eerily similar. Perhaps too similar

MTM is not synonymous with d"Appolito by the way. D'Appolito array is MTM but all MTM aren't d'Appolito and I doubt Wilson is... Speculation ...

As for the GTT sound , I don't know, never heard them

 

[Cyclotronguy]

I've heard the speaker and for that matter pretty much the entire NTT audio line of speakers. Mr Lee fwiw is an ex Ford Aerospace Engineer / project manager with a passion for audio.

I have several sets of his equipment stands, the construction of which are pretty over the top with respect to fit and finish.... speakers are the same way only more so. Mr Lee's history is after all building things that go really fast and have to look good enough to get grants and contracts.

As to how the speakers sound...... and measure. Flat, wide power response, dynamic, articulate, very low THD, nice impulse response, loud. In a word the measurement suite is really spectacular. They sound very much like they measure.

All of that being said, and I've said this to Mr Lee, frequently........ "Mr Lee, you need an art and advertising department!"

Cyclotronguy

 

[cjfrbw]

That is pretty audacious in terms of resembling the X2. Usually, the imitator will give price break rather than a price increase, assuming it is an imitator in anything other than appearance. Also, it is inviting a commercial war of attrition via lawsuits, like the one that ended Apogee speakers. It is hard to know how much of the Wilson design is proprietary, or just solidity of materials and execution.

The efficiency of the NTT is nice, it can be operated with a 300b tube amplifier.

 

[LL21]

I've heard the speaker and for that matter pretty much the entire NTT audio line of speakers. Mr Lee fwiw is an ex Ford Aerospace Engineer / project manager with a passion for audio.

I have several sets of his equipment stands, the construction of which are pretty over the top with respect to fit and finish.... speakers are the same way only more so. Mr Lee's history is after all building things that go really fast and have to look good enough to get grants and contracts.

As to how the speakers sound...... and measure. Flat, wide power response, dynamic, articulate, very low THD, nice impulse response, loud. In a word the measurement suite is really spectacular. They sound very much like they measure.

All of that being said, and I've said this to Mr Lee, frequently........ "Mr Lee, you need an art and advertising department!"

Cyclotronguy

Interesting...very interesting! How do they compare to the big Wilsons?

 

[lasercd]

I recall hearing them at CES. Some dude was standing outside the room, hyping them like crazy. He told me that he guaranteed they would be the best speaker I ever heard. He lied.

 

[kach22i]

He told me that he guaranteed they would be the best speaker I ever heard. He lied.

Subjective at best, a milder claim would have not set the bar to an impossible expectation.