The Noa1

The Noa1 is all of what a good speaker system should be…it has all the capabilities of a tower or a 2-way floor stander, with deeper bass and cleaner sound than any speaker in it’s budget. This is made possible by a passionate emphasis on crossover and system design, materials and driver selection, yet it performs at a uniquely affordable price point. Upgrade from a stereo to a home theatre – just add on the active subwoofer and 3 more satellites and you’re good for a full bodied home theatre which will easily fill a room of upto 350 sqft with wall-to-wall sound

Concept:

The Noa1 is all of what a great speaker system should be… A speaker that has all the capabilities of a tower or a two-way floor stander, with deeper bass and cleaner sound than any speaker in it’s price range. This is made possible by a passionate emphasis on crossover and system design, material and driver selection – and available at a uniquely affordable price point.

Description:

This subwoofer satellite speaker system has smooth, non-fatiguing sound (very rare in three piece systems), and is ideal for the audiophile looking for a high-fidelity, flexible solution. This speaker system expands easily into a classy Home Theatre setup. Available also on Noa1 floor stands for free space, floor mounting.

Technical Highlights:

1. Q balance technology for no listening fatigue
2. Time-Aligned Driver Configuration
3. Complex Multi Element Crossover
4. 24 dB / Oct bass filter in Satellite for maximised power handling
5. Linkwitz Riley Crossover Alignment

Technical Specifications:

• Power Handling Capacity: 70 W RMS / Ch
• Freq Response (-3dB): 46 Hz to 20 KHz
• Usable Freq Response (-8dB): 38Hz onwards
• Impedance: 6 Ohms
• Sensitivity: 88dB 1W / 1m
• Amplifier Requirements: 30 W – 100 W RMS / Ch
• Typical Listening Area: upto 300 sqft (stereo) – upto 450 sqft (5.1 system)
• Dimensions H x W x D (inches):
  • 8 x 4.6 x 5 (Satellite)
  • 18.75 x 9 x 16 (Subwoofer)
• Finish: Black PU Stippled
• Drivers per channel:
  • 1 x 1″ ferro fluid cooled fabric dome tweeter
  • 1 x 4″ melamine coated paper midrange
  • 1 x 5.25″ melamine coated paper woofer (2 in subwoofer)
• Weight: 2.5 Kg Satellite each – 11.5 Kg Subwoofer each
• Stereo System Consists of: 2 satellites + 1 subwoofer

Crossover Design:

At Lithos, we believe that the crossover is the heart of the speaker system and our efforts in designing and execution of the crossover for the Noa1 speak volumes for that philosophy. To start with, the crossover is a huge 15-element engine, based around our proprietary Q-balance technology of eliminating ear fatigue. Complex response-shaping and detailed elimination of problems in the frequency response characterize this crossover system.

A bass filter that works as a fourth order (24dB/Oct) high pass, kills all bass at 100Hz and below, eliminating any visible movement of the midrange – consequently eliminating Doppler distortion and increasing power handling.

The crossover between the midrange and the tweeter @ 3000 Hz – with time alignment and impedance equalization of the mids and the highs, accurately provides a second order Linkwitz-Riley alignment to allow for a smooth, flat crossover transition.

Diffraction rise at 1000Hz is also effectively smoothed out, thus preventing a rise in frequency response from this point up. This frequency rise is typical in three piece and 2/3-way tower speakers, causing excessive mid-band output.

The mellow, flat midrange sound is extended to the tweeter (which is ferrofluid cooled) and the tweeter elements allow for 0 phase impedance all the way up to 20000Hz. In addition, accurate padding down of the tweeter sensitivity, gives an overall flat 88dB output throughout the satellites frequency response.

The use of high quality elements in the crossover further extends upon the Q-balance design philosophy of eliminating ear fatigue.

The use of ferrite drum cores for all inductive elements maximize the current capacity through the coils and limits saturation and harsh sounds by preventing the onset of early compression and distortion.

The use of ferrite drum cores also minimizes the series resistive elements in the midrange section, allowing clean sound through the midband, without loss of sensitivity.

Resistors with no inductance all the way upto 40KHz and parallel capacitors in the tweeter stage, make the highs sound smooth, extended and in absolute harmony with the mids.

The complete crossover is potted with epoxy resin, to prevent mutual interference effects and to prevent the effects of air vibration from ‘hollowing up’ the sound.

Finally, all stereo systems of the Noa1 are matched paired crossovers – ensuring that 2 speakers that act as a stereo pair, sound exactly the same, a must for audiophile quality imaging.

Cabinet Design:

The satellite cabinet simulates a rigid, monocoque shell, which translates into quality, resonance free sound. Both satellite and subwoofer cabinets are designed using high-tech CAD systems and manufactured on world class wood-working lines.

In MDF, the satellites sound sweet and natural, and the narrow profile gives a box-free sound. This is so unlike other satellite speakers which are made of plastic / metal and sound tinny. The sound from the speaker is clean and smooth, and the small box throws and amazing soundstage and gives a remarkably close perception of a live performance.

The aligned driver placement gives a coherent, Q-balanced sound throughout the frequency range.

The subwoofer is a bandpass chamber with 2 x 5.25” woofers in stereo mode. The bandpass is effectively designed around the satellites crossover points, for ideal flat integration and clean, tight bass.

The woofers are loaded in an asymmetric, sealed chamber to damp audible distortions. The woofers are mounted on a sloping baffle to prevent internal standing waves. Deeper bass and power handling can be gained from a smaller sized bandpass cabinet with higher efficiency than a conventional 2- way / 3-way speaker system. The cabinet design effectively rolls off all signals below the low cut-off points, preventing distortion, while handling all the superior bass dynamics for demanding musical requirements.

The subwoofer drivers are 2 x 5.25” woofers, which use a doped paper cone with a melamine coating, providing the musicality associated with paper as a cone material, while the melamine coating adds stiffness and prevents cone break-up under high excursions… An ideal combination.

Drivers:

The highs are 1”, high-power, fabric dome units, providing the right match for the doped paper mids – of course, ferrofluid cooling is standard.

The mids use the same material as the woofers, and are 4”, the ideal size for a satellite, going all the way down to 100Hz very comfortably. This is ideal for hearing all the deep sounds and low mids that do not come under the ‘purview’ of the bass.

The subwoofer drivers are 2 x 5.25” woofers, which use a doped paper cone with a melamine coating, providing the musicality associated with paper as a cone material, while the melamine coating adds stiffness and prevents cone break-up under high excursions… An ideal combination.