February 20th, 2008Review Of Norge 75 Bookshelf Speakers
Norge is a brand that’s worn many a tempest and taken on some imagines competition, yet never elastic to gimmicks or tall claims. The company makes only audio cog, such as stereo amps and speakers, so a lot of audio purists opt for Norge as the products are very sensibly priced. They’re from India, not Norway, which almost certainly explains how costs can be cut.
From what I’ve seen so far, most of Norge’s gear drop in the band of decent-to-good, despite some clear flaws. Do the new Norge 75 bookshelves offer any important enhancements? Can honest sound can be achieved from a device whose cost runs into just four digits? I’m as curious as you are; so let’s go ahead with our review.
Design and Features
These are typical bookshelf speakers with a basic straight-edged rectangular cabinet; the type that brings back memories of a bygone analog era. The cabinet is MDF, with a PVC coat of light oak. Though the beauty of PVC is debatable in the eye of the beholder, this one does look warm and rich.
The front panel is covered in black and supports the tweeter and woofer drivers, making this a two-way reaction design. The bass port is at the back, along with the most basic speaker connectors. The design is unassuming, but some may want a jazzier look – perhaps some smooth curves to make things interesting. All that comes at a cost, so whatever we have is not bad.
The silk dome tweeter is 30 mm in size, while the woofer with an ’specially treated’ cone is 5.5 inches. Encouragingly, the drivers are from Wavecor. The weight is 5.5 kg, which I believe is on the lighter side.
Performance
These healthy speakers require be placing on heavy stands, about 3.5-4 feet wide, and slightly toeing in for a full spectral delivery. The amp has to be good, as stereo sound can get very much colored in the amp itself, which the speaker can do nothing to improve. The speakers came to us already broken in, so I straightaway started the tests. First off I inserted a Sheffield Labs test CD and ran a few tones and sweeps to make sure the scene. The speaker can go down low till about 30 Hz odd, though not in a flat way. In highs it touched 18K before wisping off. While I did not have the real sensitivity rating, qualitatively I can say it would be quite high.
In addition to the pristine recordings from the test discs. What I incidental was a wide and open sound stage; the sort of stuff that appeals to a mature audience. Thump was not there, though low bass frequencies were present, and sounded nice.
The mids were a little forward for my taste: very crisp and made some vocals sound overemphasized, but not harsh at any point. Sound depth was praiseworthy as a line to the imposing sound stage. High frequencies were rolled off and subtle, with no extra sibilance anywhere. This I liked a lot, as I hate too much be good at in the sound.
At a price of Rs 8500, the speakers offer bang for the buck. If you’re not a stickler, the flaws talk about can be ignored, as the good points outweigh the bad. The design could have been better, it’s true, but then true audio quality has not anything to do with looks.
With a sub I’m sure these speakers will rock. They nicely fit the requirement of a bedroom stereo music system and could be an ideal choice for a quiet musical evening, but not a party.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:11 am
Linon Home Decor Products Mission Bookcase PineClassic Mission styling and a dark brown finish add warmth and charm to this functional Mission Style Bookcase. Four shelves provide ample storage and perfectly balance style and function. The open style and designer-inspired look of this bookcase ….