• The Gaudi MK II
• The Loreley MK III
• The PQS Series
  • The PQS 402
  • The PQS 302
  • The PQS 202 MK II
  • The PQS 201 MK II
  • The PQS 100 Plus
  • The PQS 100 Centre
  • The PQS 100
  • The PQS Sub
• The Carbon MK IV
• The Borderland MK IV
• The Unicorn MK II
• The HRS 120
• Unlimited MK II
• DDD - Driver

 

 

THE LORELEY MK III

Sadly, not everyone can afford our state-of-the-art Gaudi, and of those who can, not all have a sufficiently large listening room to allow them to enjoy its full potential. For those desiring a truly stellar loudspeaker system at a significantly lower price point, as well as one that has a considerably smaller footprint, we offer the Loreley. It employs four DDD drivers per side, mounted in a line source array similar to that used in the Gaudi, but without the motorised positioning feature.

Independent Bass Enclosures

Each loudspeaker has two large independent bass enclosures. These are mounted one on top of the other and are held together by an interlocking collar arrangement. This greatly reduces resonances and also makes the column very difficult to topple. This is a useful safety feature for customers who live in earthquake regions. Each enclosure is fitted with a 12 inch inverted dome driver which has a maximum excursion of 3 inches. Distortion levels are typically a tenth of those of conventional 18 inch sub woofers at comparable output levels. In addition, their acceleration and transient responses are far superior due to the immense magnetic forces generated by the massive rare earth magnets we use and to the very high stiffness of the dome diaphragms. The net result is a system with a very extended and very clean low frequency response, that is also capable of prodigious output levels, exceeding 110dB at 18Hz.

Freedom from Power Compression

Power compression, the reduction in dynamic range caused by heating of the voice coil, is much reduced over conventional woofer drivers due to the ultra-wide, underhung voice coil and triple magnet structure we employ. Power handling is also correspondingly greatly increased over that of conventional designs.

The DDD Driver

As with all German Physiks loudspeakers, the heart of the Loreley is the DDD driver.  The contribution this makes to the exceptional level of fidelity achieved by this speaker cannot be overstated.  Nor can we overemphasise the important advantages the DDD driver gives the Loreley over speakers using conventional drivers.

The DDD driver’s very low moving mass enables it to operate linearly over an extremely wide frequency range. On the Loreley it covers the entire range from 180Hz upwards  In a conventional design, this range would be covered by two or even three different types of driver and most importantly there would be a cross over point in the mid range, the area where our hearing is most sensitive.  The DDD driver’s wide operating range allows this vital region to be kept free from the level and phase anomalies that multiple drivers and a necessarily more complex cross over would create. This enables the Loreley to produce very accurate and realistic stereo images.

Another key advantage of the DDD driver is that it is omni directional, so these excellent stereo images can be enjoyed from a wide range of listening positions, unlike conventional designs which have much smaller “sweet spots” due to the tendency of their drivers to beam the sound. This allows a more relaxed listening experience as you don’t have to keep worrying about sitting in exactly the right position.

The DDD driver’s very low moving mass provides the further benefit of exceptional impulse and phase response characteristics and allows it to reproduce both the attack of the music and resolve low level detail very accurately.  This is essential in order to faithfully reproduce the delicate nuances and timbral characteristics of a performance and make it sound like music, rather than just good hi-fi.  The driver’s excellent impulse response also ensures that the stereo image remains focussed and stable, even when the loudspeaker is reproducing complex passages at high levels.

Comprehensive Crossover Adjustment

The built in passive crossover provides a wide range of adjustment to allow the Loreley to be optimally set up to suit the user’s listening room.  The high frequency level may be adjusted over the range -2dB to +4dB in 4 steps and the low frequency level may be adjusted over the range +10dB to 0dB in 3 steps.  High quality jumpers on the rear panel make this adjustment quick and easy.

Optional Electronic Crossover

We advise that the Loreley be bi-amped and for the best results it should be used with the German Physiks electronic crossover.  This has been designed specifically for use with our speaker systems.  It is a no-compromise, dual mono design and employs dual mains transformers, rectifiers and capacitor banks.  Audiophile grade Burr Brown and Analog Devices op amps are used exclusively along with special low ESR filter capacitors.  Separate high quality potentiometers are provided for both the high and low pass sections in each channel, and the phase of the subwoofer is continuously adjustable over the range of ±180 degrees.  RCA and XLR connectors are provided for all inputs and outputs.

Hand Finished Cabinets

The Loreley cabinets are finished to the same exacting standard as the Gaudi. They are available in the customer’s choice of select, hand matched hardwood veneers. These are carefully applied to the MDF panels prior to the construction of the cabinets. This method results in some wastage of material and thus adds to the manufacturing cost, but results in the finest possible furniture grade finish. A high gloss lacquer coat is available as an optional extra.

Special Order Version

A special order version of the Loreley is available with a laminated carbon fibre cabinet.  The cabinet’s heavy MDF panels are reinforced with multiple layers of bi-directional, resin impregnated carbon fibre, which are applied using techniques originally developed for the aircraft industry.  The cabinet is coated with a multi-layer lacquer and then hand polished to a high lustre.  This produces a cabinet that is immensely rigid and strong, as well as being practically free from resonances within the audio frequency band. This further increases the already very high level of transparency achieved by the Loreley.  This version of the loudspeaker is fitted with carbon fibre DDD drivers, which extend the frequency response to 24,000Hz and the maximum output level to 120dB.

Top Level Performer

The Loreley should not be looked on as second best to our reference level Gaudi.  Up to quite high listening levels the performance of the Loreley comes close to that of the Gaudi, and in medium size listening rooms, it will more than hold its own against any speaker system at any price.

The Loreley MK III Specifications

	With Titanium DDD Driver	With Carbon DDD Driver
Impedance	3 ohms	3 ohms
Frequency response	21 - 21,500Hz	21 - 24,000Hz
Power handling
Nominal    Short term	950W 1,500W	1,050W 1,600W
Amplification required	2 power amplifiers per channel DDD section: minimum power  200W/4ohms Sub-woofer section: minimum power 350W/4ohms
Crossover frequency	180Hz
Crossover slopes
DDD section    Woofer section	12dB/octave electronic & 24dB/octave acoustic 18dB/ octave electronic & 24dB/ octave acoustic
High frequency adjustment	-2dB, flat, +2dB and +4dB centred at 8,000Hz
Low frequency adjustment	+10 dB, +5 dB and flat centred at 60Hz
Sensitivity	89.2dB for 1W at 1m	89.8dB for 1W at 1m
Maximum output level	118dB	120dB
Operating principle	2 way speaker with 360° surround radiation using the DDD Bending Wave Converter
Input connectors	2 sets of binding posts allowing bi-amping and bi-wiring
Drivers	4 x Titanium DDD drivers 2 x 12 inch woofers 4 x 10 inch passive radiators	4 x Carbon DDD drivers 2 x 12 inch woofers 4 x 10 inch passive radiators
Dimensions	700mm W x 1,800mm H x 1,000mm D 27.6" W x 70.9" H x 30.4" D
Weight	Approx 420kg Approx 924lbs
Warranty	5 years