Behold The Amitys are Here !!

soundsgreat

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Hi,

Am very pleased to present to you the latest speakers from Lyrita Audio,This my take on the speakers based on a recent Audition of them at Mr.Viren's place !


The First Look :

P1060635-1.JPG


The Speakers look stunning with the cedar clad suit,The 2 drivers in the speaker are individually covered with its own grill as opposed to usual full cover for both (or more drivers)

The Full Range driver is used in boxless design (Open Baffle ) and the bass driver is housed a port tuned box with fairly large port (2+ inch)

The Box (for the Bass Driver) is big as its required but doesnt look imposing due to cleaver design and mating with the open baffle !! the speaker looks small from the front and similar from the sides as well !
At the back theres only one pair speaker terminals ( no Bi-Wiring option).

Tech Bit :

P1060643.JPG


The Speaker is blessed with a 6 Fostex (FE 167E) driver which is in open baffle (Box Less ) design,the cone of the driver is treated with some additional stuff( The white dots on the cone) to make the necessary changes to drivers response to suit the open baffle design,This is said to have numerous advantages over the regular boxed designs such as standing waves,internal box resonance,port noise etc... !! This driver is a typical Fostex with usual bells and whistles such as the banana pulp cone and dual cone sort of centre cap (Dust cap),the driver is capable of going as low as 50Hz approx which is very very good for a fullrange driver !

P1060646.JPG


The Low frequency duty is handled by a 12" Eminence (BETA-12A-2) in a regular ported box,The port is tuned to approx 40Hz !! the box was designed with home audio in mind so the size is regular as opposed to very big for the same driver in pro audio use !! The crossover used for this driver is a first order 6dB crossed at 300Hz,so this driver essentially handles all the stuff from 40 to 300Hz while the rest is sent to the Fostex.

The Design :

P1060635.JPG


P1060641.JPG


The Speaker is designed very well with the rounded edges and such,the Speaker box looks very good with the fullrange sitting on top with no box and the woofer at the bottom in a port tuned box,the overall symmetry of the box is well balanced ! the box part of the cabinet although is bit big ( in conventional home audio sense) is cleverly camouflaged with the use of light coloured cedar veneer for the final finish which takes away the bulky looks and gives it a smallish and compact feel ! on the top, the edges are tapered and sort of forms a trapezoid ! The port of the woofer box is located at the back and is situated just above the bottom surface of the box,above the port is the speaker terminal ! overall the back is as neat and as good looking as the front !

The wiring was done using what looked like a twisted pair cable (perhaps done by Mr.Viren himself ) of a small thickness (say 22 or 20 Gauge) with red and black colour wires,similar wires were used to hook the speakers to the Amp.

[BREAK=Set-Up]

P1060638.JPG


The Set-Up :

Marantz CD-5001
Lyrita SET AMP
The Amitys ( But Offcourse)
Custom made speaker cable and Interconnects

The speakers were placed a bit close to the wall and were approx 6+ feet apart,there was a jute mat between the speakers (although Mr.Viren says its purely for the looks I think it does have some quality to add to the overall sound )

[BREAK=The Sound]

The Sound:

We started the Audition with some of my CDs which included Dire-Straits,Allan Taylor,Omar Sosa,Dhafer Youssef and others,we also played some of Mr.Virens CDs

This was short visit and I couldnt spend much time so the below review or my views on the speaker is only based on what I heard in that short period of time ! I also would like to mention the fact that the speakers has had no burn-in at all with only 7 odd hours of play time ! So with the above things in mind please read the following passages !!

The first thing that will hit you is the resolution of the speakers,The sound is very clean and open without much of artifacts !! the instruments sounded fine and so did the vocals,The bass had nice low extension and didnt boom or bloat.

The pure vocals from the opening track of the album from Dhafer sounds clean and has the right timbre to it and sounds realistic,This particular track I have used to judge the vocals as there is no other instrument played and such ! this will give the listener the right info of the speaker ability to reproduce the vocals,coz when the vocals are mixed with music it sometimes will be difficult to judge ! so the vocals were very very clean especially when he hits the high notes with almost nasal and female like characteristics !


Then the track with Oud ( A native Arabic Instrument like guitar) the strings has a sense of depth and realism to it ! the strings were smooth and easy to listen to and one could easily distinguish that the instrument although sounds like a guitar is actually not one !!

The next track featured a indian flute with some tabla and some jazz like percussion ! the flute sounded well rounded and didnt have the glare or the harsh high tinge to it ! the tabla sounded neat too with each tap on the skin reproduced with good accuracy !! although the overall sound was good it was a wee bit less resolved and the tabla which was reproduced well by the fostex lost a bit when Eminence kicked in !

We then played a track from a Jazz disc that Mr.Viren recommended, the instruments in the track had good attack and depth to it and was pleasure to listen !

The track from Dire-Straits Romeo and Juliet the drums sounded neat and Mark Knopflers voice had that right tone ! The same phenomena was observed,the bass driver had wee bit of leanness to it !

The track from Allan Taylor So Long which has guitar and vocals and not much of other instruments,the vocals again excelled and was very pleasant to the ears,the guitar again was excellent ! the highs and mids were real neat considering the no burn-in factor ! I can only imagine how it might sound when its completely burnt-in !!

In Omar Sosas La Tra a typical jazz piece with piano and drum set ( as in typical Jazz),the Sax was real good with it hitting highs and lows on and off,the same was translated by the speakers,the occasional Oud piece thrown in was neatly communicated !!

The track Reposo the bass goes very low and the speakers did handle it with care apart from the aforementioned hickups,The Oud sounded neat and clean without a hint of harshness or brightness !! overall presentation was superb !


[BREAK=The Final Words and Conclusion]

This almost sums up my time spent there,it was real pleasure to listen to such fantastic speakers at such phenomenal price that Mr.Virens offering !!! As always it did have some minor issues which could be attributed to the fact that it hardly had the hours on it and also the fact that this is speaker which is made to certain type of audience in mind ! Mr.Viren told me that although the crossover is being fine tuned the version I heard would probably be the last revision !! The main thing that I noticed was the very small amount of lag from the Eminence,it was also as mentioned above a bit leaner (at least to my taste ) but apart from that I hardly had and have any issues with the speakers ! Again at the asking price for these beauties one can certainly overlook them ! you cannot get the whole world at 55K now can you ????


The Conclusion :

I highly recommend this speaker to anyone and everyone who want a solid sound without going bankrupt !! These speakers will do what others do at twice or thrice this price (and some even fail at that price )

A real nice sounding and looking speakers from a person who needs no introduction and needs all the applauds that he can get for his contribution to Audio community :clapping:!!

Finally i would like to thank karan aneja who was very kind enough to take me to Audition the speakers else this whole review wouldnt have been possible !!


If I have by mistake forgotten anything to add please do not hesitate to ask :p!!

Hope you guys like what I had to say ;)!

Regards.
 
Was really waiting since days you hear from someone in detail about the Amitys and who better then Sreekanth to write about them
Now will wait to listen from Kamlji, Viren & group (the guys who have auditions together) :)
 
Soundsgreat, thanks for taking the time to provide such a good review of the Amitys.
I guess these speakers would need a tube amp and wouldnt be at their best with a solid state set up. Right?
At 55k it is within reach of a lot of people and something to aspire to aspire for as the next upgrade for others.
 
Hello Soundsgreat,
very nice review. I have a question the top driver doesn't have any enclosure does it expose it to natural wear and tear over time. Or the drivers are naturally resistant against that.
Thnaks,
Mahiruha.
 
Hey Sounds!

Thanks for the nice review. Did you get a chance to listen to any heavy music? Also, I notice you didn't mention anything about amp swapping, does this mean you listened to the Amitys hooked solely to the SETs? Thanks for the nice pics and taking the time.
 
Hi,

Thanks one and all for liking my review of the Amitys :) !!

Now let me try and answer some questions ;) !

I guess these speakers would need a tube amp and wouldnt be at their best with a solid state set up. Right?

No Not really,all you need is a decent Amp ;)!! since the sensitivity of the speakers are so high its very easy to drive with the Tube Amp and even more easier with a SS !! the thing is (or at least what I understand from the conversation with Mr.Viren) that ,this speaker was mainly designed to be paired with his Amps which are normally low powered ! but that does not in any way mean one should not use a SS Amp !!

I have a question the top driver doesn't have any enclosure does it expose it to natural wear and tear over time. Or the drivers are naturally resistant against that.

The answer to your question is bit tough to answer,however this is what I will say, If the speaker is exposed to excessive dust,humidity and temp etc most certainly it will fail in some time (so does the one with the box,but perhaps not as fast as this ) and these driver have no special thing to make them resistive against the above mentioned conditions ! also if there are rats or roaches problems one's room where this is to be played then better ask Mr.Viren to provide a net or covering thing to make it bit more resistant !

As with any and every speaker one needs to take good care of it and this is no exception to that rule !!

Did you get a chance to listen to any heavy music? Also, I notice you didn't mention anything about amp swapping, does this mean you listened to the Amitys hooked solely to the SETs?

Buddy the only heavy music I listened to was Dire-Straits ( I know this is not your typical Heavy music but for me, it is ) !! also due to lack of time I just couldn't play more music and the same fact goes for the Amp as well ! yes we only connected the SET Amp and nothing else !

Guys it was my pleasure to Audition these marvels and I need not be thanked for the same :p!! Infact I should thank Mr.Viren for letting me Audition and spend time ! He's a superb host and deserves all the thanks ! So if someone wants to thank he should thank Mr.Viren :eek:hyeah:!!

Regards.
 
Last edited:
Hi,

Thanks one and all for liking my review of the Amitys :) !!

Now let me try and answer some questions ;) !



No Not really,all you need is a decent Amp ;)!! since the sensitivity of the speakers are so high its very easy to drive with the Tube Amp and even more easier with a SS !! the thing is (or at least what I understand from the conversation with Mr.Viren) that ,this speaker was mainly designed to be paired with his Amps which are normally low powered ! but that does not in any way mean one should not use a SS Amp !!

Soundsgreat, Thanks for clearing that up! :eek:hyeah:

And yes, a big thumbs up for Viren who seems to be doing a great job with his amps and speakers and also unanimously agreed to be a great host!:D Hope to hear lyrita in person someday!
 
Question for Viren if he's reading: Do you EnABL the drivers yourself, or get them from Dave/Bud like that?

In the speakers that I heard at Viren's place, Viren had done the EnABLing himself. So it may be fair to assume that he had done it for the Amity also. In any case, we shall see what he says.

Cheers
 
Sounds, excellent review. Wish you had more time to try different range of music. Since I wont be able to audition them, is it possible for you to reference a speaker that you think closely resembles the Amity's?

I am curious to know where they compare to :eek:
 
Good review as usual SG!!!! I remember reading the marantz cdp 5001 that u wrote and that was accurate too.
BTW are these speakers only available in delhi? Is there a dealer in bbay?
Rgds
 
Excellent review, Soundsgreat! Thanks for your humble efforts to the audiophile community.

I would really like to know how these speakers compare to some reference branded speakers so as to understand the sound signature in general/ VFM

Also how is the sound different when connected to SS amp.

--
Bryston + B&W
 
Hi,

The Amity's are an attempt to make a simple, high sensitivity speaker that is full range. This is not the norm in the high end industry, so you have limited examples to compare them with. (From those available in India, Emerald Physics comes to mind. And guess who's drivers they use - Eminence!).

Choices of high sensitivity drivers are limited - affordable ones even more so. You have to eek out the maximum performance out of them - and here's where the EnABL treatment is invaluable. Thanks to innovative guys like Bud Purvine who has made this available to all. I buy stock drivers, and do EnABLing in house.

What a high sensitivity speaker system gives you is clarity of sound, enhanced dynamics, no compression on playing loud. All contribute to an open, effortless presentation.

And, with low-powered amplifiers. Why do some people prefer low-powered amps - because of better clarity and integration of sound. Imagine splitting up the signal and going through multiple pairs of amplifying devices (transistors, tubes), and recombining it to get more power. Are all devices exactly identical? What happens to the recombined signal? Hear for yourself. Listen to a SET amp!

Regards,
Viren
 
Buddy the only heavy music I listened to was Dire-Straits ( I know this is not your typical Heavy music but for me, it is ) !! also due to lack of time I just couldn't play more music and the same fact goes for the Amp as well ! yes we only connected the SET Amp and nothing else !

okay...I did hear them with some heavy music. Was not carrying my Dream Theater or Symphony X CDs as I was more interested in the Harmony Ones but I did hear a song from from Pineapple Thief. It was a 16 minute multi-part multi-layered arrangement going pretty high and low on the freq spectrum. The Amitys reproduced them with ease. The Eminence drivers were very fast in response. There is one part of the song where there are kettle drums in the background. I could hear the skin slams clearly. The only other speakers that I heard do that were the watt puppies. There was no ear fatigue though I found the speakers a bit aggressive and slightly bright on that song. But that was because they were played for hardly a few hours. Having heard them in conjunction with the Harmony Ones which share the same Fostex drivers, I can say that once the Amitiys have settled in, they are gonna sound awesome with the SETs.

It was really great of Viren for having me over and patiently answering all my Qs.

:cheers:
 
bravo viren!!!!can only imagine the way they sound,but from sg's opinion they must be fabulous and even more so when given some run in time!!excellent!!congrats for yet another beautiful product to add to the impressive stable at lyrita audio.man,need to listen to ur SET with these.hope i can one day!!auguri!!!!cheers
 
Hi sounds great, thank you very much for posting a superb review about amity speakers. You have the knack and skill to pen your thoughts in an excellent manner. The photographs are awesome. If I am not inquisitive you should have compared amitys with your homebrew speakers. Any thoughts you may like to share in this regard dude.

Hi Viren Bakshi,

Bravo! On my next trip to
Delhi I will allocate some time to drop in to listen to your new baby. I am sure that the new baby will satisfy the low end craving music lovers.

regards
:clapping:
 
im wondering if it would be possible to build this speaker with a side firing eminence woofer instead of front

that way it would probably be possible to have a rectangulrt 8 inch front face (much like a s Jamo 606 floorstander)which i think would look neater than the trapezoid
ofcourse the woofer box would have to be made taller to accomodate for volume adjustement

since its a low freq woofer we talk about im guessing SQ wouldnt be affected much

ofcourse ive no experience like virens and he must have thought of this option too.
The thing is im not a fan of the current shape given
 
Hi,

Soundsgreat,how do you rate this Lyrita system (amp+speakers) in comparison with other systems in the same or higher price bracket?

Rajiv
 
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