apk
Well-Known Member
Hi Folks,
Before I start this review, I would like to put some context around the review. I have always been a keen follower of Indian made Hi-Fi. Not because I have anything against a foreign brand, but more so because by the time these foreign equipments reach our shores, you end up paying too much money for what it is worth. I have always felt that the Indian hi-fi manufacturers such as Lyrita, AP, Lithos, Norge, Cadence, Rethm etc could potentially give you more bang for your buck than a foreign brand.
I currently own a pair of speakers from Enbee. Amplification is a pre-power combination, also from Enbee. I have had this setup for around 3-4 years now, and was looking to move a step up. Hence the audition of Lithos, since it was one of the brands that I was interested in.
I met up with Rajiv (Lithos owner) at his demo room in Bandra, Mumbai. Lithos has three speakers in their range. The Noa is the smallest and are more suited as surrounds for a HT application. Next up is the Q-10, which are narrow bookshelves in MTM configuration, paired with a powered sub-woofer (Q-bic). The bookshelves and the sub are sold together since the bookshelves by themselves cannot produce much low end. The top of the line speakers are the Kontras, which is again a pair of MTM bookshelves placed on top of individual powered sub-units (i.e, the total system consists of 2 subs and 2 bookshelves, with the bookshelves designed to be placed over the subs). You can find more details of the speakers at the Lithos web-site.
Now to the sound (which is what really matters!)......of course the usual caveat applies "this is purely my personal opinion, based on my tastes and preferences. Many factors contribute to the quality of the sound, including source, amplifiers, cables, environment etc..etcYMMV"
I did not hear the Noa, and only heard the Q-10s and the Kontras. Both the speakers were powered by a NAD power amplifier with a high end Yamaha AVR doing duty as the pre-amp. The source was a DVD player, with digital out into the AVR's DAC. Rajiv had a huge collection of FLACs on his HDD connected to the AVR, but since I had brought my own CDs, we played them through the DVD player-Yamaha AVR-NAD combo.
The Kontras are quite good speakers, and did a lot of things right. Has good clarity, imaging, soundstage, nice tight bass, and was very easy to listen to. I was impressed by the depth of the image.....the speakers were pulled quite a bit into the room, with a good 8 odd feet of space behind. You could really get a very good sense of depth from these speakers, especially on well recorded music. You could easily pick out the different instruments even in complex music without losing the overall musicality. Though the Kontra subs are not very large (they were 8 inchers), the quality of the bass was very good, and was more than sufficient for a medium-large room. I felt that the Kontras were good all-rounders that did not favour any particular genre. Overall, very good speakers that are definitely worth an audition. I played a wide variety of music through these speakers:
- Pink Floyd - Another brick in the wall, lost for words
- BB King - Ghetto woman
- Dave Brubeck - Take Five
- Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
- Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
- Eric Clapton (Unplugged) - Layla, Tears in Heaven
- Carole King-James Taylor - Machine Gun Kelly
- Katie Melua - Nine Million Bicycles, Two Bare Feet
- Rockstar (Hindi Movie OST) - Jo Bhi Main
- Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Nit Khair Manga Sohneya
- KK - Pyaar Ke Pal, Yaaron
- Kadri Gopalnath - Kaapaali
- Pandit Jasraj (Raga Symphony) - Solace in darkness, Sacred Sound
The Q-10s were not really in the same league as the Kontras, though they did all that the Kontras did, albeit at a smaller scale. Like the Kontras, they worked well with all genres of music and did not favour any one genre. One peeve that I did have with the Q-10 was that the high end was a bit too sharp for my taste. Playing Eric Clapton's unplugged CD, I really had to tell Rajiv to change the CD since my ears had begun to hurt from the sharpness of the acoustic guitar. Rajiv too agreed that the Q-10 are a bit brighter than the Kontras. I was also not very happy with the integration of the sub and the bookshelves. They seemed a little out of sync with each other.....though Rajiv said that it can be improved with better placement. Most of the songs that I played on the Kontras were repeated with the Q-10s. Again there are so many factors that affect the sound that what sounds harsh (to my ears) in one setup could sound totally different in another setup with a different set of components. The Q-10s are definitely very decent speakers, though it was not exactly to my taste.
MRP quoted by Rajiv for the Kontras were 1.4L + VAT and for the Q-10s, 57K + VAT. I did not discuss any discounts with Rajiv.
Rajiv is planning to launch a new reference speaker called the Karma in the next couple of months, though I reckon it will be priced even higher than the Kontras.
On a side note, Rajiv seems like a great guy...very friendly and un-assuming, and did not at any point indulge in the usual sales BS that we are so used to. I would have no hesitation in buying from him if all other factors fall into place.
P.S - I was not thinking of writing a review about Lithos on the forum at the time of the audition; hence have no photographs of the speakers.
Regards,
APK
Before I start this review, I would like to put some context around the review. I have always been a keen follower of Indian made Hi-Fi. Not because I have anything against a foreign brand, but more so because by the time these foreign equipments reach our shores, you end up paying too much money for what it is worth. I have always felt that the Indian hi-fi manufacturers such as Lyrita, AP, Lithos, Norge, Cadence, Rethm etc could potentially give you more bang for your buck than a foreign brand.
I currently own a pair of speakers from Enbee. Amplification is a pre-power combination, also from Enbee. I have had this setup for around 3-4 years now, and was looking to move a step up. Hence the audition of Lithos, since it was one of the brands that I was interested in.
I met up with Rajiv (Lithos owner) at his demo room in Bandra, Mumbai. Lithos has three speakers in their range. The Noa is the smallest and are more suited as surrounds for a HT application. Next up is the Q-10, which are narrow bookshelves in MTM configuration, paired with a powered sub-woofer (Q-bic). The bookshelves and the sub are sold together since the bookshelves by themselves cannot produce much low end. The top of the line speakers are the Kontras, which is again a pair of MTM bookshelves placed on top of individual powered sub-units (i.e, the total system consists of 2 subs and 2 bookshelves, with the bookshelves designed to be placed over the subs). You can find more details of the speakers at the Lithos web-site.
Now to the sound (which is what really matters!)......of course the usual caveat applies "this is purely my personal opinion, based on my tastes and preferences. Many factors contribute to the quality of the sound, including source, amplifiers, cables, environment etc..etcYMMV"
I did not hear the Noa, and only heard the Q-10s and the Kontras. Both the speakers were powered by a NAD power amplifier with a high end Yamaha AVR doing duty as the pre-amp. The source was a DVD player, with digital out into the AVR's DAC. Rajiv had a huge collection of FLACs on his HDD connected to the AVR, but since I had brought my own CDs, we played them through the DVD player-Yamaha AVR-NAD combo.
The Kontras are quite good speakers, and did a lot of things right. Has good clarity, imaging, soundstage, nice tight bass, and was very easy to listen to. I was impressed by the depth of the image.....the speakers were pulled quite a bit into the room, with a good 8 odd feet of space behind. You could really get a very good sense of depth from these speakers, especially on well recorded music. You could easily pick out the different instruments even in complex music without losing the overall musicality. Though the Kontra subs are not very large (they were 8 inchers), the quality of the bass was very good, and was more than sufficient for a medium-large room. I felt that the Kontras were good all-rounders that did not favour any particular genre. Overall, very good speakers that are definitely worth an audition. I played a wide variety of music through these speakers:
- Pink Floyd - Another brick in the wall, lost for words
- BB King - Ghetto woman
- Dave Brubeck - Take Five
- Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
- Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
- Eric Clapton (Unplugged) - Layla, Tears in Heaven
- Carole King-James Taylor - Machine Gun Kelly
- Katie Melua - Nine Million Bicycles, Two Bare Feet
- Rockstar (Hindi Movie OST) - Jo Bhi Main
- Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Nit Khair Manga Sohneya
- KK - Pyaar Ke Pal, Yaaron
- Kadri Gopalnath - Kaapaali
- Pandit Jasraj (Raga Symphony) - Solace in darkness, Sacred Sound
The Q-10s were not really in the same league as the Kontras, though they did all that the Kontras did, albeit at a smaller scale. Like the Kontras, they worked well with all genres of music and did not favour any one genre. One peeve that I did have with the Q-10 was that the high end was a bit too sharp for my taste. Playing Eric Clapton's unplugged CD, I really had to tell Rajiv to change the CD since my ears had begun to hurt from the sharpness of the acoustic guitar. Rajiv too agreed that the Q-10 are a bit brighter than the Kontras. I was also not very happy with the integration of the sub and the bookshelves. They seemed a little out of sync with each other.....though Rajiv said that it can be improved with better placement. Most of the songs that I played on the Kontras were repeated with the Q-10s. Again there are so many factors that affect the sound that what sounds harsh (to my ears) in one setup could sound totally different in another setup with a different set of components. The Q-10s are definitely very decent speakers, though it was not exactly to my taste.
MRP quoted by Rajiv for the Kontras were 1.4L + VAT and for the Q-10s, 57K + VAT. I did not discuss any discounts with Rajiv.
Rajiv is planning to launch a new reference speaker called the Karma in the next couple of months, though I reckon it will be priced even higher than the Kontras.
On a side note, Rajiv seems like a great guy...very friendly and un-assuming, and did not at any point indulge in the usual sales BS that we are so used to. I would have no hesitation in buying from him if all other factors fall into place.
P.S - I was not thinking of writing a review about Lithos on the forum at the time of the audition; hence have no photographs of the speakers.
Regards,
APK
