Why is lithos acoustics not making a noise?

suri

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At Lithos Acoustics, the mission statement includes -

"We will always put our passion for speaker design and engineering, love for music and zest for life over the need to be profitable.

We wont be dictated to by market forces... We will define them.

Welcome to Lithos Acoustics. "

that is the work of a confident person who believes in himself/herself.

So why no discussion of lithos loudspeakers in this forum?
 
A lot of people have mentioned them and suggested them on this forum, but i am yet to hear a proper review of their stuff. Anyone?
 
I heard the Noa 2.1. I did not get a proper audition hence did not buy it. But I would any day go for these if I wanted a multichannel setup rather than buy a "phoren" brand with 100% markup. :)

Cheers
 
what did you manage to listen on it? and even allowing for the imperfections of the audition, what preliminary impressions did you get?

I heard the Noa 2.1. I did not get a proper audition hence did not buy it. But I would any day go for these if I wanted a multichannel setup rather than buy a "phoren" brand with 100% markup. :)

Cheers
 
I heard the Lithos Noa1 with its sub a long time ago in the residence of Lithos owner Mr. Rajiv. This was connected to a Marantz CD Player and Amp. I did like the sound that was coming from such tiny speakers, and as Rajiv said, you could listen to it for hours without any fatigue.

Lithos also got an award from AV MAX as the best Indian Speaker in it's price range.

As I had mentioned elsewhere, Indian manufacturers tend to stay regional and do not have the energy to sell or distribute across the country. Most of these are small operations run by one or two people with a passion for what they do. I am, of course, leaving out Sonodyne, Ahuja and such companies.

I wish some of these guys use HFV to propagate their products. We can add a lot of value to their products and brand. Remember what that Mini Watt did?

Cheers
 
LITHOS!! Please listen to their Kontra speaker. It beats a lot of similarly pWith a budget of Rs 1 L, this is one speaker you HAVE TO audition. (And the demo is with pretty basic NAD pre/power combo). Good stuff!!
 
what did you manage to listen on it? and even allowing for the imperfections of the audition, what preliminary impressions did you get?

Dispersion, tonality laid back easy-going sound. Actually I listened to the eagles so the music may have a role to play in my opinion. It was driven by a NAD 355. Unfortunately the stands were cast-iron and gave a very subtle metallic sewer-pipe effect that I felt. On good mounting they will shine. They come with wall brackets for the satellites. Edit: If room space is a constraint, these are the ones to go for. They can be very easily mounted on wall corners at 7 foot height.

Cheers
 
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I am really looking forward to listen to a review of this particular model- kontra speakers from one of our AV enthusiasts in this forum.I have been waiting for the avmax/what hifi mags to review any of the lithos speaker models.I am a subscriber to both the magazines and i think(if my memory did not fail me) i have read somewhere in one of the threads in this forum that nishant padhair of what hifi magazine saying that he wants to give special attention to indian brands in his magazine. But that didnt materialise till now. Lets hope we see lot many reviews of these spks from our forum members.
 
At Lithos Acoustics, the mission statement includes -

"We will always put our passion for speaker design and engineering, love for music and zest for life over the need to be profitable.

We wont be dictated to by market forces... We will define them.

Welcome to Lithos Acoustics. "

that is the work of a confident person who believes in himself/herself.

So why no discussion of lithos loudspeakers in this forum?


I have read a little about them on the forums and would love to audition them once. I have not seen any of my contacts/friends in owning a pair.

Aside from this, I am a bit wary of their mission statement as they may not be around for too long if only pursue their passion. This passion needs lots of money esp. if you are running a manufacturing unit. In addition to publicity they also appear to need a good marketing and sales team atleast for post sales support.
 
I really think that if they believe in their products this much and believe that their products are this good, they should send out review samples to places like 6moons and other prominent review sites, so that there's at least some publicity and some critical reviews of their gear available. Just their website and their marketing spiel will not be enough to convince the layperson to even give their stuff a listen. Also their (what look like) computer generated images of their speakers, don't inspire much confidence. Some good photographs on the website would have been a much better idea. While I admire their principle of passion over profit, some clever investment in marketing would be necessary to sell these speakers and keep their passion alive!
 
Hello Cranky,
that's a very nice post. I guess the biggest problem that music industry is facing these days is ease of availibility. It is so easy to copy cds and make mp3 and to make them available to people that people are loosing the admiration for good quality music as they are not exclusive. I am talking about the masses. In my opinion too much convinience makes people a bit dull as they don't have to think harder to come up with innovative solutions to make things much simpler. vinyls should be revived big way in my opinion since it doesn't allow people to copy at ease and people have to spend the money to get the music they really want.what I mean to say if you get something just by some copy paste stuff its difficult to appreciate the quality.Sice the mass is not caring for music quality so they are least bothered about the gear that is producing the music.
Thanks.
 
Lithos should be shouting from the rooftops on the speakers they make. I have been using Lithos for 8 years now, the lastest being the Kontra's for the past 8 months.

I use it with the NAD C355BEE, which powers the Kontras beautifully. You can listen to these speakers for hours and never get tired.

I am also a vinyl freak and the sound of Mary Black or David Roth on the Rega to the Kontra is nothing short of breathtaking. The speakers just take it all in and throw out every detail.

If there is anyone who would like to come and hear this combination, feel free to get in touch with me on [email protected].
 
Guys - another issue with low visibility/growth - of these 1 and 2 person operations is absolute disregard to marketing their products (not that I am accusing Lithos specifically about that). I used to review equipment for soundstage in the US - and when I moved back to India a couple of years ago - I was offered to continue my work - albeit with Indian brands. I contacted a couple of mfrs (shall remain unnamed) - and guess what - I got a big cold shoulder:sad:- I had pretty decent high end equipment - a decent dedicated listening room, some experience (3 years of reviewing products in the $1 - $2k range for an international audience), but no one was interested in sending any equipment for review. What would it cost other than the shipping? and they would have a review for a worldwide audience. Anyways - I now a have a gig with 6moons but I am going slow because I am not sure that any small Indian mfrs are ready to be exposed (other than obvious names like Rethm) to a wider audience. Just my 2 paisa please - and not a criticism of Indian mfrs. Indeed I think they are a talented lot and with right marketing can do wonders.
Cheers
Sid
 
Lithos should be shouting from the rooftops on the speakers they make. I have been using Lithos for 8 years now, the lastest being the Kontra's for the past 8 months.

I use it with the NAD C355BEE, which powers the Kontras beautifully. You can listen to these speakers for hours and never get tired.

I am also a vinyl freak and the sound of Mary Black or David Roth on the Rega to the Kontra is nothing short of breathtaking. The speakers just take it all in and throw out every detail.

If there is anyone who would like to come and hear this combination, feel free to get in touch with me on [email protected].


I believe you. I heard the lower end Noa1 and it sounded close to how you describe the Kontras. :)

Regards
 
Sadly most 'audio experts' and manufacturers here fall victims to audiophile snobbery. They resort more to pseudo-intellectual jingoism rather than converting more of us to this satisfying hobby.

I am relatively new to this hobby. When I was starting my journey a few years back, I visited a well regarded local spkr and amp maker in Bangalore. My novice questions probably irked him, he shooed me away telling me to come back when I was over 30 years and started listening to hindustani (in so many words :mad: ) He could well have educated me and I might have put my money down on his table.

On the other hand we have something like Viren, who has a small show running but treats all customers alike. No wonder, a lot of discussions take place here on Lyrita's wares. Another person like him was Mr. Nakra of Enbee.

Sidvee, maybe local makers probably cold shouldered you coz they are not confident of themselves. A negative objective review may shatter their reputation built on hype and hot air.

Retailing a product is as much about building brand image and awareness as it is about performance and reliability. If you are in the business of selling, you cannot choose one over the other. You don't need to have big bux for doing that. The web 2.0 platform provides ample opportunity to tap the potential of internet to spread your word around (comms like HFV, social media like facebook or twitter). All you need to do is to back it up with being available and approachable to the prospective customer.

A word to the retailers too...big brands may draw the attention and bring the layman to your store but promoting indian brands may also bring you some volume. Very few Indian brands are sold by those other than the makers themselves (Sonodyne, Cadence, and Rethm come to mind). I can't make a trip to Mumbai or Coimbattore when I want to listen to Lithos or Audire. They should be available where the customer is. The manufacturers by themselves would not be able to spend that much, local dealers, retailers should do their bit here...Why can't they tie up with local makers? No real money there?

At the end, it is more about economy of scale and simple supply chain fundas that keep these brands localized...and what is needed is a concerted effort to break this shackles. If the dealers/manufacturers can't do that, maybe fellow HFV members who possess these makes can open their doors to others who might want to check them out...

...thus ends my rant...

:cheers:
 
As Soulforged mentioned "Audiosnobbery" by some Indian mfrs. - I have an instance of exactly the opposite reaction by the Chinese Mfrs. when their audio sales in the international market was just gathering steam. I made a business trip to Shanghai in early 2000. Since I had heard of Aurum Cantus I e-mailed them asking for info. on their products and also casually mentioned that I would be in China and would like to audition their speakers. Guess what - they took pains to find out which hotel I was staying - then proceeded to let their dealer in Shanghai know that I would be visiting - and then also mailed me directions to the mall from my hotel in Chinese - so that I could get a taxi there! By this time Aurum Cantus was fairly large - their ribbon tweeters having caused a big stir. Regardless they went the extra mile and I did end up buying a pair of Lesiure III speakers.
Just goes to show that they knew the value of cutomer service, even for one customer - and as a result a larger number of their brands have good recognition worldwide now.
 
As Soulforged mentioned "Audiosnobbery" by some Indian mfrs. - I have an instance of exactly the opposite reaction by the Chinese Mfrs. when their audio sales in the international market was just gathering steam. I made a business trip to Shanghai in early 2000. Since I had heard of Aurum Cantus I e-mailed them asking for info. on their products and also casually mentioned that I would be in China and would like to audition their speakers. Guess what - they took pains to find out which hotel I was staying - then proceeded to let their dealer in Shanghai know that I would be visiting - and then also mailed me directions to the mall from my hotel in Chinese - so that I could get a taxi there! By this time Aurum Cantus was fairly large - their ribbon tweeters having caused a big stir. Regardless they went the extra mile and I did end up buying a pair of Lesiure III speakers.
Just goes to show that they knew the value of cutomer service, even for one customer - and as a result a larger number of their brands have good recognition worldwide now.

Wow!! What a dream .... :) I too have walked away from a purchase with big bucks in my pocket because of indifferent attitude of sales person many a time not just in audio purchases.

The funny thing is everytime I project myself as not enslaved by consumer greed to possess and own that product "right now", and in control, the salesman appears to feel deflated and loses interest in answering any questions.

Regards
 
This happened with me maybe when i was 18 or 19 years old. Like all in my age i was also wanting big bass from my system. That time we did not have so much exposure with internet, so i was not so well versed with difference between active / passive subs, how to connect them to a stereo amp and other basic things.
I feel pretty sad to say that the manufacturer i visited did not guide me well and did not advise me properly and i ended up buying 2 passive subs, one of which till date i have not used. I know he is there to do business but having good suggestions from him would have helped me saving some money.
On the other hand we have people like Mr. Viren Bakshi who will not mind giving you advice even if you are not sure of buying his products.
Its now that we have sites like Hifivision where with interaction with many we can know about things which we are not clear with
All i say is dealer and manufacturers who sell directly can do good by being helpful and not being snobbish. After all they are not selling domestic products and everyone does not know everything from birth
 
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Hi,

I had auditioned Lithos Acoustics in bandra Mumbai and also met Mr Rajeev. I heard the Lithos Q10 and the Q-bic subwoofer. I remember listening to Dire Straits, UB40 and Indipop. Came out really well. I did not try the fast music or hard rock as it is not too much to my taste but Mr Rajeev's knowledge and guidance appeared good.

You know - i ended up buying a Harman Kardon AVR 255 & JBL monitor speaker system primarily because i was unsure about the sub woofer. I could not understand why Lithos had a amplifier box outside the sub woofer while other manufacturers sub woofer came inbuilt with amplifier.

This is not to say that the sound was not good. This is NOT TO DETRACT from Lithos in any way. Am sure some of forum members may like Lithos and i hope the brand ( like few other good indian ones ) does well.

BTW - I heard the Kontra as well - I think the sound was GREAT !! But at 1 lac a pair.. it was too big for my pockets.

I notice many new members asking questions like " best system with AVR at about 85K "... then i would suggest they consider either Harman Kardon AVR 255 ( or Denon 1610 / 1910 or Marantz 5003 / 6003 ) + wither the Noa or the Q10 .. depending on your room size. I am sure many of you will like the sound.

( Audiophiles.. may go the stereo or.. 2 channel way )

Other thing - the prices of Q10 and Noa are quite reasonable for the sound they produce.

PS ; I do not represent Lithos. Just a member of this forum and a user of a 5.1 system

Regards,
mpw
 
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