For the Featured Product of the quarter, we are again going with TWO featured products, this time from the same audio company. The Nola Boxer and Nola Contender Speakers. Nola Speakers have long been known for their flagship speakers, the $278k Grand Reference and the $55k Baby Grand Reference Speakers. While these speakers represent some of the highest aspirations in music reproduction, the prices are out of reach for most of us. Here’s where the ‘Trickle Down Theory’ really works. Loud speaker designer Carl Marchisotto really believes in bringing all he knows from the high end, to… well… the more affordable price range for the common man. While not ‘inexpensive,’ the $1,500/pair Nola Boxer and the $3,600/pair Nola Contender truly represent some of the best music reproduction in their price ranges. He also designed them to play where it really counts, the mid-range. At Stereotypes Audio, we believe that a speaker should truly convey the natural qualities of music. A piano should sound like a piano, and guitar should sound like a guitar. (That’s why we are such fans of the ProAc line of speakers). Nola speakers get this right, and bring to this a very exciting and dynamic full presentation that you have to hear to truly appreciate!
The Nola Boxer at $1,500/pair is positioned right in the middle price range between $1,000 and $2,000, and it has no peer at this price point for a stand mounted speaker. In a very small footprint, they turn out very respectable bass, with an extremely natural mid-range sound, top to bottom coherence, and an immersive soundstage, all while giving you a very exciting presentation that is neither shy, nor fatiguing. The Absolute Sound has rated it one of it’s top speakers in this price range. It’s 2-way monitor design uses one low-mass 6.5″ bass/mid-range driver, with a high frequency/high resolution silk dome tweeter. Bass response is rated down to 44 Hz. Rated at 90 db sensitivity, you can power it with even ‘real world’ electronics. You can read more about the Nola Boxer specs here. And a review of it here and here.
The Nola Contender is the new kid on the block, adding another great value to the Nola line up of more ‘affordable’ speakers. This is a great option for those that want even more of the Boxer ‘magic’. It’s a slim floor-standing loudspeaker with the same drivers as the Boxer, but adding a second bass/mid-range driver lower in the cabinet. Each bass driver is housed in a separate chamber and is individually ported, with the top driver out the rear, and the bottom downward firing. This is a true 3-way speaker system, that has the same great coherence as the 2-way stand mount. It too is very efficient at 90 db, allowing you to drive it with even low power tube amps. You can read more about the Nola Contender technical specs here. Read a review here and here.
For those that are not only desiring a great two channel music playback setup, but also a really killer home theater/multi-channel set up, the Nola Contenders and Boxers are perfect for this, using the Contenders as the front channels, the Boxers as the rears, and adding the available Announcer Center Channel to the fronts. The Announcer employs the same two 6.5 inch bass/mid-range drivers and high resolution silk dome tweeters as the Boxer/Contender. A home theater with this Nola line up would make one amazingly dynamic and musically accurate set up!
Come in and audition the Nola Boxers and Contenders today!
