Rich sound, very balanced response through all ranges

Wiring

I have a pair of Norman 10s that I bought new in 1977. They quit working about 10 years ago and went unused for quite a few years. A couple of years ago my son got interested in them and I told him that if he could get them fixed he could have them. He found a place that specialized in classic speakers and they discovered that all that was wrong with them was the wireing had gone bad (a weakness pointed out in some of the other reviews). When we got them home they sounded so good that I kept them. I bought them at a high end audio store in Beaumont Texas and was told at the time that the company was founded by ex-AR engineers. For some reason I think that the company was in Norman Oklahoma but I could be wrong. I have not heard any modern speakers that can beat them for richness of sound.

very musical, very accurate and clear

horrible binding posts, but those can be changed.

I found pair of model 8's at a flea market for $5 and bought them because it was apparant that whoever built them was serious about speakers. They are amazing little speakers, very sweet and warm sounding. The model 8's have a 10 inch woofer and a tweeter set forward on a wooden block. I don't know anything about Norman Labs, but if I ever see any more around, I will snatch them up. Very good speakers, where ever they came from.

Clarity, presence, solid sound. Built well. Beuatiful walnut.

Spring posts for speaker wire

Actually Model 10. Decided to purchase this pair of speakers from an individual, even though reviews are hard to come by and the company is out of business for about five years now. They were just too beautiful and majestic looking and the few reviews I'd seen were all favorable.

Initial observations were that they were constructed solidly of perhaps walnut veneer material, with very good fit and finish. There are dual 10" woofers and dual tweeters in each. Tweeters are possibly dome or peizo. I suspect that the woofers are hooked in parallel, which results in the 4 ohm rating. Anyway, the placement of the tweeters into a surface mounted wooden stand-off is interesting. There is actually a cut-out for it in the cover board/cloth. This, in effect, causes the tweeters to protrude to nearly right behind the cloth. I can only speculate that this was an attempt to minimize the effects of the cover to distort the high frequency signal by even the slightest channelization. There again, this is only speculation, but it makes the most sense. The speakers are truly beautiful and the only weakness I could visually detect was the spring binders, similar to cheap speakers.

I've run them off of a Sony STR-D965, Yamaha HTR-5250, and my fovorite little amp,,, the Hafler DH-220.

Use with both the receivers resulted in a first impression of "Wow, these things sound incredibly clear." The systems needed very little tweeking to get the sound that I wanted. A little more low end bass would be nice though. These speakers sound like they should for acoustic suspension speakers with dual 10" woofers. There is plenty of bass, it just isn't as deep as you might want. I think they bottom out at about 40Hz or so.

Then I tried the Hafler amp. Initially there didn't seem to be a lot of difference. Then I turned up the volume and noticed a slightly, but noticeable, increase in the bass. The Hafler amp is rated at 115 wpc but probably doing a little more considering the 4 ohm load. This amp really makes them come to life. I'm considering a Nad 2200 or 2600 now. That could make a difference.

Conclusion: These speakers are built really well and sound great. They are a perfect replacement for other quality speakers of their same type. If you want deep earthshaking bass then get a different speaker or a subwoofer with these. They sound fantastic for music listening or for home theatre setup. Very good speakers. Good luck finding some though.

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Infinity, Klipsch, Polk Audio

These speakers are extremely accurate. They compare favorably with my old Polk 10b monitors. The highs are very detailed and the bass, while not as deep or powerful as the Polk's, is more than enough for the smaller rooms they are designed for. I'm currently using them as near-field speakers. I would be interested in someone else's review of these formidable speakers. I rate them at a 5.

great clarity and detail high output capability. these speakers are solidly built too.

spring speaker connecters.

best sounding speakers i have owned.i have the model ten towers. these speakers are rated to handel any home amp up to theclipping point of the amp. these speakers sound simular to lascalas,fast transient response,low distortion,great detail,but flatter midrange and smoother treble. these speakers need high quality amplification though. they want sound very good with cheap recivers. these speakers are 4omh and below over bass range. they fried a pioneer receiver i had. they are also very efficent 94db. these speakers can actually make your skin tingle with bass output! something very few speakers can do. sadly norman lab went out of buisness in 1995 because they refused to avertise. they said magizines were all about money from adds and did not tell the truth. buy these if you can find. you wont be dissapointed.

Similar Products Used:

klipsch lascalas,heresys.paradigms,bose,polk audio.