Review

Lyrix Complete Review - Audio & Video Lifestyle - Australia

01 Jul 1994

Krix, a South Australian based company specialising in the design and manufacture of speaker systems, was established in 1975 and is a well respected name in this country. The company is also well known in the professional sound market, completing nearly 200 'cinema sound system' installations in Australia to date.

This experience has contributed to the development of a soon to be released series of surround sound speaker packages, and the new Lyrix reviewed here, which has been engineered as domestic hi fi speaker with applications in audio/visual situations.

The Lyrix is a tall and nicely proportioned speaker. Its 'tower' style of design creates an attractive visual impression without monopolising too much available floor space. Indeed, the 'footprint' of the speaker is only 310 mm deep and 210 mm wide. However, the most impressive aspect of the Lyrix's aesthetic design is without doubt the finish, as well as the quality of finish, of its cabinet.

The speaker is available in black wood grain and also in both oak and jarrah wood veneer. Our review sample used the latter, a rich and lustrous Australian timber which has a deep burgundy like colouring and a beautiful (and real) wood grain pattern. Krix has ensured that its cabinet making using the Timber Veneer hasn't compromised the intrinsic beauty of the timber, in fact, the quality of the joinery is among the best I have seen. Remove the grille covers and the Lyrix system looks gorgeous.

Krix has incorporated three drivers into a two way configuration in the Lyrix. Per speaker, two 165 mm diameter drivers are used to provide bass and lower midrange reproduction, while a 25 mm diameter dome tweeter is used to handle upper midrange and treble. These drivers have been configured along a single central axis on the front panel, with the tweeter placed between the bass drivers. This design places the tweeters of the Lyrix system ideally at ear level when seated and in my experience also adds elements of ambience to both upper bass and midrange performance.

The woofer driver used appears more or less conventional, with metal chassis and a stiff diaphragm coated with what appears to be a type of plastic. Called 'point source' alignment the effect is a vast improvement in the ability of the Lyrix system to present a sound stage which is accurate and has believable width and depth.

The same effect can be achieved by 'doctoring' the crossover network (which feeds the right electronic music signals to the right drivers), but at a cost to performance through the introduction of a variety of anomalies courtesy of the aforementioned 'doctoring'.

Correct physical placement to achieve point source alignment is far more preferable (and often used) and in the Lyrix is efficiently achieved through the selection of the right driver for the task at hand.

The woofers in the system operate in a large enclosure and are vented to the rear via a very wide portal opening which pushes out bass produced by the rear movement of the drivers to support that which is front generated. This combination of dual woofers, large internal cabinet volume and rear reflex loading provides a very workable formula for sensational bass performance. Added to this is the fact that rear projected bass can and does use the back and side wall boundaries of the room as a natural and additional means of enhancement.

Krix has designed the Lyrix to present a nominal four ohm load or resistance to amplifiers. Apart from the care required in using these speakers simultaneously with another set to prevent damage to the amplifier, this engineering stance means that less amplifier power is required to reach desired listening levels. As a result, the Lyrix is a speaker compatible with a wide variety of amplifiers or, more accurately, amplifier power ratings.

We used the 40 watt RMS NAD model 705 receiver, harman/kardon's 60 watt RMS model 6350R and the 110 watts RMS Technics SUVX920 with equally excellent results. I recommend an amplifier with a rated output of 30 watts RMS per channel as a minimum for the Lyrix. Obviously that means good quality power from respected amplifier manufacturers, and the more power the better (the speakers really 'sang' when matched with ME's model 25 pre amplifier and 750 power amplifier set up!).

The first subjective impressions of the Lyrix system I received was of almost prodigious bass output, with well above average extension. What's more, detail in this area of the sound spectrum was very good indeed. A great deal of contemporary music relies heavily on bass as a means of emotional transference. In poor systems this comes across as a monotonous single note beat, when in reality much of it carries a great deal of information, information which the Lyrix lets you not only hear, but also feel.

Indeed, the intricate bottom end grooves in nearly every track on Prince's new Love Symbol album were reproduced with true impact and revelatory exposure of nuance. The interesting side benefit of the bass performance of the Lyrix is that the speakers can be located well away from rear and side walls with no deterioration in performance. In fact, I found the speakers performed at their optimum when placed about a metre from both room boundaries.

The interesting side benefit of this placement is that it opened up an incredibly wide and detailed sound stage. This highlighted the fact that many recordings, previously not acknowledged for their ambience or holographic effects, did indeed present a nice illusion of space (doubtlessly the staging of instruments and performers within that sound stage was assisted by the Lyrix's point source driver configuration).

The almost 'free air' environment also improved midrange performance from the Lyrix. When placed close to the rear wall, the speakers tended to give instruments and vocals (female in particular) a slightly harsh and nasal quality, ('Three Babies' by Sinead O'Connor from her I Do Not Want album as a prime example). But, when the Lyrix was separated from room boundaries, the midrange sweetened brilliantly; O'Connor became plaintive and emotion charged; Marv Black was as smooth and sweet as ever, and Sara K. (her brilliant new album Closer Than They Appear on the Chesky label) appeared pure and absolutely believable. The tie in with bass gave male singers (Domingo's Nessun Dorma and Kenny Rankin with his Chesky release Because Of You) a positive a masculine quality which conveyed authority without aggression.

Incredibly impressive was the ability of the Lyrix system to sound brilliant at lower listening levels; where the sound balance, so often truncated and limited in this application with other speakers, was absolutely full bodied and very well detailed.

So it was with a whole bunch of discs listened to through the Lyrix; lots of enjoyable music with, often, new insights into well known performances. Indeed, it was difficult to rationalise the high performance with the seemingly low price of these speakers. The Lyrix highlighted the frustration often experienced when evaluated products which are supplied on loan, liked and loved, and then returned to the manufacturer or distributor (even though this particular system was with us for a number of months).

The cost efficiency of this floor standing design should also be highlighted. Small twoway speakers are popular and usually relatively inexpensive items to purchase, but the value aspect is eroded when the cost of stands (which are usually necessary) is added to the tally.

There are no such hidden charges with the Lyrix. What you see is what you need. . . and what you get is a great sounding and looking speaker which is designed and made here in Australia!

- Audio & Video Lifestyle - Australia , Richard Morgan

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