March 2002 Reviewed by Wes Phillips	Norwex B-2 Nisse / C-1 Dverg / SW-1 Troll Home-Theater Speaker System

Description Model: B-2 Nisse speakers (mains and surrounds) Price: $995 USD per pair Dimensions: 9"H x 7"W x 9"D Weight: 20 pounds each Model: C-1 Dverg center-channel speaker Price: $595 USD Dimensions: 13.5"W x 8"H x 6"D Weight: 20 pounds Model: SW-1 Troll subwoofer Price: $695 USD Dimensions: 10"H x 23"W x 15"D Weight: 40 pounds	Description (cont'd) System price: $3280 USD purchased individually, $2995 as a system package Warranty: Five years parts and labor Features Gloss-black or gray finish (other colors optional) Soft-dome tweeters Ported enclosures Passive crossover (SW-1 Troll) Magnetically shielded (C-1 Dverg) Factory-fitted for speaker brackets Custom stands available

I received a message last winter from Mr. Harald Aasland, owner and chief designer for Norwex loudspeakers, asking if I'd like to audition Norwex's products. I was unfamiliar with the line, but I was fascinated by Mr. Aasland's return address: Palmyra, VA -- a sleepy little Piedmont backwater not far from my youthful stomping grounds of Charlottesville, VA. Lulled by this granfaloon, I agreed to audition his $3280 home-theater speaker system unseen, unheard and unwitting.

While I waited on the system, I did some research and discovered an article in the Charlottesville Business Journal, which filled me in on Norwex. Mr. Aasland's interest in hi-fi dates back to 1969, when he became fascinated by the press the Bose 901s were receiving. He contacted Bose, bought a sample pair and, within a year, was the exclusive Bose importer for Norway. When Bose opened a Scandinavian office, he signed on as Norway's national sales manager and remained in that position until Bose closed the office in 1979. Mr. Aasland then moved to the US and worked as an automotive engineer for Peugeot and Hyundai Motor America. But, the Journal states, he never lost his love for hi-fi and, in 1989, he set out to design better speakers than those he heard in the stores he'd visited.

His loudspeakers feature European drivers and hard-wired, hand-assembled crossovers. Aasland assembles the speakers by hand, himself, and "using his auditory senses" tests and tunes the speakers himself.

Enter the cast . . .

The speakers arrived at my house in stages. First, a pair of the diminutive $995 per pair B-2 Nisse -- a 9"H x 7"W x 9"D two-way with a 1" soft-dome tweeter and a 4.5" midrange/woofer. The ported cabinet was finished in a gloss-black finish and factory-fitted with a connector for wall-mount speaker brackets.

Shortly thereafter, a second pair of B-2 Nisse showed up for rear-channel duties, accompanied by a $595 C-1 Dverg center-channel. The C-1, a shallow (13.5"W x 8"H x 6"D), shielded, ported cabinet, sported the same driver complement, gloss-black finish and speaker-bracket hardware as the B-2 Nisse.

Later, I received the SW-1 Troll, a $695 ported, passive subwoofer with an 8" driver that has a dual voice coil. A passive high-pass filter/connection box was also included -- it crosses the subwoofer over at 70Hz with a 12dB/octave slope.

I wasn't exactly bowled over by what I had received. As a high-end veteran, I'm used to seeing big price tags on small components, but the Norwex prices and component parts that constituted the speakers didn't seem to jibe. The gloss finish on the speakers was handsome enough, but it was applied over dust particles and had quite a bit of orange-peel dimpling apparent. The drivers were not particularly distinguished -- which is not to say that they are poor quality.

The ports seemed uniformly small for the enclosures they were "tuning." This was most apparent on the subwoofer, but was equally true for the B-2 and C-1 -- in fact, the C-1's port was located on its rear panel, which was so close to the speaker's front panel that the port tube was forced to form a "J."

The subwoofer was also a disappointment -- a $700 passive subwoofer is a hard sell these days. And its legs were 2" "broomstick" dowels crudely screwed onto the cabinet -- all four were slightly skewed, so the sub sat unsteadily on splayed legs like a newborn calf. The accompanying high-pass filter/connection box had red label-tape identifying the various connections.

The overall fit'n'finish was closer to a well-constructed DIY project than a professionally turned-out system.

I couldn't help contrasting it with my established reference, the $3680 Soliloquy speaker system, which includes a 125W active subwoofer. The Soliloquys are constructed of 1" MDF covered in figured-maple veneer, finished with a satin lacquer that is flawless. The Soliloquy 5.0s, C-3 and SAT5 employ custom-built substantial drive units. The S10 subwoofer is a ported, powered sub with a 10" aluminum woofer with an active crossover. For the small difference in price, you seem to get a heck of a lot more speaker from Soliloquy.

Solo . . .

On its own, however, the Norwex system sounded surprisingly robust, given its small size. The subwoofer, which I powered with a B&K Reference 220M monoblock, didn't stay in for long -- it boomed and chuffed so egregiously, that I quickly replaced it with the $350 Parts Express Titanic kit sub which was tight and controlled for half the money (self-powered, too).

Once I substituted the 10" Titanic for the SW-1 Troll, the sound of the Norwex system tightened up. The sound was dynamic and detailed. I was dubious about the C-1 Dverg center-channel, but it was articulate and capable of keeping dialogue comprehensible even in the loudest action scenes.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shrek through the Norwex/Titanic system. Tracking from left front to center to right front was reasonably uniform, although the C-1 was a tad lighter in sonic "weight" than the B-2 Nisse -- a difference that was, however, more noticeable with test tones than when watching movies.

Shrek has a lot of information in the rear channels -- especially in the "Disney" animation sequences -- and the B-2 Nisse as a surround speaker was more than up to the test of presenting this information naturally and with superb detail.

Similarly, the Norwex/Titanic system acquitted itself well with action films, such as the seriously under-appreciated The 13th Warrior. The battle sequences were completely immersive and Jerry Goldsmith's score was lush and evocative -- informing the action without obscuring it.

Taken on its own, the Norwex B-2 Nisse/C-1 Dverg system was enjoyable and impressive. In direct comparison to the Soliloquy HT system, it was slightly less so.

Ensemble . . .

The Soliloquy system simply moved more air. Good as the Norwex system sounded, the Soliloquys sounded more relaxed and less "shouty." The Norwex also imparted a chesty quality to male voices -- it was a "manly" sound, but it was strangely consistent no matter who was speaking.

The Soliloquys also had greater dynamic range than the Norwex system. I know I've already stated that the Norwex system was dynamic -- taken on its own, it is. It's especially impressive at recreating the big sounds and sudden transients so beloved by moviemakers. However, dynamic range describes the difference between the loudest and softest sounds a component is capable of -- and there's no question that the Soliloquys were capable of putting far more space between those extremes than the Norwex.

This led me to wonder how the B-2 Nisse would fare against some of the affordable two-channel loudspeakers that have so impressed me of late, so I unpacked my $275 per pair, Axiom Audio Millennia M3Ti and set them on stands next to the B-2 Nisses. With simple material, such as the solo voices of Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt on Live at the Bluebird Café [American Originals AMO 4006-2], the two were not all that different. The Norwex made Townes Van Zandt sound a little more masculine than the Axioms did, but both sets of speakers were open and natural sounding.

Johnny Hodges' Used to be Duke [Verve 849394-2] was more revelatory, however. While the Axioms reproduced Hodges' mellow alto sax convincingly, the B-2 Nisse added a pinched nasality quite out of character for the Ellington stalwart.

But it was the dynamic and polyrhythmic complexities of the new Barenboim/CSO Le Sacre du Printemps [Teldec 8573 81702-2] that proved the B-2 Nisse's undoing. While the Axioms weren't capable of capturing all of the piece's slam und drang, it sorted out the various lines and voicings without blurring them together -- and the overwhelming rhythmic drive of the work was preserved, if somewhat reduced in urgency. The Norwex darkened instrumental textures, blending instruments together and compressing the work's dynamic extremes. The B-2 boomed and lost bass definition, obscuring a huge amount of inner detail. Le sacre lost its sense of inevitability as well as much of its savage purity.

Begone

The Norwex home-theater speaker system (B-2 Nisse/C-1 Dverg/SW-1 Troll) is not inexpensive. While it is reasonably handsome and its compact size will attract many consumers, it is not a particularly refined performer. I wanted to like these components. After all, Norwex is a one-man show and we all want to root for the underdog. But these products, quite simply, are not ready for prime time -- as much as I wish Mr. Aasland well, I cannot recommend the Norwex loudspeakers for serious consideration.

The main loudspeakers -- the B-2 Nisse -- can sound pleasant, but have a chesty emphasis of the upper midrange and a tendency to boom when stressed. At $995 per pair, they simply do not represent good value. The C-1 Dverg and SW-1 Troll, similarly, do not seem a bargain at $595 and $695 respectively. There are better, cheaper alternatives.

Manufacturer contact information:

Norwex
P.O. Box 86
Palmyra, VA 22963
Phone: (434) 589-8043

E-mail: norwex@cfw.com
Website: www.norwexloudspeakers.com

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