Nokturne Audio - Lejonklou in the US

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ThomasOK
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Nokturne Audio - Lejonklou in the US

Post by ThomasOK »

I wanted to let everyone know that Lejonklou products are now being distributed in the US. I recently formed Nokturne Audio to import and distribute Lejonklou and other products designed to improve the reproduction of music in the home.

Nokturne Audio is now fully functional having just received our first shipment. You can see the initial website at www.nokturneaudio.com

We are also the US sales agent for the Harmoni racks (Harmonihyllan) although unforeseen difficulties have delayed my receiving my evaluation rack. However, I should have it fairly soon. Additional products are being investigated and will be added if I find them worthwhile.

I will continue to work full time at Overture Audio selling and servicing Linn, Rega, Arcam, Sonus faber ad other products. And I will still contribute to the forum as I have all along. But I did want people to know that I may have picked up a new bias so that they can treat my words with whatever size grain of salt they feel necessary. :)
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Post by Charlie1 »

Good luck Thomas - hope it proves rewarding for all concerned.

Any particular inspiration for the name - other than night time listening I guess?
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Post by lejonklou »

I am very pleased to have Thomas distributing my products in the United States and am confident he will do a terrific job.

There were discussions with three different distributors before a decision was made. The main reason why I believe Thomas is the right man for the job is that he is so commited to quality. He has a level of integrity and honesty that is hard to find in the HiFi business.

I feel very confident that Thomas reviews and comments in here will be exactly like they've always been: Well founded, thorough and honest to the bone.
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Post by ThomasOK »

Thanks for the kind words Fredrik. It is the integrity and quality you bring to your products that made me want to distribute them in the first place.

Charlie, the name Nokturne Audio was just one of those inspirations that hits you out of the blue. I was wanting to come up with a name for my new company and it was the first one that came into my mind (although I must admit working for Overture Audio was some influence). Being a musical term it conveyed some of what the company is all about.

Once I had the name the use of the K instead of the C was also an obvious choice and works on three different levels: The first, and most obvious, is the tie in with Linn's use of Ks in product names and of Lejonklou as well. The second is that I have always written my initials as TOK, reverse the names and you have the OKT contained in the center of Nokturne. The third is that Nokturne was readily available as a company name and as a web domain because of the unusual spelling.

As I'm sure everyone has noticed from the plethora of strange new names for pharmaceuticals and companies, using a common word for a name is becoming ever more difficult with all the trademarks out there. When I did a search for Nokturne I only came up with a band that seems to be still around though I am not sure. They are referred to as a "black metal" band but have not chosen to reserve the nokturne domain. Since I registered the domain names there seems to be another nokturne now - the Nokturne Guild - some type of game that wasn't there when I set up my domains.

Anyway, I have ownership of www.nokturneaudio.com and also www.nokturne.com I went ahead and grabbed both so that I could keep control of both domains. Right now they are linked so either address will take you to my website but I can split them later on if I ever have need for a different kind of site.
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Post by SaltyDog »

:D Good news! Congradulations to the two of you. Best wishes.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

lejonklou wrote:I am very pleased to have Thomas distributing my products in the United States and am confident he will do a terrific job.

There were discussions with three different distributors before a decision was made. The main reason why I believe Thomas is the right man for the job is that he is so commited to quality. He has a level of integrity and honesty that is hard to find in the HiFi business.

I feel very confident that Thomas reviews and comments in here will be exactly like they've always been: Well founded, thorough and honest to the bone.
I certainly agree with those statements Lejonklou :!: Thomas has been one of the best Linn technicians I've experienced 8) .
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Post by DeQMaster »

Hi Thomas,

Just pointing out something i hav just notice in the Nokturne Audio web site...

Whe you click on the link to see the datasheet of the Kikkin2, the file name of the pdf the browser opens is "Lejonklou Kikkin_1.pdf"

Firstly, it has one space in the name file and con be buggy on some browsers, and second, and worst is that the "1" in the file name can be a false friend, and even worse if you download the file to have a look later.

Keep in mind that this is a constructive critic ;)

BTW, Congrats to you and Fredrik
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Post by ThomasOK »

Thanks for the tip on the datasheets - I welcome any constructive criticism or suggestions on the website. I threw it together pretty quickly to make sure I had something up there and plan to update and expand it as time allows. I did not do the proper checking with a bunch of browsers to assure maximum compatibility and that will be one of the first things I take care of.

I did try to fix the problem you noted but my web design program, iWeb, does not seem to want to make the fix simple. I spent two hours last night trying to rectify the problem and still not fully successful! :( I'll try it again soon but I did manage to get the number at the end to go away - just not the spaces.

Anyone with any recommendations for a better Mac OSX web creation tool that isn't totally cryptic and doesn't cost an arm and a leg would also be welcome.
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Post by DeQMaster »

Hi Thomas

Seems to be fixed already.

The link for Lejonklou´s Kikkin now points you to "Lejonklou Kikkin.pdf"

Well enough! Forget about spaces between words.

Spaces would be a problem with utf8 and that kind of stuff, but i think no one with a modern browser/operaive system will have any problem.

BTW, I have not much idea of web designing, but f you get in trouble and i can help,, count me in.

Regards
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Thomas, overall your new website looks very nice - simple and straight forward 8) . Good information regarding the Harmoni Shelving System, it might cause people to re-think their current audio racks :wink: .
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Post by ThomasOK »

I should probably use this thread more often to keep people aware of what is going on with Lejonklou and Harmoni stateside. I forgot about the thread so information about things like the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest room ended up in another thread.

However, I thought I should let you all know that I just did a major overhaul on the Nokturne Audio website. The basic style and look hasn't changed although I have tried to make the pages a bit more consistent and readable. However, I have added new pages for Sagatun and Tundra models, revised the page for the compact products and put on a new page I thought you might like. There are also a number of links to additional information including concise, one page descriptions and longer, more detailed info sheets. You can find it all here:

http://www.nokturneaudio.com

I hope you like the updates.
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Post by jlwdm »

The website is great. Good to have some easy to access Lejonklou information.

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Post by Ozzzy189 »

Congratulations and nice job! Are you looking into the distribution of klangedang T1 as well, seeing as they apparently match very well and Fredrik doesn't have a Lejonklou speaker ?
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Post by ThomasOK »

Thanks. While I am very interested in the Klangedang T1 and may end up buying a pair just to see what all the fuss is about, I don't currently have any plans to market them in North America. At this point I don't think Anders is in a position to significantly up production and have the ready stocks available that would be necessary to market them here. Not to mention having to either find a suitable US kitty litter or try to deal with shipping the recommended version from Sweden! ;-) As things progress this could all change and I am certainly open to the idea should it become practical.
Ozzzy189 wrote:Congratulations and nice job! Are you looking into the distribution of klangedang T1 as well, seeing as they apparently match very well and Fredrik doesn't have a Lejonklou speaker ?
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Post by Efraim roots »

We actually need Lejonklou speakers IMO, there is certainly a need for good speakers (my very diplomatic way of saying this). I can imagine Lejonklou could come up with something spectacular. And a 'giant killer' integrated amp to get more people into proper hifi.
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Post by ThomasOK »

Efraim roots wrote:We actually need Lejonklou speakers IMO, there is certainly a need for good speakers (my very diplomatic way of saying this). I can imagine Lejonklou could come up with something spectacular. And a 'giant killer' integrated amp to get more people into proper hifi.
I can't say I find anything to disagree with above. Including what is implied behind the diplomacy.
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Post by matthias »

Efraim roots wrote:We actually need Lejonklou speakers IMO, there is certainly a need for good speakers (my very diplomatic way of saying this). I can imagine Lejonklou could come up with something spectacular.
Indeed,
but hopefully with a "series crossover" too.

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Post by Efraim roots »

Indeed,
but hopefully with a "series crossover" too.

Matt
If it sounds better it is better :-)

But there is a point in Thomas reasoning about Klångedang imo, speakers probably need to be more production friendly and practical than Klångedang to really reach out on the market. Personally I like Klångdang but I can't help to feel that they are quite impractical. I would need 27meters of speaker wire to use them and find space for the external filters, there is no front cover for them either, which could be solved of course but it probably effects the sound.
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Post by matthias »

Efraim roots wrote:Personally I like Klångdang but I can't help to feel that they are quite impractical.
Efraim,
I think the same way. I like the principle of a "series crossover", but this crossover can easily be placed in a separate compartment inside the speaker or in a wooden box fixed at the back of the speaker. This shabby plastic crossover box in close proximity to the amp is terrible. And as you mentioned you need a lot of speaker cables too. I hate to have a speaker bi- or tri-wired.

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Post by lejonklou »

matthias wrote:This shabby plastic crossover box in close proximity to the amp is terrible.
It so happened that the crossover boxes sounded better when placed close to the amplifiers instead of close to the loudspeakers. Both in terms of cable lengths and mechanical support. The close proximity to my Tundra Mono's doesn't seem to affect performance at all.

If it sounds better, it is better.
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Post by matthias »

lejonklou wrote:If it sounds better, it is better.
That is true, of course.
But IMO it is terrible for the eyes, not for the ears.
I think it should be possible to fine tune the electrical parameters of the crossover in such a way to place it in close proximity to the speakers. And a wooden case could be a benefit too. I nice solution is to incorporate some parts of the speaker into the stand like Linn is doing with the Akudorik.

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Post by magnuska »

Anders who has developed Klångedang T1 speaker and Harmonishelf is a hardworking parent of two children. His major attention is to run his business, a shop in Gothenburg where he sells hifi. From what I understand his intentions with his own products has never been to be huge commercial sucesses.
I am satisfied when he manage to produce a hifi product if he got the extra time to do so.

So Klångedang in particular maybe suffers from some inpractialities even though its niceer to look at in reality If I may say.

He has mentioned about the possibilty to upgrade the crossover section and put it in a fullwidth woodenbox, but then the price would be a lot higher.

Magnus
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Post by lejonklou »

matthias wrote:[quote="lejonklou"I think it should be possible to fine tune the electrical parameters of the crossover in such a way to place it in close proximity to the speakers.
That's unlikely to work. I have been tuning these filters and tried different feet and positions at the same time. The component values were not related to the mechanical parameters.
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Post by matthias »

lejonklou wrote:That's unlikely to work. I have been tuning these filters and tried different feet and positions at the same time. The component values were not related to the mechanical parameters.
OK, it seems to be better that the passive crossover is closer to the amplifier than to the speaker.
Is this due to mechanical or electrical reasons or both?
Is there an explanation why?
Is this valid for all passive speakers or only for Klangedangs?

It is an interesting topic.

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Post by Efraim roots »

magnuska wrote:Anders who has developed Klångedang T1 speaker and Harmonishelf is a hardworking parent of two children. His major attention is to run his business, a shop in Gothenburg where he sells hifi. From what I understand his intentions with his own products has never been to be huge commercial sucesses.
I am satisfied when he manage to produce a hifi product if he got the extra time to do so.

So Klångedang in particular maybe suffers from some inpractialities even though its niceer to look at in reality If I may say.

He has mentioned about the possibilty to upgrade the crossover section and put it in a fullwidth woodenbox, but then the price would be a lot higher.

Magnus
Good post Magnus, so people who read this understand better what kind of product they are. I also think the speakers look rather nice IRL. My problem is mostly because I use older Naim amps. If I could use Linn K200/K400 and short wires between amp and filter things would be easier (as the designer and most users do). So, no criticism on Klångedang from me, it is what it is, a inspired work! Every pair is unique and hand built which also is really cool. I was just thinking that commercially viable speakers probably should be a bit more practical (personally it's a really big barrier either to change amps or get the 27meters of speaker wire) and must of course be able to be produced with consistent quality according to demand for a growing customer base.

But these last posts also reminded me how very personal speakers are, their appearance/design, size, sound character.. Still think Lejonklou can do it tho :-)
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