Roth Oli Speakers

Have you seen the review on this website? http://whathifi.com/Review/Roth-Audio-OLi3/

That really is an amazing offer!

Hi all,

I'm new here, just signed up now - this is my forst post. I'm a relatively new reader of the WhatHiFi mags, only started this year. I also read HCC. For about 4yrs now, I've had an LG 50" HD Ready Plasma, with an LG 5.1 Home Cinema system, 5 x 200w (claimed) Tallboy speakers, plus passive amp. I recently thought I blew an HDMI port at the back of the TV, and after getting annoyed with an HDMI switcher and only one live HDMI port on the TV, I decided to splash out and but a receiver/amp. I bought the Onkyo TX-NR609 from Superfi, and only just set it up last weekend. I found that my passive sub no longer works with this - the 5 speakers do. So I ordered a Wharfedale SW150 amp from Superfi as well this week - waiting for it to arrive.

I noticed that Superfi had a very tempting looking (keyword - aesthetics!) pair of Roth Oli 50's from an RRP of £799 (found them for sale at that price too, elsewhere, so I think it's a fair RRP) on sale for £399. They look absolutely stunning, and I've read some reviews of lower end Roth Oli speakers, which were quite good. I read the only review I could find of the Oli 50's giving them 3.5 out of 5 stars, and saying they were very good speakers for that prive of £800. So, I'm wondering if anyone can give me an idea of what these are like? Is there a particular reason they're on offer for such a bargain price, like maybe they're a lemon?

PS. I couldn't wait and risk losing out on a nice set of speakers, so I've ordered them anyway, but just looking to know if anyone has experience of them. I'm mainly a movie (action, horror) fan, and would probably hardly use it for music, except for an occassional thrill seeking blast...

Our review of the Roth OLi 50s is in the November issue that goes on sale September 23rd. We've done them at £400, which we're led to understand is pretty much the price these days.

Hi JustGenius,

Simple(ish) answer on the pricing.

As a relatively new brand operating in this market sector we're constantly looking to compete with the traditional 'big' loudspeaker brands, some of which have been around for 10, 20, 30 years or so.  During that time, they have developed wonderful products that have made the UK the global leader in loudspeaker development.  Problem is that to try to gain any market-share from the 4 big guys (you know the ones I mean) in the UK market specifically, we have to do something radical.

To this end, I took the decision to take our flagship loudspeaker, (ribbon-tweeter and all) and work with retailers who were prepared to give us room in their stores and offer their customers the OLi50 at what they felt was an unbeatable price.  The theory being that the Roth AV brand could gain increased exposure in the UK (we must be one of the few genuinely British brands that have a stronger business overseas than in our home territory), and hopefully, even in these difficult times in the UK, expand our market.

I'm aware that there are various opinions on the merits of bookshelf-type speakers compared to floor-standing ones.  I respect all of these opinions, but I am hoping that by taking this fairly aggressive commercial approach, the OLi50 at £ 399.00 is just simply far too good value to be overlooked, or to be compared directly to a bookshelf speaker.

The review you refer to does 'read' so much better than 3.5 stars....my colleagues and I felt that the words indicated 4 stars at £ 799.00.  My hope is that the forthcoming reviews that will appear in the UK at £ 399.00 will get the message across - for pure value for money in terms of build quality, aesthetics and audio performance, the Oli50 should, I hope, be a real winner.

I really hope you enjoy the Oli50 you've ordered - that's a hell of a lot of loudspeaker for the price.

Turn It Up.

James.

I'd say so, I didn't even know you were a British brand, always though you were American...

Nope - we're British and immensely proud of it.

I guess we need to do a better job telling people this........

Ah... since I handle Roth's UK PR I should probably redouble my efforts at getting the 'British brand' message across. 

Regards,

Murdo

When you say "British brand", do you mean the speakers are designed and manufactured here?

Hi,

All product designs start here in the UK - whether it's the Oli speaker range, the MC4 amplifier, the Charlie systems, the new BAR1, the KRadio, etc.  We then work with different engineering teams with specific areas of expertise - so for example on electronics we have some really good designers based out of Taiwan (mainly for production engineering purposes), for audio performance, materials, fit and QC, a UK based team and then more latterly a new UK group who are undertaking some new projects which have a high software content.

Unfortunately, at this stage, we do not manufacture any of our designs here in the UK.

But - we do have a wish to do so soon......and may well have some announcements to make in this regard in the near future.

I'd love to stamp "Made In England'' on something.

James.

This is fascinating.  On the brand and PR side, maybe I can add that I too had no idea these were British designs, perhaps because the name sounds (to me) more Scandinvian or something.  And the price is distinctly modest, so assumed possibly from the far east.  

I know 'Castle' and other obviously Bristish names are taken, and would probably be daft to copy them in 2011.  And I see from your website it is James Roth's name, so why not use it?!  But no Union Jacks are present either, so maybe there is an opportunity to highlight the British-ness.

They certainly look most impressively finished on your website.

Best wishes.

It's probably just me, whenever I here the name "Roth" I automatically think "David Lee...", who is somewhat American.

BTW I have a pair of Oli 2s on the end of a Sonos ZP120, very nice, especially for 50 quid (thank you Play.com...).

Unfortunately there are too many brands touted as British that are brands manufactured in China which use British consultancy firms for their designs just so they can use it as marketing, so it's good to hear of one company playing it straight.

By the way, I have zero objection to any component being manufactured anywhere, it's the dressing them up to appear different I don't like. 

Hi nopiano.

Yep - the name Roth sounds like it could be from anywhere other than the UK.  Rather than Scandinavia, it can actually be traced back to Hungary......

My grandparents and their immediate family came to the UK because of the opportunities here in the 1920s in what was then the 'music industry'....

My grandfather was a cellist (George Roth) and his brother Nick was a violinist, with various other family members pitching in (hur hur) on other instruments.  After the war, they all started playing professionally and were actually famous and at the top of their game - there was a Roth Trio, a Roth Quartet, they all played at some time in the Royal Philharmonic (George was one of the longest serving members of the Orchestra and had some kind of concert done for him on his retirement), the BBC concert orchestra, etc., etc. Radio 3 did a profile programme on him as well. 

They made many recordings and did extensive tours with some other major artists and composers of the time - my grandfather used to hang out with people like Benjamin Britten, various conductors, etc.

So....I may well be blowing my own trumpet (yep - I play as well) - but Roth is a name that actually commanded some respect in the music industry around the world.

I guess you can tell I'm rather proud of the family history !

It's kind of nice to play music recorded by my family on an amplifier and speakers with their name on.

This post may well be moderated for being too long and too dull !

You're joking, that's the most interesting thing I've read all day...

Thanks, James, that's a wonderful story.  It is also one I can relate to as my great great uncle, Manuel Gomez, was a fine clarinettist who became a founder member of the London Symphony Orchestra.  He died in 1922.  My grandparents had family snaps of him with Henry Wood amongst others, before he was knighted, who we all know best now as the founder of the Proms.