MELBOURNE - Australia: Reference Audio Visual announces partnership with SEAS of Norway to distribute the SEAS LOTUS range of award winning car audio speakers and subwoofers throughout Australia.

SEAS are a well respected manufacturer of speaker drivers, tweeters and subwoofers for both home and car audio applications.



The LOTUS Reference series comprises of the RS165/1 component set featuring teh RT27F tweeter and the RW165/1 mid-bass driver with both tweeter and mid-bass driver having seperate crossovers per side. The tweeters and mid-bass drivers will also be available to purchase seperately (pairs only).

The range also features the RM120 mid-range driver to complete a 3-way system and the highly regarded RW220 8" mid-bass.



The LOTUS Performance series comprises of the PS165/1 component set featuring the PT25F tweeter and the PW165/1 mid-bass driver with standard crossovers. The tweeters and mid-bass drivers will also be available to purchase seperately (pairs only).



The range is rounded out by two aluminium cone subwoofers. Available in both 10" and 12" sizes, teh SW250/1 and SW300/1 are the perfect compliment for the LOTUS Reference, LOTUS Performance or any other high performance front stage.

Download the Product Information sheet for the SEAS Lotus Reference Series RS165F by clicking here.

Download the 2008 Product Catalog (including pricing) by clicking here.

Further information on the range will be available on the website www.seaslotus.com.au very soon.

For further information now or to find your closest dealer please contact:

Reference Audio Visual
PO Box 171, Park Orchards.
Victoria, Australia. 3114
Phone: 0419 595 233
Fax: 03 8813 0133
Email: michael@referenceav.com.au
Web: www.referenceav.com.au

Dealer Enquiries Welcome

Reference Audio Visual is a Melbourne based wholesale distribution company focused on selling the very best in home and mobile audio solutions. For more information please refer to our website www.referenceav.com.au

Very happy to see SEAS Lotus available once more in Australia. These are fantastic high end products, and I was dissapointed to see a lack of distributor in Australia of recent times.
Good luck with getting the SEAS Lotus name back out there guys!

^^^ i agree!

i wanted some years ago, found somewhere that sold them but i could never get a price :S

all of a suddden Im very happy to have picked up a pair of the metal dome tweeters second hand for only $100...

seems very reasonable...

These just came in at FHRX in the last day or two so got to have a little sneak peak.

Sadly, I was ont he other side of the shop oblivious to the fact that they were playing half the time i was there.

I can say the build quality is absolutely first rate, precisely as I'd expect from a company with Seas' reputation. Very eager to hear these next time I'm down there though, as I wouldn't mind building myself some new bookshelves with these.1

i
hate
this


i was perfectly happy to settle with my current oz/morel set-up.
now i want to upgrade

i love the look of those crossovers

the tweets and the crossovers are awsome........ i'd love to hear a set

From the quick listen I had yesterday, they sound smooth. Very, very smooth. Cant wait to get back and relisten once the speakers are run-in

I'll definitely have to give these a listen when I pick my car up from FHRX later in the week. Nice looking speakers, certainly haven't heard anyone complain about them.

Remember also to have a very good listen to them before jumping to any brash decisions. You may well e pretty happy with what you have, in which case an upgrade may be unnecessary

Agreed,

Whilst the seas stuff is good, I'd say that its playing in the same league as the morels elates just with a different sound focus. Try before you think you're upgrading it might just be a parallel move.

on another note, those prices a touch high compared to what I used to pay for them from Seas dealers in Singapore. I would have thought that with our mightly strong dollar we might be seeing these coming in cheaper than that.

not trying to start a flame war, but surely with the increasingly competitive part of the premium car audio business the prices can start to come in alignment with the rest of the world.

Hi guys,

My name is Michael and I am the distributor for the SEAS Lotus range. Our SEAS Lotus Australia website is now live and although its quite basic at the moment it does have specs, images and other relevant information on it that you may need. More information will be added as time goes by.

Negatron, were the models you purchased through Singapore the current series or the older series? There was a substantial price increase when the current range was released.

Feel free to call or email me if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Michael

dont worry pete, i'm too much of a stinge to jump into a decision without seriously thinking about it
plus, i'm still set on getting a new car before i start changing my stereo around - which means at least another 12months

I've got a pair of SEAS 6.5" Midbass THEY ROCK!!!

Once we start to get to this "high" end level of products judging based on price becomes silly. Its the little things, details, slight differences in tones etc that make each particular brand appeal to each different person.

Thanks for the update Micheal,



You are right, I did some checking and found that the last set of Seas I priced was for the older series with the older tweet.

That said, whilst the current series's pricing is still cheaper overseas, I must point out that for that extra assurance of local warranty AND to support local representation of these fine products, don't bother buying overseas.

thumbs up for local representation for seas once more!

'bout time those subwoofers came back onto the market (or at least, updated!!). For anyone who hasnt heard one, these units are easily a step or two up on anything you're familiar with in terms of accuracy. This is real Sound Quality.

And Michael, being the distributor now, do you have access to the raw drivers? If so, are the Nextels becoming available soon?

Hi Matt, if you mean raw drivers in terms of the Lotus raw drivers then yes, we are bringing them into the country as well as the component sets and subs. If you are referring to the drivers from their other series, we were offered the distribution for them but have not engaged those ranges as yet, but im sure I will be able to get them if there is interest in them, SEAS have been very accomodating so I cant see it being an issue.

First shipment of the new subwoofers, the RW220 8" midbass and RM120 mids are scheduled to arrive at our warehouse tomorrow along with more component sets. Individual tweets and 6.5" midbass drivers will be on the next shipment!

Consider that Alpine's exceptionally expensive F1 Status speakers were/are built by Scanspeak and heavilly based on the Revelator gear - and then consider that the F1 Status speakers are considered to be on par with Rainbow Reference gear. Now consider that in the home audio scene, the Seas Excel mids (which I believe the Lotus reference mids are based upon) are considered serious competition for Scanspeak's Revelator range.

With all of these thing considered, I'd be led to believe that Lotus Reference line is probably a legitimate cut above Morel Elate and more at the level of Morel Supremo / Rainbow Platinum (possibly even Focal Be).

However, this is all speculation - I'll not say much more until I get the time to have a very good critical listen to them. It will be interesting to see how they compare to the Focal 165K2P's, which (as as 2-way passive sets go) have been the standard setters for me thus far.

Sounds good, im looking to listening to one of these subs, and might just be the first person in Australia to use one

We have a 10" on backorder. It will be here as soon as Michael has one in stock.

On another note, the Lotus Reference components are pretty much run in now (they've had three days of noise - see the website) so anyone wishing to have a good audition; you're welcome to come down here armed with a pile of your favourite CD to sit and listen.

Jump up more more Pete

The old Lotus reference gear was the base design for the Rainbow Reference originals. Must be alright if others are using them as the base!

Well, I just had a decent listen to these splits, and I can honestly say they impressed me a fair bit. My initial response of being smooth is right on the money. These tweeters took my breathe away, as they are able to play high, with sparkle, but yet be so smooth while doing it. yumm.

Mids to are quite nice, smooth, detailed, but perhaps lacking ever so slighty in detail imo.

Overall very impressive speakers. Make my top three list of speakers I have heard so far.

Just a quick update on the stock situation.

I have received the first batch of subwoofers and the reference splits. Everything else will be here on Monday. Marty I will be sending your SW250 up on Monday morning, you will have it Tuesday

Seas / Morel / Dynaudio

That's always been my choice of loudspeakers in cars. All of the above running 3 way active off quality amplifiers.
If I had to choose now between one or the other it would be difficult

hmmm kinda wish i had some cash about now. these look like they could be fun.

mmmm. If I had a processor for 4-way active, and $1100 per side to spend on splits.... *drool*.

Had a bit of a listen to them yesterday and the verdict is all positive, very smooth speakers, nice mid-bass, smooth, detailed tweeter. Definitely worth the money and should be on anyone's shortlist when buying high end SQ speakers.

Not meaning to be rude or a smartass, but is that a fact, or an assumption?

I noticed there were a lot of people on other forums mentioning a relationship between Rainbow Reference and Seas Excel (as well as the Platinum's with the lower line), however all they seemed to be goign off was the fact that both have a white cone and copper phase plug.

The two are made from different cone materials, have different baskets (from memory), a different motor structure, and are built in different countries. Personally, I wasn't able to notice any apparent links between the two - but I may be missing something.

Price differences don't surprise me all that much, as the Revelators are the basis for the F1 status gear which cost 3x-4x the cost of a full set of Revelators.

Good question. I'll see if I can dig up the original references, but AFAIK its a fact (could be wrong, has happened before).

From my information, its nothing to do with the cone/phase plug, but the motor structure. If you ignore the faraday shorting rings in the Seas, the Rainbow had its platform built on the same principles. Coil, gap, plates, spider and former were all identical plus mods (to eliminate the copyright issues - SEAS originally had some patents from memory) which produced almost identical impulse response and dispersion patterns. I've actually never read anything about the cones, but I would say they'd be slightly different. SEAS are reknowned for hard-breakup nodes, which I've never heard or seen reference of concerning the Rainbows.

Then SEAS updated their lineups with the Excels (and now Nextels) and new Lotus gear. So did Rainbow (after CAE ripped them badly in a review).

Just FINALLY had a chance to have a listen to the Lotus Reference today. To be honest, I was a tad dissapointed. Not a bad speaker, but not without it's flaws.

Main issue worth mention was a quite noticable midbass peak up around 200-300hz which gave an unnaturally 'heavy' tone to the overall sound. Not fatal, but definately worth mention.

The next biggest issue was a lack of outright presence in the highs - I'd say the tweets seem to have a fairly significant roll-off above 15khz-16khz.

The other two issues were fairly minor. There was a slight peak somewhere in the midrange (was a couple of hours ago so cant remember exactly what frequency range it was at), and a slightly soft lower midbass performance. Overall not a bad set (remembering that I am EXTREMELY critical), but not quite the quality leader I was expecting.

It's worth noting that the speakers had apparently not yet been fully run in. Personally, I'm got my doubts as to whether running in time will change those characteristics, however to be fair I will have another listen in a couple of weeks once they are fully run in and take notes again. Also note that my listening taste is "clinically accurate, so those who prefer a bit more midbass and a bit less top end would probably love these speakers.

From a pure sound quality point of view (i.e. straight out detail and accuracy) I found the Oz Matrix, Morel Supremo 6 and Boston Z6 to be nicer sets but again this is a subjective business.

I'd have loved to give the Focal K2P's (my previous favorites) another listen in this company, but sadly they weren't available at the time - previous experience tells me they would have sat somewhere in the top 3.

To be fair and to make sure I hadn't gone mad the last time, I also gave the Dynaudo's another chance (as they were apparently not fully run in last time). Nothing much has changed - they are still far too flawed for me to consider against the quality of the competition. Something to do with the settings on the passives maybe? I don't know, but In my personal opinion the others speakers were all one level above.

Most interesting point - of all of the speakers only the top three could come close to competing with my (quite affordable) Wharfedale Diamond 9 bookshelves.

Car audio really is depressing

Fortunately SQ is a personal choice, because I disagreed with just about each of your points there.
While I haven't had opportunity to listen to each of the above mentioned speakers in the same environment I've never found Dynaudio's flawed - excellent speakers.
The Seas are one of the nicest speakers I have heard (in a car), what does the frequency response show in the 200-300Hz range muzzy - does it reflect your thoughts? Is is perhaps installation / tuning?

I've never rated Oz Audio's in quite the same category as Morel, Dynaudio, Seas to be honest, although I've only heard them a handful of times. I think Fudd's car had them in (maybe Sierra's too?) and have done very well with them.

Anyway, this is a press release and we're probably getting a little off topic.

Couldnt be isntall / tuning related.

Every single set of speakers was listened to on speaker stands in a listening room, each mounted in the same sealed 'bookshelf' style enclosures, off factory passives with a flat EQ (same source).

This eliminated any envorinmental or tuning variables, so that what I was listening to was purely the speakers.

Didn't have access to a response graph, so I'm not sure how it would match up with my findings. I'd probably suggest the peakiness was probably a little closer to 200hz then 300hz if memory serves me well.

Again, worth noting were the facts that:
1) The Seas were not yet run in
2) The Dyn's sounded VERY oversaturated in the midrange, so it's possible the tweeters were set 1 or 2 dB too low on the passives.

As you said though, I'll leave it at that so as to not push the thread off topic