OUR HISTORY

90 years of passion, perfectionism and pure audio goes into each of our horn loaded speakers

Our first loudspeaker was released in 1934 after over a decade of research and development. To learn about the history of Lowther is to learn the history of the loudspeaker itself.

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LOwther's HISTORY

90 Years in 90 Seconds

Voigt demonstrating at the Central Hall, Peckham, June 1922 (Ida also pictured)

1926

Paul Voigt develops the first British electric recording system whilst working at Edison Bell, where a mutual agreement gave him ownership of his own patents

Paul Voigt and Ida's wedding day. St Augustine Church, Honor Oak Park, 1928.

1928

Voigt marries Ida Florence May Munro in St Augustine church, Honor Oak Park, London. Ida is said to be either the first or one of the first women to have qualified and awarded a degree in engineering.

Edison Bell Building 1924

1933

Edison Bell ceases trading and Paul Voigt establishes his own company, Voigt Patents.

Voigt created a small factory inside a residential house named The Courts, Silverdale, in Sydenham.

1934

Paul Voigt releases the Domestic Corner Horn, a horn-loaded speaker emulating live sound in the most realistic manner to date. The first corner horn sold for £32.50.

Voigt meets O.P. Lowther of the Lowther Manufacturing Company Ltd and the two men become fast friends.

The Voigt Domestic Corner Horn

1936

Voigt and Lowther collaborate on their first project, the Lowther-Voigt Radio, covering a range of radiograms, amplifiers, tuners and loudspeakers. Aimed at the luxury market and the most fastidious of audiophiles, the project offered many different adaptations for home use including building custom cabinets.

1939-1945

World War II takes a hold of the world but cinema offered a much needed escape from reality. Voigt spends much of his time maintaining his horn-loaded speakers in cinemas across the UK.

A German bomb displaced the roof of the small factory at The Courts.

1945

After World War II, like many British people with German heritage, Voigt suffered a lot of racial abuse. When the war was over the council, then the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham, was prejudiced against him because of his German ancestry and refused to fix his roof.

He got very fed up with England. He also had a spinal condition but the doctors could find nothing wrong. Although he tried everything that doctors in England suggested, nothing improved his condition which must have made it very difficult for him to continue installing heavy speakers.

Instead of continuing to live in the UK, Voigt and Ida decided to move to Canada. He sold his shares with a handshake to his trusted chief engineer at the time, Donald Chave.

Voigt and Ida in Canada, 1953

1951

Chave and legendary American audio designer Stewart Hegeman teamed up to take the Lowther/Voigt full range single driver concept to a higher level.

They release the Lowther-Hegeman Reproducer as a result. This was a big step up from the Domestic Corner Horn at four feet wide, four feet tall and two feet tall. The newly developed PM4A drive unit (later to become part of the A series) was used inside a large horizontal plaster horn, creating an impressively wide dispersion of mid- and treble-frequencies.

The Reproducer was three times the price of the next most expensive Lowther speaker at the time and had very short production run between 1950 & 1951. It is estimated that only 20-30 reproducer units have ever existed to date.

A rare Lowther Hegeman Reproducer, developed in 1950/1951.

1970

Then owner Donald Chave goes into partnership with his close friend Roy Hopps. Their innovation with new magnet materials leads to the creation of the world-famous ceramic-based C series of speakers drivers, and the renowned Neodymium-based EX and DX range.

2018

Martin Thornton takes over Lowther and the company moves to its current home in Northamptonshire.

2020

As a global pandemic takes a hold of the world, the new Lowther team take the opportunity to start research and development of a new range speaker cabinets. They start with a focus on a developing some speakers from Lowther's history.

A refurbished Acousta 115 was installed by Lowther in the Handel Hendrix museum in London. Jimi Hendrix was himself a discerning audiophile and owned a set of 115's in the 1970's. Visitors of the museum can now listen to Hendrix's original vinyl collection as Hendrix himself experienced it.

2021

After a full year of research and development the new Lowther team are not slowing down. This year will see the release of a brand new flagship range of speakers designed for the modern era of audio reproduction along with the return of a few timeless favourites.

Thank you to our friends over at the Lowther Voigt Museum for documenting the history of Lowther Loudspeakers so meticulously.

90 years of passion, perfectionism and pure audio goes into each of our horn-loaded speakers

In 1934 Paul Voigt released the Domestic Corner Horn, a horn-loaded speaker that would go on to shape audio-experiences for generations to come.

Since that very first day, almost 90 years ago, we’ve developed countless speaker cabinets, created a community of passionate audiophile DIYers, and paved the way for speaker companies around the world.

You’ll find Lowther’s signature horn-loaded speakers at home in Canada, China, Germany, the United States and countless other exotic locations across the globe, as well as in our own home, the United Kingdom.

The history of our iconic speakers has built the foundation, and now we’re turning the page to the next chapter.

From the 1930s to the 2020s a lot’s changed. But our pursuit of perfection hasn’t

Every audiophile is in pursuit of perfect sound quality. That’s why we’re perfectionists. Because we know that ‘good enough’ just doesn’t cut it.

A lot’s changed over the last 90 years. We’ve seen people walk on the moon, witnessed a technological boom and even endured a global pandemic. But we’re still here, still perfectionists and still crafting the future of sound.

The horn-loaded speaker that changed everything

Lowther’s history really begins back in 1934, when Paul Voigt designed and released the Domestic Corner Horn, a pivotal moment in the history of British speakers. Voigt’s horn-loaded speaker changed sound reproduction forever, as a new standard of quality was reached. The bar was set.

In this same year, Paul Voigt met O.P. Lowther. This would be the start of a friendship that would leave its mark on the audio industry’s history forever.

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