Leo’s the lion king of 2-way sound systems

by Jude Knight

Vincentian Leo Lewis is not one to boast and brag, but his name is pounding loud in the sound system industry internationally.

Lewis, formerly of Georgetown, St. Vincent, has made a major breakthrough in audio industry with his top class invention, the Vitae Loudspeaker. {{more}}

The Vitae, which is specifically manufactured in mirror-image pairs at his company, Ethera Sound Corporation in Ontario, Canada, his adopted home since 1968, has tongues wagging in the audio industry. Many international critics have written favourable reviews about this impressive innovation.

This patented high-end loudspeaker, which has taken many years to perfect, is a large stand-mounted two-way monitor with an 8″ mineral-filled, polycone woofer and a soft-dome tweeter. The Vitae’s fine detail and unusual, time-consuming design bear testimony to Lewis’ reputation as a perfectionist.

Lewis was fortunate to spend many years under the wings of respected Canadian scientist Dr. Floyd Toole, at the National Research Council in Canada.

Dr. Toole – arguably the world’s leading authority on loudspeakers and a regular contributor to The Audio Critic, a leading magazine that reviews audio equipment, has undoubtedly influenced Lewis’ drive for perfection in no small measure.

In a comprehensive independent review of The Vitae, Doug Schneider of SoundStage magazine revealed that Lewis is a great believer in anechoic measurements and had spent a lot of time at the National Research Council of Canada during the time Dr. Floyd Toole was active there. Therefore, “it’s no surprise that Lewis has optimized his speaker for on and off-axis frequency response, good bass response and low distortion – the gospel according to Dr. Toole.”

In fact, Schneider describes the Vitae as an innovative, well-designed loudspeaker that, in many ways, is the pinnacle of two-way stand-mounted designs. He said: “I’ve heard other two-way stand-mounted speakers offer the Vitae’s type of bass performance, but either at the expense of bass quality or some other aspect of performance. I’ve heard lower-priced two-ways that offer high-quality sound but not near the Vitae’s extension or room-filling ability.”

Schneider wraps up his review by saying that Lewis’ seemingly lifelong project, The Ethera Vitae, isn’t inexpensive, but it delivers the goods in a unique package.

Lewis, father of two – Wendy and Robin – is also putting the finishing touches on another product, The Seraph, a lower-priced loudspeaker, but offering the same quality performance as the Vitae. At present he is vacationing in his homeland, taking in the sounds of sweet carnival music, some of which will undoubtedly be emanating from his Vitae sound systems when he gets back to Canada.

Anyone wishing to learn more about Ethera should visit www.ethera.com

jknight@searchlightnewspaper.vc