I've had two Lowdens, and O10 and an O25 (which I still have) and I've never heard a quiet Lowden! My O25 is CONSIDERABLY lowder (sorry) than my Martin J-40, which is a similar size and depth. There are three of us with Lowdens at our Club and, like John P, we always refer to them as the 'Loud-Ones'.

I've had Fishman Matrix transducers fitted in both of my Lowdens and used them with a Pro-EQ Mk 2 pre-amp, and they sound excellent. Need to go a bit easy on the middle frequencies or they sound a bit 'wardrobe-ish' but plenty of bass and top and they sound good.

Johnny