Which JLs for his high-end theater?

September 30, 2009

Editor,

Sorry for this cold calling, but after reading your article on April 1, 2008, where you reviewed a pair of JL Audio Gotham g213s, I cannot afford not to write to you for advice as you probably are the only one who can ease my concern. I hope I can get to know you and share your experiences.

My A/V room is 17.5'W x 22'L x 8.5'H. The nine giant monoblock power amplifiers (six for the custom-made triamped MBL 101E L/R speakers, one each for the center and side L/R MBL 101D speakers) made by my brother are solid-state, push-pull designs drawing lots of current (each offers 300W, mostly class-A monaural true-balanced power). For two-channel stereo listening, I only connect my dCS Scarlatti system through a preamp of the same design to my front speakers, full range without the subwoofers. For my video experience, I connect the Denon A1UD universal player to the Denon AVP-A1HD digital preamp to drive the nine power amps feeding the five omnidirectional speakers. The pair of Entec SW5 subs I am using are dinosaur products. Though they are almost the size of the JL f212s being driven directly by the Denon preamp. They are considered too polite, hence I have the intention to substitute JLs.

For instance, when I watched The Dark Knight movie the other night, my Entec sub showed its age. It didn't have enough energy to fill the room and when I turned up the volume, it was bloomy. I went to JL’s new HK agent yesterday and watched the same first scene of the gang robbing the bank with one of the JL f212s on. The effect was stunning despite the fact that the other speakers were not in the same line.

Now I have decided to buy a combination of JL subs, but I am still messing around as to which model(s) I should I buy, hence I’m searching for advice from the web. I am not sure if it should be the size of my room that dominates the decision. I was thinking of buying a pair of f113s, but after hearing the f212, I believe the latter should sound better (did you have a chance to listen?). Then I read your article and I am now more interested to use a pair of g213s. Given the medium size of my listening room, do you think it is overkill to use a pair of f212s, not to speak of the g213s? I did, however, see the JL webpage and noticed that their home theater is not much bigger than mine, yet they used a pair of g213s! Looking forward to receiving your valuable advice.

Best regards,

William Tam

Hong Kong

Entec -- now there is a blast from the past. I remember hearing some Entec subwoofers with a set of Sound Labs many years ago, and at the time I thought it was some of the best bass I’d ever heard. Those products were truly ahead of their time. But time does march on and the subwoofer landscape is much different today than it was back then. Today, companies like JL Audio and Paradigm dominate the commercial subwoofer market with products that are truly mind-bending in their extreme-bass performance.

My favorite subwoofers these days are the JLs and the Paradigms, as I’ve said. My review of the Paradigm Sub 2 will appear on sister-site SoundStage! on October 1. It is every bit the equal of a Gotham, with its six 10" drivers, and it costs $7499 USD. If you’re set on JL, and I can easily see why you would be, I think I’d seriously consider a pair of f212s. Now, I have experience with almost every JL subwoofer except that model, so I can see why folks would raise an eyebrow at my recommendation. However, I base my advice on the fact that the f212 uses JL’s newest W-series drivers, and those are quite remarkable woofers. If they’ve refined what I’ve heard from the W-drivers in the past, then these subwoofers must be considered amongst the very best at any price. The output capability of a pair of f212s would more than fill your room and the fact that you’d have two, instead of using just one, will help smooth room modes and give you flatter frequency response, as well as lower overall distortion. So that’s what I would do -- but a pair of f212s and call it done. . . . Jeff Fritz

A Lohengrin II owner

September 16, 2009

Editor,

I have read with great interest about your recent visit and tour of Verity Audio. It must have been a fine experience looking at the room acoustics and all the equipment. I wish I could spend only five minutes at Verity with all those amps to pick from and enjoy. I am the lucky owner of a pair Lohengrin IIs, and have had them for about 1.5 years now. Our room is very large and fully professionally acoustically treated, too. The Lohengrin is beyond enjoyment; they invite you to listen to the music. I discover more and more every day. If I would need to describe in one word what they offer it would be endless.

Although my experience with the Lohengrin is about 1.5 years now, and I have not had any Ultra-type amps hooked up yet, there are some experiences to share, and also questions to ask you later on. The 95dB sensitivity and 8-ohm nominal impedance surely invites one to dwell on SET and other "small" amps for their unquestionable purity and naturalness. In real life and in working together with a big room (big room and big speakers) the Lohengrin shows the need for "more" and it shows obviously and instantly. Those 15" woofers and large-displacement cabinets can do 15Hz.

Actually, the Vu meters on my recent amps show 1W and with this first watt I have a loud enough level to listen to. Amazing isn't it? But within the first watt there is so much to discover. This first watt can be natural but lack control. This first watt can have all the control but lack any tonal rightness.

So with the candy-store situation at Verity Audio the 60-thousand-dollar-question arises: What's the best amp you experienced, Mr. Fritz? I know there are some wars going on at other audio websites about just that phrase, and the statement of "the best" amp is an analogy to the "best car," but, still, there may be a particular amp which has impressed you. And although I experienced the Tenor 300 and 150, the Wavac HE-833 Ver1.3 and the Nagra VPA in other situations, I did not experience them with any (or my own) Verity speakers yet.

You must get e-mails about these matters all the time, but maybe you still want to share more of your experiences at Verity. There is a big and very loyal Verity crowd, but not many Sarastro and Lohengrin owners actively in the audiophile online community. They might be listening to music instead!

I enjoy Ultra Audio ever more. Great initiative with "The World’s Best Audio System." I just love to read and see the actual people behind the products and advertisements. You are in a special position.

Greetings from across the pond,

Ron

And greetings to you as well! You are right about the experience at Verity. All of the amplifiers exhibited why they are so highly regarded, and each drove the Lohengrin IIs with aplomb. But there is no question in my mind that the best sound we heard that day was from the Wavacs. Those amplifiers accomplished a rare feat to my ears: they truly combined the natural tone that tubes do so well with the control in the bass that solid-state amplification is loved for. They were truly magical. In fact, for someone that uses SS amps exclusively, I can say for once that I am now tempted to get these tube amps in to hear on my system. They were terrific on the Lohengrin IIs, and an experience I won’t soon forget. . . . Jeff Fritz

Missing from The Great North American Loudspeaker Tour?

September 9, 2009

Editor,

This is Jörgen Nilsson from Ultimate Sound in Sweden.

I have been reading about The Great North American Loudspeaker Tour. I think this is a very good idea to visit all of these so-called super-speaker brands and listen to them at their best locations. But I think that you missed one of the absolute greatest speakers on earth regardless of price and time. 

If you haven't listened to the TAD Reference One speakers yet you have missed something special. I have been into high-end audio since the beginning of the ‘80s and so far I haven't heard any speaker with the TAD's true dynamics, phase coherence, resolution, and speed. I have had many of the so-called world’s best speakers at my store including Von Schweikert, Wisdom Audio, Focal Grande and so on, but nothing regardless of price has hit my heart as these Reference Ones. 

If you are open minded and near the West Coast (L.A.) during this tour, please give Andrew Jones at TAD a call. I think it will be worth the trip! 

One thing to mention about the business of high end audio: Many brands are pricing their reference speakers at extreme prices to make the end consumer afraid to criticize their shortcomings. Every speaker has some shortcomings, but many reviewers and customers are more than afraid to mention it when writing a review of their sound. I evaluate the speakers only by their performance and not by their price. It's really sad to see many magazines ranking the most expensive as the absolute best. Why? Of course if they have spent many dollars to develop the speakers it must come out in the price to the consumer. 

But one thing that many consumers and reviewers don't see is when a really big company makes a high-end speaker. They have budgets that go far, far away from a normal high-end brand. If you knew the budget of TAD, you would be amazed and if that was translated to the price tag it would be around the wrong side of $300,000. Take, for instance, its 6.25" Beryllium midrange! Have you seen any other manufacturer even try to do one? One reviewer asked one of the guys at Focal why they didn't use the fantastic Beryllium material in their midrange in their new Grande Utopia EM. He said, "It would be astronomically expensive!"

For your knowledge, of course I can accept that the most expensive speakers in the world are the best sounding. But I can’t if they aren't. Many times the most expensive speakers have many shortcomings. I will not name any here. But a few of those that you are going to hear soon are way, way too expensive if you take into consideration their sound quality. If I find a loudspeaker that has a better overall sound quality than the TAD I will gladly accept it and I will be the first to announce it! I have only one goal with the high-end-audio quest and that is to come so close to live sound that I can't hear any difference between live sound and the sound from speakers. So far in my quest I haven't heard anything yet that comes as close to live sound as the TAD Reference One.

All the best,

Jörgen Nilsson