Andrew Jones talks speaker design

Thought some of you might be interested in this from Elac's new boy, Andrew Jones. Here he's talking at the Munich High End Site about active and passive speaker designs and the benefits of both.



Think you'll need to click the link to watch it in Vimeo, rather than through here. Worth watching though from the designer's perspective.

 

Bump.

 

I'm surprised - no comments; 160 views and no opinions on AJ's piece?

Here's a good summary of the new Elac products, including the rather interesting Uni-Fi UB5...

Andrew Jones talks European, active ELAC UB5 loudspeaker | DAR__KO »

 

Interesting and practical, not to mention simple and an excellent sound for the value.

This is perhaps, the wave of the future. If people want a simple streaming system, with a server, this appears to be it.

 

I'd be inclined to agree. The collecting of multiple boxes that do various things is slowly turning towards a simplified but high quality approach. Less clutter, being at least added benefit as well as great audio.

It's telling that Andrew Jones is pretty much saying that you can use £4,000 worth of traditional legacy gear to make the passive version of his speakers sound good, but £750 for the active version gets you pretty damn close. That £3,000-odd saving buys a whole lot of other stuff whether it be music, or whatever.

Audiophiles need to wake up to this route. It's plum in the middle of their wants for a significant proportion of the audio loving consumer.

 

Anyone else suffering from Andrew Jones/Elac burnout?

I can only get so interested in a cheap pair of speakers.

 

Then just look away. Or get informed. Either's good with me.

EDIT: Here's AVI's DM5 and DM10 actives. A breath of fresh air. Some may be interested...the DM10 comes with its own DAC and preamp onboard.

AVI Hi-Fi | a passion for sound »

 

I thought you were looking for opinions?

 

Sure. And communication is a two way street.

 

I'm actually really looking forward to hearing these. Andrew Jones is an interesting fellow. He seems genuinely excited by the products he creates in a way that is missing with some other companies. In every interview and review I've seen on the Unifi series there is a definite buzz. It may be naïve, but they certainly won over my curiosity. Unfortunately, I was too late to order the blemished units, so I'll have to wait until July to test them out.

 

Good stuff. Andrew is genuinely excited about building & tweaking speakers, and it comes thru in his products.

 

The Elacs have received nowhere near the universal praise the Pioneers did. Why is everybody going nuts over the Elacs when the Pioneers can be had for less money?

 

Elacs have been out less than one year, Pioneers...? Plus different marketing channels, etc
Have you heard them side by side? I have. And remember the Debut line of speakers were exactly that , a budget line to debut the Elac America brand.
The best is yet to come.

 

Enjoyed watching it. I do like the guy. Question. For the person who is totally persuaded by Jones' argument for active speakers, but has multiple sources (including CDs) that he wants to hear through those speakers--which requires some sort of pre-amp--are the sonic advantages of Jones' system-simplicity decreased? I don't really understand the product he's selling (apart from the active speakers, which are easy to understand).

 

I'm always interested in products/people who strive to bring true high end within reach of those with modest budgets. I think what Jones has been doing is fantastic.

dan c

 

Screw the bells and whistles. AJ designs for maximum bang for buck. Man. In China with premium quality drivers. I love the Debut B6.

 

One thing might be that much of the public doesn't understand active speakers and the design/benefits they bring. The fact that you can get a performance that almost equals £4000 worth of regular electronics from a £750 pair of active speakers is pretty notable.

Or rather, you need to spend £4000 to exceed the active Uni Fi performance is maybe another way of looking at it...!

 

It just reads like add copy. Not very good add copy either. Thin is in so Europe gets a totally different cabinet?

I've not heard his actives but I have heard the F5 many times. My nephew bought a pair off Amazon to go with a Yamaha receiver. Not very impressive sounding and a little bit odd sounding at times. Granted they were around 250 bucks and at that price they were better then any of those fully integrated systems. They reminded me a bit of the Home Theater in A Box speaker sound. Does anyone remember those?

That said I'm really interested in giving a pair of his actives a try. I was thinking a used pair of Genelec would be great for my bedroom. Always happy to see more choices.

 

"Premium quality drivers"? I think you should have a closer look at them. They are in fact well designed, but cheaply made drivers, which is what you'd expect in a speaker at this price point. Steel basket, basic ceramic motor, no spider venting, inexpensive "aramid" cone, etc. This is not Scan Speak or SEAS caliber stuff we're talking about here. I think they offer great bang for the buck, but let's not get carried away over the build quality. There have to be compromises at this price point.

 

Your idea of communication is oddly similar to my cranky old German mother's idea of it.

 

Actually, it's much worse.

 

I am not fully understanding how $4000 non-active stereo amp only /pair of speakers can be equal in sound quality to a $750 pair of active speakers without cheating. What are the design advantages that active speakers bring to the table that allow this to happen? In both cases it is amplifier/box/drivers and some type of crossover.

I use dollars symbol as that is all I can find!

 

I'm very interested in seeing what kind of inputs there will be on these. Most actives, AFAIK, only have one, but Klipsh has a rather neat set of actives (the R-15PM) that have:

• 1 x pair of RCA phono level inputs with switch for Phono/Line input versatility (Phono Pre-amp with ground screw terminal)
• 1 x USB digital audio from a PC or Mac single RCA line level output for connection to sub.
• 1 x Digital optical
• 1 x 3.5mm mini jack line level

This really would alleviate the need for a receiver or integrated amp. For me, however, these would be a little too small for the large room I'd want to use them in.

R-15PM Powered Monitors | Klipsch® »

 

Good question! Here's a good summary in PDF form from Adam Audio who manufacture both active and passive speakers.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...LNemI4cjtrh6DUyIg&sig2=adNIwZJ4Y-VgadDNXIl0Vw


And this from Enjoy the Music on ATC actives and passive speakers:-

ATC Loudspeaker Technology Active Versus Passive Loudspeakers »

 

Are these Elac speakers true actives with active crossovers or are they just speakers with a built in amp?