Jamming with JAMO?

Thanks much.

Audio is one of those things which can be talked about till you are blue in the face... uh... bluer... and until you hear what a thing can do in a at least a reasonably well put together setup, your ability to speculate, and imagine, won't usually do it/them, justice. Hearing is the only honest way.

Hearing, even if things aren’t optimized can whet the sonic appetite. Enabling one to more closely speculate… or narrow the path a bit more.

I think I’m torn at least, if not a lot more folks too, between reproducing natural lifelike depiction of the captured musical venue, and creating a reproduction which meets my preffs as well, in the doing. Albeit this last ‘preff’ faction can detract from the musical facsimile somewhat by adding a bit more romance, warmth, euphony, resolution, revelatory or stark presentation… depending on where those preffs come into play.

In any case, the look and sound of the JAMO design sure affected me. It also reinforced the notion that money often determines the level of the sound quality one might achieve when it comes to speakers in general.

In other words… I’ve yet to hear a loudspeaker system… regardless the design, that once it gets to the $7 - $10K range that you are getting very good reproducers…. Once you hit the $10K & above MSRP… you’re getting speaker systems that are still more capable of presenting the audio in an outstanding manner… naturally there are other considerations, but thus far every 10-12K and above speaker I’ve heard sounded exceptionally good, unless the setup just flat out sucked… and a couple did, although it was pretty easy to determine why… anemic power, bad room, poor recordings… etc.

From the McIntosh XR &* 360L series, Magnapan 20’s, BW 801s (less than an optimum setup), SF Cremona (bad room inappropriately powered), Focus 20/20 (powered by a Denon 75wpc Receiver), BW 800s, Avalons, AZ Adagios, Focals, Revel Studio & Salons, Wilson Sophia, Alon/Nola’s, etc, in each case, one could pretty well see despite the poor setup the speakers had promise or not. Could work in my room or not. With my kind of electronics or likely not.

These JAMO speakers were no different. Prodigious bass output in a large open space with not tons of power on tap, and a clearly defined sound field or stage set well and very tuneful. Not optimized at all, but showing much promise. There was IMHO, no need at all for a sub if music only was the consideration… it’s not though… he wants them for an HT affair.

I’ll look into the Lindquist thingys… and closer at the Emerald Physics.

You should also look at some of the Gradient models.

Thanks.. I'm open to looking at or considering any brands/models which emulate the design & tech of the JAMO Ref line.

They look great and so far sound great, IMHO! Just a mite pricey for me at the moment.

I'll look into Gradient too. Appreciate it a lot.

I have the heard a friend’s Jamo R909 many times. They are one of the most impressive speakers I have ever heard. Their most significant strength compared to most planar and box loudspeakers is a very articulate and fast bass – in side by side comparisons most typical box loudspeaker bass is indistinct. The R909 also has a neutral tonal balance with tremendous detail. An additional strength compared to typical box loudspeakers is soundstage depth in addition to good lateral imaging. The only relative minor weakness is the occasional edge in upper midrange – I think due to an artifact of the midrange driver.
Also I was fortunate to briefly compare the R907 to R909 – the R907 gives up surprisingly minimal bass depth compared to R909, midrange is similar, but the R909 is a bit fuller in bass and cleaner in treble – I think it is worth the additional cost.
While I like the striking design of the R909 loudspeaker, I do vastly prefer the look of my B&W 803D. However, if I had a dedicated listening room where I had flexibility to position speakers where I like - my top current favourite speakers are the R909 and B&W800D.

Mark_nz

Very nice contribution... thanks much.

I would tend to agree with your assessment of the bass response of the JAMO R909 speakers in comparison to other designs. The bottom end certainly was striking, and prominent, until more distance between them and the front wall was had. Still, the lower end was quick and added a better blend to the music. In all, I can see how as the Stereophile Review on the ‘07s pointed out, an abundance instead of just ample supplies of power would show the more positive results.

I’ve often found any edgyness in the upper midrange of loudspeakers a problem outside of them… usually. Definitely on the level of performance the upper end JAMO units have so far demonstrated to me. I could be wrong but past exp has shown me quite often, that harshness, or bite there comes from power issues elsewhere… ground loops… source… conditioning problems, perhaps even a throttling down of power, or some lack of power at that freq range… maybe even a impedance issue/mismatch upstream.

Maybe such an instance occurs only when pushing them hard, but I heard nothing errant during my listening… I’m sure I’ll hear them again, and be more careful during that occasion.

My only concern is how much immediacy … presence… or “They are here” can the JAMOs exhibit? That would be the sailient point for me. I do so dig thinking about reaching for my virtual autograph pad while I’m listening to good recordings..

Thanks much for all of those highlights and especially those comparing the 907 & 909. Sadly, unless some great fortune smiles on me, the 09s are "...the stuff that dreams are made of" rather than "the stuff that sits in my listening room". The 907s? Well, .... maybe.

I have a dedicated room, but it is at best medium size, being roughly 14 x 20 x 8.25. the speakers sit on the short wall. The R-909s sure look great too in that glossy black. Well, from the front… their backsides are a bit weird though. This design allows for closer placement to the side walls as well, and in my case that would be a plus.

Did you note as did the reviewer, keeping the grills on lent itself to a better listening event? Such is not often the case but I have heard of some units which actually sound better with the grills on. I did not recall much of a diff one way or the other, although my session was not an extended one, but I did use very familiar tunes.