New MOFI speaker (Andrew Jones)

I am not here to support or diss Andrew. But here is my story:

Last month I invited 3 colleagues home, who love audio. One has a bluegrass band (he plays the banjo), the other records and does DJ while the last one is a very young guy (compared to me). These guys were mesmerized by my system because they had never heard a high fidelity system. In fact the band and the youngest guy claimed that they were hearing things almost to the rear. I did not question that. The 1 hour session went on to about 2.5 hours. At the end of it, they told me that while the system was fantastic, they simply could not afford it. Fair enough and I told them it was built over a period of 17 years. As we came out of the listening room into the family area of the basement, they saw the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR which is connected to a Sony 5.1 channel receiver, which we use to watch movies or the kids play games on TV.

Now this system impressed the band guy so much that he went home and started searching for these. Unfortunately they are not made anymore and the rare ones are fetching $500. He asked me for recommendation, based on a budget. There was no way that anyone of us could go reviewing a speaker. But I recommended him the Andrew Jones designed ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2. These were on sale for Thanksgiving and he bought the Walnut ones from Music Direct. They arrived last Monday at his place and he used his vintage 1980s Marantz receiver (Japanese made) with some cheap speaker wire that he already had. Even with this combination he was BLOWN AWAY with what he heard. This is his most expensive hi-fi purchase. The worst part is - he is currently using the "headphone out" from the projector as input to the Marantz. So today I carried my Auris bluMe bluetooth receiver, that he can connect using RCAs. Will wait to hear back from him.

Point is - Andrew Jones designs are pretty good. This forum is filled with folks having mega $$$ speakers (including me). We are trying to judge cheaper designs and compare them to the $$$ ones. To the folks on this forum a $1700 speaker might be a hype. But to the non-audiophiles even a $399 speaker is a hype. Why? Because their previous system is a all-in-one Walmart/Target system. We can do more justice to this hobby by directing the younger generation to start with cheaper loudspeakers. Eventually they will move into the high end category.

Also, if there are people who pay $50 per month to get reviews of audio equipment that is heard by someone else, then it's a shame that they are ready to spend $50k on speakers/amps/sources and cannot spend $500 on a plane ticket to listen to such components "in-person". IF they are so busy, then how are they going to find time to enjoy this hobby? Just wondering.

@milpai the vibe here is pretty weird at times, I am here to learn but I am in my disillusioned phase right now. When I see that people have a list of components that cost more than I spent on cars, combined in my entire adult life and the same people rave about junk music (to my taste) I feel confused.

The way I see it: if you love music, you won’t be obsessed with gear, because music is perfectly and fully enjoyable with decent $200 desktop speakers, playing from youtube. You will be obsessed with gear for a lot of other reasons. I find myself being obsessed with the quality of the sound (more or less in a bubble) but my joy of listening isn’t all that different. With a metaphor, imagine that you love playing soccer but your main focus is not playing but finding the best shoes. Great shoes will be significantly better than flip-flops but most people play in $60 sneakers, happily...

But to the non-audiophiles even a $399 speaker is a hype. 

That's very true. True story, my own. Several years ago, I sold a lady neighbor my speakers I had at that time for a secondary system, Andrew Jones' ELAC Uni-Fi bookshelves (one tier up the Debut). For $300 cash. When the son learned, he got pissed off. $300 for speakers??!!! Even to this day, every time I see her son, I get a ".... I can't believe you made my mom pay $300 for speakers" look and scoff ... Go figure. I thought I was making her a favor. And I also installed them for her with my stands (for free to her), some speakers cables I had in my drawer. 

"No good deed...."  @thyname   Some won't ever understand. I'm sure she enjoys them. (I have the Debut 5.2 set-up for a TV room and enjoy it there.)

I've met Andrew at a few shows and liked his personality like others. I think his prior designs show his skill as well. I'm curious to hear these new ones now.