JansZen Valentina P8 loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks, Luxman M-10X.
Loudspeakers: Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4, GoldenEar BRX.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue (balanced). Speaker: AudioQuest Robin Hood. AC: AudioQuest Dragon Source & High Current, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: 24"-high, single-pillar Celestion loudspeaker stands, Target TT-5 equipment racks; Ayre Acoustics Myrtle Blocks; ASC Tube Traps, RPG Abffusor panels; AudioQuest Niagara 5000 Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System and AudioQuest Niagara 1000 Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System (source components). AC power comes from two dedicated 20A circuits, each just 6' from breaker box.
Room: 20' (left side), 25' (right side) × 16' × 8'.—John Atkinson

COMPANY INFO
JansZen Audio
480 Trade Rd.
Columbus, OH 43204
(614) 448-1811
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
RH's picture

I've been waiting for Stereophile to review the Janszen speakers! They have always intrigued me, not only from the excellent reviews and user reports, but due to their approach to using electrostatic panels in a sealed box design.

To that end, the only thing that disappointed me in the review is that I didn't see addressed what to me were the intriguing questions about such a design:

What does the Janszen design sound like relative to other electrostatics or box speakers?

Does it still have an electrostatic speaker character? Or more of a box speaker character? Or something in between?

Electrostatic speakers have a reputation for sounding particularly "quick" and vivid especially with transients, along with that famous open-window "boxless" sound.

For me (and I know many others) there is also a sort of signature to most regular electrostatic speakers where, as vivid and boxless as they sound, there is a lack of palpability, of air-moving density, that you get with a typical box speaker. It's a bit more ghostly-sounding vs flesh and blood. You hear more than feel the sound.

I've always wondered how much this has to do with the use of electrostatic panels per se, vs the fact they just have no box, and also operate as dipoles which can energize a room differently.

So I wonder if the Janszen approach of putting the panel "in a box" edges the sound more towards a box speaker (including that added density and presence), so you get a sort of melding of box speaker/electrostatic sound, or if it still sounds like an electrostatic dipole speaker, with all the usual characteristics one hears in electrostatics.

Any comment on these comparisons, Mr. Atkinson?

Cheers!

MattJ's picture
Quote:

For me (and I know many others) there is also a sort of signature to most regular electrostatic speakers where, as vivid and boxless as they sound, there is a lack of palpability, of air-moving density, that you get with a typical box speaker. It's a bit more ghostly-sounding vs flesh and blood. You hear more than feel the sound.

Good description. I haven't heard any electrostatics other than Martin Logan's, but that summed up pretty well my reaction to them. I guess I'm not used to that type of sound, but it seemed kind of "hollow" to me.

alh22's picture

The "open" quality you describe is, in my experience, unique to electrostatics. As is the "ghosted" quality of small electrostatics (good description). The latter problem disappears when the electrostatic panels are quite large, especially compared to the size of the listening room. I have owned Quads, Beveridges, and KLH 9s (double pair), and only the 9s, when used in single pairs in a small room or doubled up in a larger room have overcome the "ghost" problem. The result can be a shocking degree of realism, at the expense of listening room real estate. Back in the '80s, the engineers at Ampex Corp. designed a giant pair of electrostats built into a wall at one end of a listening room. The realism of the sound totally overcame the poor acoustics of the bare room facing them.

MikeP's picture

KMD Orchestalls Reference speakers made in South Korea
"The World's First Speakers that Sounds Like LIVE MUSIC"
www.kmdeng.co.kr/KMD/elementor-1042/
More info on You Tube !

Jack L's picture

Hi

Really? What a HUGE claim !

KMD claims their products "faithful to make ZERO energy loss" from electrical signal to audio signals.

Technically, how can any dynamic drivers like those made by KMD achieve "zero energy loss" in converting electrical energy to sound energy ??
This is physics, my friend.

KMD also claims their products were "The World's First Spealers that sounds like LIVE MUSIC. That's a huge claim !

I wonder how KMD defines its "Live Music" ?????

Listening with own ears is believing

Jack L

MikeP's picture

They were using very cheap gear, cables and CD Player too !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtrziEh2S6s&t

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