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In Reply to: JansZen Electrostats posted by colinhester on November 28, 2007 at 10:32:52:
I was very fortunate to last weekend to have the pleasure of not only hearing some of the most wonderful speakers, but also to meet a most wonderful person.
The speakers are the JanZen Model One, and the person is their creator, David Janszen. David was auditioning his latest creation at AudioVisons Solon in suburban Cleveland. I must preface my comments first, however, by saying that this was the first time I have ever heard any ESL, but I have heard more than a few good speakers and systems.
While the room was not embellished with any extraordinary acoustic treatments, there was decent carpeting on the floor, and for the most part, it would most likely represent a typical ‘in-home’ environment. David had brought along a fancy new ‘equalizer’ that could automatically adjust and compensate for room acoustic inadequacies, however, I asked that he by-pass the unit so I might hear his speakers ‘naked’ as it were. I wanted to judge their sound in a real world mode, and my impressions were made with the knowledge that ‘room tweaking’ would only improve the sound. I will assume David had already positioned the speakers for the best in-room response.
After David had divulged some of the major principals, design goals and construction details, it was time to ‘walk the walk’, and we sat down for a listen. I had brought some CD’s that I am very familiar with, so we dropped a disc into David’s Carry CD player and waited for the bits to transform in sound. What we got was ‘Music’.
The fist thing that I noticed was that what I noticed was nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing, as in the speakers disappeared from the room. Nothing, as in next no coloration. Mel Torme’s tone was sweeter than ever and the French horn solo on the same track that never has presence on a mid-fi system was as clear, natural and realistic as I have ever heard it. Like any high-end offering, sound-stage, depth and dimension and focus were all extraordinary. As music selections ran toward the more dynamic, it became apparent the Model One is a very flat speaker. To me, this is a complement. The speakers I have made are designed for as flat a frequency response as possible. It is my preference, and to my ear, provides the most realistic reproduction of the type of music I most often listen to, acoustic jazz and classical. The Model One excelled at this genre. As dynamics increased and music of a more synthesized nature was sampled, it became apparent that there was a smooth roll-off at both extremes of the frequency range. There was never any loss of detail or definition, but if your looking for bright in the HF and bold in LF, you won’t find it here. At the same time, if you typically listen for extended periods, I highly doubt these speakers will ever be cause for fatigue. Natural and smooth are the trademarks of the Model One, and if I had to sum it up in a soundbite, the term would be ‘tube-like’.
If I was tasked to offer any shortcoming of Model One, it would be the anomaly of Jimmy Cobb’s brushes that I heard while sampling ‘Blue in Green’ on my remastered redbook copy of Miles Davis', ‘Kind of Blue’ CD. The individual bristles on his brushes were as discernable as I have ever heard on any great system, but there was a lower frequency kind of muffled character in his snare which I have never heard before . If time had not been our foe, we could have investigated this more, as it could have been the result many other influences ranging from the source to the room. Again, I offer this example as the only aspect of my experience with the Model One that was slightly less than stellar.
Based on my experience and personal taste, it is quite easy to say that I could happily live the rest of my life with a speaker of this character and quality.
Well done, David, and I thank you for the opportunity to experience a bit of audiophile nirvana.
Bill Hanna
Pittsburgh, Pa
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Follow Ups
- RE: JansZen Electrostats - wkhanna 05:41:43 12/15/07 (0)
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