Andrew Jones’s new speaker brand - Jones and Cerreta

[MattHooper]

AJ seemed to make it clear in the video that he had in mind speakers that we’re going to work with low wattage tube amplifiers. I presume this means things like low wattage SET amps and the like.

I wonder, therefore how much he has relaxed or not the goal of linearity. Because of course the low wattage tube amplifiers are notorious for colouration and non-linearity.

AJ didn’t mention the impedance characteristics of the speaker - but even if it’s fairly benign, tube amps can still colour the sound I believe.

It’ll be interesting to see what amplifier he demonstrates the speaker with at AXPONA.
And also if he’s going to use the same demo material he normally uses or if it’s going to skew to…I don’t know… old jazz recordings, or something like that.

 

[mhardy6647]

Low wattage amplifiers don't have to be SE or T.
Heck, they can be push-pull, use tetrodes or pentodes, and even NFB (e.g., ultralinear output topology).

This little rascal, e.g., is good for about 8 wpc and... does surprisingly well with those 8 watts.
Push-pull 11BM8, essentially the same tube as a 6BM8 (a triode and a power pentode in one envelope), but designed for power transformeress, series-string heater (i.e., killer ) circuits, e.g., cheap TV portables of the pre-transistor era.

 

[amirm]

It’ll be interesting to see what amplifier he demonstrates the speaker with at AXPONA.

His rooms get crowded at shows but assuming that is not the case all the time, I will drop by and report back.

 

[mhardy6647]

His rooms get crowded at shows but assuming that is not the case all the time, I will drop by and report back.

Aha! This calls for covert operations.
E.g., a periscope!

 

[MattHooper]

Low wattage amplifiers don't have to be SE or T.
Heck, they can be push-pull, use tetrodes or pentodes, and even NFB (e.g., ultralinear output topology).

This little rascal, e.g., is good for about 8 wpc and... does surprisingly well with those 8 watts.
Push-pull 11BM8, essentially the same tube as a 6BM8 (a triode and a power pentode in one envelope), but designed for power transformeress, series-string heater (i.e., killer ) circuits, e.g., cheap TV portables of the pre-transistor era.

View attachment 522798

For a number of years I had a low power tube amp - something between 12 and 14 W - locally built, I seemed to remember it was no or low feedback. Sounded lovely, but also sounded too wimpy on many of my loudspeakers, so I got rid of it.

Later on I had an Eico HF81 - 14w push pull - and it sounded subjectively more powerful on all sorts of loudspeakers for whatever reason.

But the horn guys like to play with even lower flea-watts, right? Like just a few?

 

[mhardy6647]

For a number of years I had a low power tube amp - something between 12 and 14 W - locally built, I seemed to remember it was no or low feedback. Sounded lovely, but also sounded too wimpy on many of my loudspeakers, so I got rid of it.

Later on I had an Eico HF81 - 14w push pull - and it sounded subjectively more powerful on all sorts of loudspeakers for whatever reason.

But the horn guys like to play with even lower flea-watts, right? Like just a few?

Yup. About 3 watts per channel for SE 2A3 (at a "reasonable" THD level, ca. 1%) at my house.

A chum in the Bay State just borrowed a SE 45 amplifier from another mutual hifi friend & fellow traveler. The 45 has a well deserved reputation for the sheer gloriousness of its performance as a power amplifier -- and, in its day (the 1930s) it was a fairly powerful direct-heated power triode, a (literally) blistering 2.2 watts.

The kinda, sorta similar dual grid (which is not to say tetrode!) 46 is in the same ballpark and cheaper on the NOS market, but requires a slightly odd 5-pin socket and is only good for about 1.6 watts.

 

[Newman]

I just don't get the field coil thing that he's come up with. ....strikes me as a "gimmick" more than anything else, to complement the "vintage vibe" of the system as a whole....

But scores high on the Audiophile ‘Bingo’ card.
Keith

Exactly. That's the whole point IMHO.

I predict it's going to set the Stereophile bingo card on fire, and their staff will wet themselves. Just watch. It's going to be a show.

cheers

 

[MattHooper]

Could there be an easier prediction?

 

[kharan]

Alternatively, this can be a nice load for a Topping B200.

High efficiency, but the Topping itself is possibly the amplifier with one of the if not the lowest noise measured on ASR.

Or a Topping LA90 for a single amp solution.

High efficiency full range speakers are very rare. I hope it will be measured independently and properly.

 

[MattHooper]

Alternatively, this can be a nice load for a Topping B200.

High efficiency, but the Topping itself is possibly the amplifier with one of the if not the lowest noise measured on ASR

Even if true, I certainly don’t think this loudspeaker is meant for the Topping crowd.

 

[kharan]

Even if true, I certainly don’t think this loudspeaker is meant for the Topping crowd.

Ideal pairing though. It's not my style of speaker but I'm very curious as to how it performs and measures. 96 dB sensitivity and 30 Hz extension is kind of wild.

 

[mhardy6647]

Even if true, I certainly don’t think this loudspeaker is meant for the Topping crowd.

No, but that doesn't mean, a priori, that it would not be a bad pairing!

One is reminded of Randy at Stereo Warehouse in San Luis Obispo, CA... a long time ago.

 

[Duke]

AJ didn’t mention the impedance characteristics of the speaker - but even if it’s fairly benign, tube amps can still colour the sound I believe.

In general tube amps put out more wattage into impedance peaks (and less wattage into impedance dips) than solid-state amps do, and high output impedance tube amps moreso than low or medium output impedance tube amps. Given that most loudspeakers are designed for the characteristics of solid state amps (which are just the opposite: increased wattage into impedance dips and decreased wattage into impedance peaks), most loudspeakers are not at their best when driven by tube amps.

My guess is that this speaker has a very flat impedance curve, aside from the primary bass region peak, and even that can be mitigated by various means (enclosure design and/or an impedance-peak-compensating circuit in the crossover). This would make the speaker's tonal balance relatively consistent across different amplifier types.

One interesting characteristic of a field coil driver is the ability to vary the speaker's efficiency and low-frequency damping characteristics, and this attribute gives the end user another degree of freedom in getting a bit better amp + speaker + room interaction. We're used to thinking only in terms of speaker + room interaction being a thing, but with the ability to vary the magnetic flux in the field coil itself, the interaction between amp and speaker can be usefully adjusted as well.

 

[amirm]

One interesting characteristic of a field coil driver is the ability to vary the speaker's efficiency and low-frequency damping characteristics, and this attribute gives the end user another degree of freedom in getting a bit better amp + speaker + room interaction.

But seems like he is only using field coil for the midrange and tweeter!

 

[Duke]

But seems like he is only using field coil for the midrange and tweeter!

I didn't realize that. I haven't watched any of the videos.

In that case, varying the voltages to the field coils could still act as limited-range "level controls", giving some user adjustability that might be helpful for different room acoustic situations and/or different toe-in angles.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

After talking about vinyl listening and tube amplification, they quickly learned that they have very similar tastes in what a speaker should have

Andrew had been dreaming about a speaker design that he had yet to attempt. He wanted to blend incredible sound with an aesthetic to complement stylish homes. Jamie and his brother Bill were looking to do something together in the audio space

Inspiring stuff lol: vinyl! tube amps! speakers that sound AND look good! doing something in "the audio space"!

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Just appeared on YouTube:

Deep dive into AJ’s new loudspeaker.
And very fortunately produced by the wonderful Jana, who’s video production is always top-notch:

The top left corner (where I live at least) has a fun little note: "Includes Paid Promotion." This is an ad.

 

[MattHooper]

The top left corner (where I live at least) has a fun little note: "Includes Paid Promotion." This is an ad.

If it wasn’t an ad, how do you think AJ’s explanation of his new speaker would be different?

He seems to be explaining it in just the same type of ways as he does pretty much any of his loudspeaker introductions - at audio shows, in interviews….

Like many I’m curious to hear AJ explain his new loudspeaker - he’s one of the best in the business for this - and this video goes through all sorts of detail, and we get high production quality video of the speaker and added helpful explanations along the way. Pretty much just what I would want.

So whether it was paid for seems a bit of a red herring.

 

[jpqpi]

Wow - both of these are really big speakers. But as noted, price tag on them is probably going to be prohibitive for most.

They are enormous, I had to check it wasn't an April 1st post

 

[PristineSound]

Just appeared on YouTube:

Deep dive into AJ’s new loudspeaker.
And very fortunately produced by the wonderful Jana, who’s video production is always top-notch:

He talked a lot about high efficiency. I just don't understand all of the craze for high efficiency speakers as if we are still in the 50's with limited powered amps.