Andrew Jones MoFi Speakers

[okok]

price is only thing that matters

how about $500/pair?

 

[Descartes]

I have the SourcePoint 10 speakers in-house for review in the February 2023 issue of Stereophile.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

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[MattHooper]

My money's on non-neutrality (sorry, character), and a disinterest in letting boys with Klippel toys get anywhere near.

We'll get a Stereophile review filled with poetry and backed by a measurement panel with a few dry comments papering over the discrepancies with the poetry, and overemphasising correlations.

Andrew Jones' name will only be mentioned 1.7 times per paragraph in association with marketing and advertising.

"I love the smell of cynicism in the morning...."

 

[Jim Shaw]

I got to listen to these speakers yesterday. I didn’t know anything about them when I went in. I found them to elicit considerable joy. I listen on the Elac DBR 6.2s at home, and these were like everything I like about that speaker and more - mostly the bass extension.

The room: maybe 12x12ish feet with minimal treatment. No photo unfortunately. Just a couple absorption panels in on the rear wall. Seated about 8 ft from the speakers and they were placed something like 8ish ft apart. Pulled reasonably far from the wall. So, overall not uncharacteristic to what most folks would actually achieve.

In the room, the vocals got a little shouty on some songs at higher volumes. At slightly lower volumes things were quite a bit better. The bass response was excellent in the smaller room, and the folks presenting said Andrew (who was there) has something like a 20x30 listening room where they typically extend even lower. I initially thought there was a sub or some room correction DSP going on but it was a “no” to both of those.

I heard a lot of speakers yesterday. Most of them were horrible. Seriously - you can discount for the room or placement or setup or source and at the end of the day they were just unpleasant. I don’t think a $60k speaker gets to be unpleasant. I know some are balking at the $3.7 price tag here. I was absolutely delighted when I heard them. They gave me everything I want when I enjoy music of all kinds. For the price, I think they’re a great option, though a bit high. Again, I love my Elacs and have not heard much that made me want to upgrade.

I’m going to listen again today, and am happy to return subjective assessments.

Thanks for this. A 12 x 12 room dimension is a huge challenge. I'd expect loud room modes of ~100, 200 Hz, etc. And then there'd be the ceiling height and what it does. I'm glad to read that you liked them. I too listen to DBR62s in my home. My only criticism of them is they don't play loud enough for a big room. (I wasn't expecting they would.) And I use 2 subs and I don't feed the Elacs much below 70 Hz, where it would be a waste of watts and cause distortion.

If anyone is attending tomorrow, I'd love a couple of photos of the room setup with the AJMofi's.

I really am glad to read this. Those speakers were my only lure to the show -- and it wasn't worth a $600 trip and overnight. But $3700 is about twice my budget, and I'm 90% content with my Elacs for serious music. And if I know anything about Andrew, there'll be bigger, smaller, and less costly stuff to come. I know they have to recoup development and tooling and show some profit to keep rolling.

Wouldn't you love to know how many Mofi must sell to break even?

P.S. I'm even more glad to see a departure -- finally -- from the ubiquitous 'cookbook' 5", 6", and 8" mid-woofers. Somebody had to break that mold, and I suppose the coaxial tweeter contributes, too.

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[Vacceo]

Whatever that dude says, I don't believe a word.

 

[Mart68]

About the only thing he says that you can hang your hat on is that he perceived the speaker as 'bright' and that it makes 'harsh, bright or edgy' recordings sound bad.

Otherwise it's more of a music review than an equipment review, although that seems to be par for the course these days.

Oh and he says 'Andrew Jones' a lot.

 

[tuga]

Andrew Jones has decades of experience and an excellent track record. I agree with your assessment that these speakers will be challenged in terms of measured performance. Getting a 10" diameter driver to blend well with a 1.25" dome is a hell of a challenge, but I am eager to hear what AJ was able to do, and sure I am curious about the measured performance as well. In that order.

Utimately the performance potential is down to the design brief set out by Jones' employer.
There's only so much he can do for a given budget and set of requirements.

I attended one of his demos of an all-TAD system with the Reference Ones. It was one of the best systems I have had a chance to listen to.

 

[r042wal]

They look like 'chit' because the veneer on top is perpendicular to the veneer on the sides and contrasts like a nose bleed. The veneer on top should have been horizontal to match the vertical veneers. I suspect they 'cheaped out' in the end trying to utilize their leftover scraps of veneer.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Utimately the performance potential is down to the design brief set out by Jones' employer.
There's only so much he can do for a given budget and set of requirements.

Bingo! That is the truth that 90% of the people don't realize. All engineering of any type has budget and time constraints.

 

[Jim Shaw]

Bingo! That is the truth that 90% of the people don't realize. All engineering of any type has budget and time constraints.

Yep. And the MBAs running the company will change their minds midstream if company finances are lagging.
.....
"Harry, I know we told you November, but marketing needs to be shipping by June."
"Pete, about that budget for design. We need you to cut it by 30%, or we'll find somebody who can."
"Jerry, it's about that $1.37 more that you want to spend on the inductors. Don't you dare..."
"Harry, it's March. What's going on with the June schedule you promised?"

"Harry, you're what? Quitting us to start a YouTube channel?"

 

[Spkrdctr]

Yep. And the MBAs running the company will change their minds midstream if company finances are lagging.
.....
"Harry, I know we told you November, but marketing needs to be shipping by June."
"Pete, about that budget for design. We need you to cut it by 30%, or we'll find somebody who can."
"Jerry, it's about that $1.37 more that you want to spend on the inductors. Don't you dare..."
"Harry, it's March. What's going on with the June schedule you promised?"

"Harry, you're what? Quitting us to start a YouTube channel?"

That is pure gold! Reality can be very funny as long as you are not the one under the gun of time and cost constraints.

 

[n1rvana]

 

[n1rvana]

 

[soks]

Thanks for this. A 12 x 12 room dimension is a huge challenge. I'd expect loud room modes of ~100, 200 Hz, etc. And then there'd be the ceiling height and what it does. I'm glad to read that you liked them. I too listen to DBR62s in my home. My only criticism of them is they don't play loud enough for a big room. (I wasn't expecting they would.) And I use 2 subs and I don't feed the Elacs much below 70 Hz, where it would be a waste of watts and cause distortion.

If anyone is attending tomorrow, I'd love a couple of photos of the room setup with the AJMofi's.

I really am glad to read this. Those speakers were my only lure to the show -- and it wasn't worth a $600 trip and overnight. But $3700 is about twice my budget, and I'm 90% content with my Elacs for serious music. And if I know anything about Andrew, there'll be bigger, smaller, and less costly stuff to come. I know they have to recoup development and tooling and show some profit to keep rolling.

Wouldn't you love to know how many Mofi must sell to break even?

P.S. I'm even more glad to see a departure -- finally -- from the ubiquitous 'cookbook' 5", 6", and 8" mid-woofers. Somebody had to break that mold, and I suppose the coaxial tweeter contributes, too.

Edit to add: I actually use mine in the same way. I only have 35 W per channel going to the Elacs, so I roll the bass off on my preamp and use a single subwoofer to gain back all of that low frequency information. I think it actually works really well, but if you don’t have a subwoofer already and want bigger speakers then these may be an option for some folks.
——
There’s a demo video that someone posted down below with the room sort of visible. I heard them again yesterday and got a chance to listen to Andrew talk and play through some selected tracks. Honestly, the Friday night demo where the audience was picking tracks was a much better demonstration. The second track they played in the video with the trumpet was actually painful in the room. Part of it is because of the high volume level, but it was straight up unenjoyable. The same is kind of true with the clap sample in the Marian Hill song they chose. Granted, I’ve had the same problems on a few old Count Basie recordings and I had to roll the treble off on the Marian Hill track when I got home and compared. So in a way, they were actually great demo tracks because it should just how nasty those travel drivers could get. Ultimately, I think that if you like your Elacs and have subwoofers already I don’t think that this is a particularly significant step up. It actually got me thinking about the floor standers or the unifi reference models.

Overall, for the people that have the budget and a room that may be big enough for this sort of speaker, I think it’s worth listening to. Especially if you like something that’s a little bit more lively. My wife was impressed with these, but not her favorite at the show, and was unrestrained in criticizing the high frequency harshness of the Mofi. But, this came pretty close to the same kind of fun. And, if you like the kind of music that it seems Andrew voice to these with – that is vocal Jazz and hi-fi dance music – I think you’ll really enjoy them.

 

[Tom C]

Anyone happen to know what that first track he played is?

 

[MattHooper]

Interesting that Andrew mentioned being influenced by the current resurgence of wider baffle speakers. I'm enjoying the resurgence as I've liked a number of
such speakers. (Even though I own narrow-profile speakers myself, which tend to suit my room better).

 

[Mr. Widget]

Utimately the performance potential is down to the design brief set out by Jones' employer.
There's only so much he can do for a given budget and set of requirements.

I attended one of his demos of an all-TAD system with the Reference Ones. It was one of the best systems I have had a chance to listen to.

Yes, that is the role of the designer in any company that isn't his own. Beyond that every design problem whether it is a toaster oven or a speaker, you must create a design brief and seek the best solution for that brief.

I first met Andrew Jones when he was showing his first speaker for TAD. These were the Wurlitzer looking Model 1s. I was blown away by his presentation, his knowledge, and by his speakers. (not so much their aesthetics) Over the years I have had the opportunity to spend some time with him and have heard many of his speakers. I have been continually impressed by both the designer and his designs.

Of course no speaker will please every listener. We humans are too quirky for that. But as Andrew has said in many interviews and to me in person, he designs speakers to please his ears and luckily many people like that sound. I am one of them. Will I like the new MoFi offering? I have no idea, but I am very interested in finding out.

Thanks for posting these. I enjoyed hearing what he had to say. I do not find any utility in listening to music played back via YouTube though.

 

[Sokel]

Anyone happen to know what that first track he played is?

Enjoy!

 

[MattHooper]

Of course no speaker will please every listener. We humans are too quirky for that. But as Andrew has said in many interviews and to me in person, he designs speakers to please his ears and luckily many people like that sound. I am one of them.

Speaker manufacturers like John Devore have said the same thing. And I'm one of those who like the designs.

This is why I'm simultaneously happy to see the march forward in speaker design and ever more precise measurements that can help predict the consequences of
design choices, while also being thankful there continue to be manufacturers catering to their niche. I'd find the idea of all speakers converging to sound essentially the same-ish to be kind of stifling, but I understand others have good reasons for wanting speakers to converge on certain design parameters.