Hi everyone,
I'm posting the shootout here rather than in the Loudspeaker Review forum because the speakers being compared are not commercially available models, and because no measurements were made. The results were based solely on subjective listening impressions, and are intended for entertainment purposes only.
One of the speakers in the shootout was the Jazzman MkIII ESL shown here: https://jazzman-esl-page.blogspot.com/
The other speaker was an older, modified & restored Soundlab A1 ESL.
The shootout occurred over the April 17-20, 2026 weekend, at the first annual Jazzman SpeakerFest, held at my friend Stephan's farm in northern NJ.
Attending were myself, five (of seven) other Jazzman MkIII speaker owners, a couple of their wives, and a couple of guests. The Fest and shootout were Stephan's idea, and it was so much fun, we're considering making it an annual event to be held each April at Stephan's farm.
Most Jazzman MkIII owners contracted me to build their speakers but Stephan built his pair himself, from a maple tree that he felled, and my design drawings.
In preparation for this event, Stephan had also spent several months restoring the older, defunct pair of Soundlab A1 speakers, which were donated to him because they were in such poor condition (previous owner deemed them beyond repair). Stephan unveiled the fully restored Soundlab A1's, minus grill covers, at the Fest.
Stephan credits Dr. Roger West at Soundlab for much helpful advice on the restoration. The original Soundlab A1 stators had about six inches of span between wire supports, so the wires were prone to flexing during music playback, whereas the newer Soundlab models have stouter frames with much closer spans between the wire supports.
In the restoration, Stephan modded his A1's by inserting additional wire supports, which he designed and 3D printed, that reduced the spans from 6" to 2".
Dr. West graciously donated several full-width sheets of 3-micron Mylar for the diaphragms. However, there's a significant learning curve to install 3-micron diaphragms on these huge speakers, as the ultra-thin film was so static-clingy and prone to tearing that Stephan gave up after several failed attempts used up all the 3-micron film, and he ended up splicing together two pieces of 6-micron film for the diaphragms. The diaphragms were coated with Licron Crystal in lieu of the original coatings.
Stephan is quite the DIY'er: He built a loft in his barn and turned it into a dedicated man cave and audio listening room with amazing acoustics. I've never heard the Jazzman MkIII's sound so good as they do in Stephan's barn loft.
Setups for the shootout:
1. Soundlab A1's powered by a Macintosh 352 amp (320 watts rms/ch @ 4 Ohms).
2. Soundlab A1's with same amp + a pair of separately powered RiPol subs. A DBX Venu 360 DSP crossed the A1's out and the subs in at 80Hz with a symmetric 48db/octave LR filter.
3. Jazzman MkIII hybrid ESLs + RiPol subs; all driven by a 6-channel, 200W/Ch ATI amp, using a DBX Venu 360 DSP with symmetric 48db/octave crossoves @ 80Hz & 265Hz.
Note: Since the Jazzman MkIII's are my design I should rightly recuse myself from commenting on the shootout but I'm writing this so I'm obliged to report the consensus opinion.
Setup 1 impressions:
Most of us had never heard Soundlab speakers before, and we were stunned by their huge sound stage-- there's really no way to describe it. They are exquisitely articulate, and their bass response is surprisingly potent for an ESL with no woofers--- all agreed that subs really are optional with these speakers. The highs were pristine and present across the full sound stage. The upper mids were a bit bright (in your face) for my taste but a bit of EQ'ing could probably have fixed that. We also noticed that the Soundlabs soaked up amp power like a sponge; almost pegging the MAC's VU needles when we cranked the volume.
The wives preemptively shot down any plans of having such huge speakers in their living rooms, and their husbands wisely abstained from disagreeing.
Setup 2 impressions:
With the A1's unloaded below 80Hz and the RiPol subs handling the bottom end, the bass was noticeably deeper and tighter. This also freed-up some headroom for the amp and may partially account for why this setup sounded smoother and more at ease with the subs in play. Everyone preferred this setup over setup #1.
Setup 3 impressions:
I think all of us were predisposed to believe the Soundlab A1's, by virtue of their larger radiating area and reputation, would outclass the smaller Jazzman MkIII's in almost every respect but that was not the case at all. In fact; everyone agreed that the more-efficient hybrid Jazzman MkIII's had a more coherent and balanced sound with tighter, punchier mid-bass, better imaging, and they just seemed to disappear in space.
Since I can't recuse myself, I almost hate to say it but... there was unanimous agreement that the Jazzman MkIII's won the shootout; besting the restored & modded Soundlab A1's.
I can't say how the Jazzman MkIII might have fared against one of the newer Soundlab models but I returned home pretty happy about how it performed against one of the best reviewed speakers in the world.
There is a downside for me, however: After hearing how great the Jazzman MkIII's sounded in Stephan's loft, I'm now unhappy with my own listening room at home :-(
Enjoy!
Me with the Stephan's modded/restored Soundlab A1:
Stephan's modded/restored Soundlab A1s:
Stephan & Me:
Stephan's self-built Jazzman MkIII's:
I'm posting the shootout here rather than in the Loudspeaker Review forum because the speakers being compared are not commercially available models, and because no measurements were made. The results were based solely on subjective listening impressions, and are intended for entertainment purposes only.
One of the speakers in the shootout was the Jazzman MkIII ESL shown here: https://jazzman-esl-page.blogspot.com/
The other speaker was an older, modified & restored Soundlab A1 ESL.
The shootout occurred over the April 17-20, 2026 weekend, at the first annual Jazzman SpeakerFest, held at my friend Stephan's farm in northern NJ.
Attending were myself, five (of seven) other Jazzman MkIII speaker owners, a couple of their wives, and a couple of guests. The Fest and shootout were Stephan's idea, and it was so much fun, we're considering making it an annual event to be held each April at Stephan's farm.
Most Jazzman MkIII owners contracted me to build their speakers but Stephan built his pair himself, from a maple tree that he felled, and my design drawings.
In preparation for this event, Stephan had also spent several months restoring the older, defunct pair of Soundlab A1 speakers, which were donated to him because they were in such poor condition (previous owner deemed them beyond repair). Stephan unveiled the fully restored Soundlab A1's, minus grill covers, at the Fest.
Stephan credits Dr. Roger West at Soundlab for much helpful advice on the restoration. The original Soundlab A1 stators had about six inches of span between wire supports, so the wires were prone to flexing during music playback, whereas the newer Soundlab models have stouter frames with much closer spans between the wire supports.
In the restoration, Stephan modded his A1's by inserting additional wire supports, which he designed and 3D printed, that reduced the spans from 6" to 2".
Dr. West graciously donated several full-width sheets of 3-micron Mylar for the diaphragms. However, there's a significant learning curve to install 3-micron diaphragms on these huge speakers, as the ultra-thin film was so static-clingy and prone to tearing that Stephan gave up after several failed attempts used up all the 3-micron film, and he ended up splicing together two pieces of 6-micron film for the diaphragms. The diaphragms were coated with Licron Crystal in lieu of the original coatings.
Stephan is quite the DIY'er: He built a loft in his barn and turned it into a dedicated man cave and audio listening room with amazing acoustics. I've never heard the Jazzman MkIII's sound so good as they do in Stephan's barn loft.
Setups for the shootout:
1. Soundlab A1's powered by a Macintosh 352 amp (320 watts rms/ch @ 4 Ohms).
2. Soundlab A1's with same amp + a pair of separately powered RiPol subs. A DBX Venu 360 DSP crossed the A1's out and the subs in at 80Hz with a symmetric 48db/octave LR filter.
3. Jazzman MkIII hybrid ESLs + RiPol subs; all driven by a 6-channel, 200W/Ch ATI amp, using a DBX Venu 360 DSP with symmetric 48db/octave crossoves @ 80Hz & 265Hz.
Note: Since the Jazzman MkIII's are my design I should rightly recuse myself from commenting on the shootout but I'm writing this so I'm obliged to report the consensus opinion.
Setup 1 impressions:
Most of us had never heard Soundlab speakers before, and we were stunned by their huge sound stage-- there's really no way to describe it. They are exquisitely articulate, and their bass response is surprisingly potent for an ESL with no woofers--- all agreed that subs really are optional with these speakers. The highs were pristine and present across the full sound stage. The upper mids were a bit bright (in your face) for my taste but a bit of EQ'ing could probably have fixed that. We also noticed that the Soundlabs soaked up amp power like a sponge; almost pegging the MAC's VU needles when we cranked the volume.
The wives preemptively shot down any plans of having such huge speakers in their living rooms, and their husbands wisely abstained from disagreeing.
Setup 2 impressions:
With the A1's unloaded below 80Hz and the RiPol subs handling the bottom end, the bass was noticeably deeper and tighter. This also freed-up some headroom for the amp and may partially account for why this setup sounded smoother and more at ease with the subs in play. Everyone preferred this setup over setup #1.
Setup 3 impressions:
I think all of us were predisposed to believe the Soundlab A1's, by virtue of their larger radiating area and reputation, would outclass the smaller Jazzman MkIII's in almost every respect but that was not the case at all. In fact; everyone agreed that the more-efficient hybrid Jazzman MkIII's had a more coherent and balanced sound with tighter, punchier mid-bass, better imaging, and they just seemed to disappear in space.
Since I can't recuse myself, I almost hate to say it but... there was unanimous agreement that the Jazzman MkIII's won the shootout; besting the restored & modded Soundlab A1's.
I can't say how the Jazzman MkIII might have fared against one of the newer Soundlab models but I returned home pretty happy about how it performed against one of the best reviewed speakers in the world.
There is a downside for me, however: After hearing how great the Jazzman MkIII's sounded in Stephan's loft, I'm now unhappy with my own listening room at home :-(
Enjoy!
Me with the Stephan's modded/restored Soundlab A1:
Stephan's modded/restored Soundlab A1s:
Stephan & Me:
Stephan's self-built Jazzman MkIII's:
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