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Has anyone heard that Janszen has resurfaced? I heard a pair of their new model 1's and they are incredible! Very wide "sweet spot" unlike the older electrostatics.
I hope they can make it in this economy....it will be interesting to see this develop. And a Janszen is actually running the new company.
Saw David, IIRC, at CES: interesting products. He didn't have the greatest sound but it showed potential. What was weird was that the panels are laid into the panel skewed to the right by say 10 to 15 degrees and they are not mirror imaged. Most interesting.
The past several years has seen a resurgence of electrostatic designs. IIRC, there was one design that actually applied the AC voltage to the diaphragm rather than the stators as in most designs. They claimed some advantages, and sounded fairly decent considering their rather diminutive sizes.
Everyone is claiming increased reliability with the newer designs, and interestingly, they are using flat panels rather than the curved panels popularized by Martin Logan. I noticed several had tweeter panels separate from the main panels.
Stu
So good of you to notice us. FWIW, we were actually at THE Show at the St. Tropez, where every audiophile should always go before CES. Much more relaxed, easy to get around, plenty of big and small names, and a great free lunch. www.theshowlasvegas.com
Let me start by saying that I know that the sound did have problems, not all because of the room. The room was too small, but not that bad. I had no treatments available, so there were a couple of big peaks and dips in the lower bass, depending on where one sat, but no one said anything.
Now, for the speakers: There was a build flaw causing a slight hump between 2 and 3 kHz that made the speakers sound a little too bright, something that several people commented on, but which I was unable to deal with at the time. Also, phase skew in that same region was blurring the sound stage somewhat. In addition, I had a malfunction in my loaner preamplifier during the first two days that caused all sources to be connected in parallel, which at a mnimum caused an intermittent dip in the lower midrange, depending on the playback source and what else was connected at the time (no chestiness to the tenors with CD playback).
Hopefuly, these problems are what you noticed. If not, oops. Please elaborate. At any rate, these problems have all been resolved, and we think the sound is now worthy of the nice things we are saying about ourselves on our own web aite.
The ESL modules are tilted by about 3 degrees to eliminate diffration interference from the edges of the baffle board. Line arrays present an opportunity to distribute the inteference frequencies over a wide range and thereby minimize their amplitudes.
Line arrays also produce a cylindrical sound front that has an axis. Without considering this, the first prototypes were made with symmetrical angles, which looks better, but causes the axes to cross rather than to join up in parallel as the sound fronts traverse the room. It had a minor, but we thought undesirable effect on the soundstage. Please refer to the white paper for details on this and the other unusual JansZen design aspects.
Since the angle does look odd to some people, there are two fixes offered: one is to paint all the bright metal parts black, and the other is to stretch an acoustically transparent black cloth behind the main grille, which completely masks the view of the baffle board.
Oh, and I'd be remiss not to invite everyone to check out the new JansZen audio forum. Practically no one comes, yet, so it's pretty boring, but it's supposed to eschew voodoo and embrace reality and realism, promising a good time for the technically minded once it gets rolling. You can get there from a new button on the main web site or www.JansZenAudioForum.com.
Hello, David:
Congratulations for creating a really nice website and for producing what seems to be an extraordinary loudspeaker. I enjoyed my tour and have registered on your forum, and I am looking forward to the spirited debates sure to go on there.
Would you please email me with the cost for the Model One system? This looks like a speaker that might get me to sideline my beloved Beveridge 2's.
Best wishes,
David
All I can say is that after listening to these new Janzens, my prejudices against electrostatic speakers has been erased.
I had a pair of old Magnepan speakers a few years ago...a pair a buddy gave to me because his wife hated the looks....I brought 'em home, hooked them up and noticed there is only room for 1 person in the "sweet spot" to enjoy these speakers....I was OK with that, my wife and I have different tastes in music....
Then, the wife came home from work, took one look at these 6 foot tall speakers and said one word: OUT!
So, I gave them to another buddy of mine who refurbed them, made 'em look real nice, then placed them in his living room and his wife had one word for him: OUT!
They are now at his neighbor's house (who is divorced) and that was my first and only experience with electrostatics.
I promise you the above story has NOT been exaggerated one bit!
Maggies are not electrostatic designs as they use a magnet structure. You could describe them as a voice coil laid out flat on a diaphragm. The most spouse friendly set of Maggies I saw belonged to a fellow who had the grill cloths air brushed with some artwork. I don't think he even bothered to remove the cloth from the speakers!
Stu
Why doesn't a speaker company design a speaker that sounds great AND has spouse approval?
Can't tell you how many speakers I had to sell or give away because they did not match the decor!
Same with my amps and other gear.....
By the way, I did not realize the old maggies were not electrostatic!
but many electrostatic lovers don't like being lumped with a Maggie.
As for the SO approval factor, I could never figure that one out either. After all, they all seem to tolerate TV screens even some really big ones. Maybe we ought to let them play their kind of music more.
Then again I know a gentleman who purchased a rosewood pair of speakers just to please his wife and complement the decor. The wife disagreed and after recarpeting his living room and a few other pieces of furniture, she was satisfied. He told me it was the most expensive pair of speakers he had ever purchased.
Stu
...but many electrostatic lovers don't like being lumped with a Maggie.
I've owned and love both. There is, however, a difference.
rw
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