wjm@whuxl.UUCP (MITCHELL) (08/09/84)
As per Shaun Simkins' request: I have a pair of JSE-1 speakers that I bought from Harvey Sound in NYC as a result of my famous "speaker hunt" where I was looking for the "best" (my subjective judgement) speakers for $2k or less per pair (the JSEs are an absolute bargain at $899/pair - personally I think they're underpriced). I listened to many speakers including the KEF 105.4s, the B&W 802s, the Snell Cs the Symdek system, Accustat 2+2's, before deciding on the JSEs. Frankly, the JSEs have the best stereo imaging and detailing I've ever heard in any speaker selling for under $5,000 a pair. Everything The $ensible Sound says about them is true. (disclaimer: Although I now subscribe to T$S, I began my subscription 2 months AFTER I bought the JSEs.) I had my sales rep (Bob Cutillo) at Harveys set the JSEs and the KEFs up on an A/B switch driven by a Hafler DH-220 amp (the same amp I have) and the JSEs blew the KEFs out of the water. I thought the KEF 105.4 was a very good speaker UNTIL I A/B'd it with the JSEs. Source material were some of my Sheffield and Crystal Clear D to D records (in particular, Amanda McBroom's "West of Oz", The Fox Touch (Virgil Fox playing the organ at the Garden Grove Community Church - several Bach toccatas and fugues), and the Solti recording of Holst's "Planets" on Mobile Fidelity). I also listened to the JSE-1s big brother, the JSE-2s (about $2K a pair) and found that while the 2's have a bit more bass, the 1's have better (flatter) mid-range response and better imaging. The key to their performance is the "Infinite Slope" (100db/OCTAVE) according to JSE's literature, crossover. Admittedly, this EE is a bit skeptical about such things, since this requires 17 pole pairs (6 db/octave per pole pair) and very careful spacing to prevent the poles from interfering with each other. I've been told by Harvey's that the crossover only contains passive components, but I haven't reverse engineered it yet - I don't want to void the LIFETIME warranty JSE puts on their speakers. However, all I can say is - it works. I've been very pleased with them and the amount of detail they extract from classical, jazz, vocal, and country works. If you want to order a pair (the 1's can be shipped UPS - that's how I got mine) Harvey's address is 2 West 45th St, New York, New York - 212-575-5000. They accept AMEX, VISA, and MC (maybe other forms of plastic as well). If I remember, it costs $18.00 to ship a pair to northern NJ via UPS. Regards, Bill Mitchell (whuxl!wjm)
fritz@hpfclk.UUCP (fritz) (08/10/84)
The JSE-1's sound really interesting. Do any Colorado audiophiles know
if anyone around here carries them? How do they compare to, for example,
Vandersteens?
Gary Fritz
{ihnp4,hplabs}!hpfcla!fritz