View Full Version : Jordan Watts Acoustics speakers from 1990s
As there are quite a few old hands from the hifi dealer world on here, I was wondering if anyone can shedd any light on Jordan Watts Acoustics speaker range from the 90s..
I bought these some time ago:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$%28KGrHqIOKkIE224q-BqNBN5SRSLUBQ~~_12.JPG
for really good price but there's no model name on them and I'd like to know if there are any reviews around I could find.
I THINK they are Jordan Watts JH5KM ('M' for painted marble finish) and so a £5500 speaker! but I'm only going on description in a '94 Hifi choice, the big list of gear they used to do in the middle pages. about £1k of that is the painted marble and lacquer finish.
Anyone ever come across them, hear a pair or know of their reputation? I've a feeling they were one of those companies that had enough of the damaged flat earth home market and exported mostly.
Mine need a little work as the JX125 surrounds are perished and cones a bit bent up. Nice and vibrant top end though but not being powered so well with my Temple Audio Bantam I don't think.
Thought I might revive this thread just in case anyone new to the forum might know them at all....
From what I can gather from old magazines, there was a hifi dealer in Hackney who used to sell them in the 90s.
Mainly exported though it seems, perhaps popular in Germany?
hifi_dave
12-06-2012, 09:48
Back in the 80's - early 90's, several companies used Jordan drivers in speaker designs. The only name which springs to mind was Seventh Veil but this isn't one of those.
They all had issues/problems and the 'companies' disappeared.
Beobloke
12-06-2012, 11:58
Back in the 80's - early 90's, several companies used Jordan drivers in speaker designs. The only name which springs to mind was Seventh Veil but this isn't one of those.
They all had issues/problems and the 'companies' disappeared.
The other one I remember was Pentachord. I still think their Pentacolumns were some of the best speakers I've heard and would love a pair but sadly they seem to be quite rare.
Ali Tait
12-06-2012, 12:20
Got any pics of those Adam? A work colleague once described a set of speakers he'd acquired and they sound quite like the Pentachords you mention.
howardc1951
12-06-2012, 13:28
When I bought my Jordan units in the late '80s the company was no longer called Jordan Watts but E J Jordan designs. He had a room at the Heathrow show that year showing a range of speakers using multiple arrays of the 50mm treble units like the one you've got. If you google EJ Jordan there's quite a bit of info on his website.
Incidently - out of the 4 units I had 3 of them kinked - put me right off alloy units!
Back in the 80's - early 90's, several companies used Jordan drivers in speaker designs. The only name which springs to mind was Seventh Veil but this isn't one of those.
They all had issues/problems and the 'companies' disappeared.
Dont forget the Amadeus (?) pyramid things - I remember Howard Popeck talking about them to his son before I was into hifi cos they'd had them in the house. Dont think they ever made it into production but there's a nice photo of them in the 1991 Hifi Choice 'The Selection' magazine. Really wish I'd been into hifi back then when Howard was dealing in all that fancy 90s gear.
Beobloke
12-06-2012, 13:35
Got any pics of those Adam? A work colleague once described a set of speakers he'd acquired and they sound quite like the Pentachords you mention.
Sadly, pictures and information are rare, but there's a small picture on the Gramophone review archive page here so you can just about see what they look like.
PENTACOLUMNS (http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/November%201991/235/817288/New+from+Pentachord+Loudspeakers+(whose+System+was +reviewed+in+July)+is+the+floorstanding+Pentachord +C,+or+Pentacolumn,+design+which+is+again+based+on +metal+cone+Bandor+drive+units.+Here+two+50mm+midr angeHE+units+operate+in+tandem+in+a+sealed,+separa tely+partitioned+chamber+at+the+top+of+the+cabinet .+Two+new+100mm+bass+drivers+(designed+especially+ for+this+enclosure)+form+a+compound+direct+radiato r+which+is+fixed+horizontally+in+the+sealed+lower+ cabinet+on+a+compliant+mounting.+The+working+frequ ency+range+extends+from+2520,000Hz+and+the+design+ is+claimed+to+have+a+fast+response+with+a+particul arly+extended+and+well+controlled+bass.+An+active+ crossover+is+included+in+the+%C2%A31,795+price+tag ,+a+second+stereo+power+amplifier+(not+supplied)+b eing+required.+Each+of+the+bass+drivers+has+a+90+w atts+RMS+power+handling+capability.+The+fivesided+ cabinets+are+just+over+Im+high+(42in)+and+are+made +of+real+wood+veneered+MDF.+Further+details+from+P entachord+Loudspeakers,+49+Rusholme+Road,+London+S W+15+3LF.+Tel%3A+081788+2228.)
I've seen lots of speakers (mostly DIY) with Jordan Drivers, line arrays etc. The Electrofluidics come to mind as a pair Id like to hear.
It was more this specific brand Jordan Watts Acoustics Ltd (with a prominent union jack after their name) I was looking for more information on - well, less info and more sonic opinions if anyone had heard any back in the day.
The bottom of the range (single JX-92?) were reviewed in Hifi World and perhaps the same with reference to the next model up in Audiophile magazine.
In Hifi Choice in the mid-90s the range appears in their price listing - there's a model up from these that cost near £8k or so with a top to bottom mirrored array with 9 drivers.
There is also a small advert in a magazine I have showing the range in black and white in a quarter-page ad for a dealer in Hackney, North London.
I've a recollection from the couple of reviews mentioned above, that they were mainly exported and not sold much in the UK market.
Ted Jordan is still around I believe and has refined his drivers in recent times I think.
Talking of Gramaphone, theres a small snippet of info about Jordan Watts Acoustics but unfortunately it falls foul to their common OCR scanning errors:
Lastly, the return of metal cone pioneer Ted Jordan, piloting a re-born Jordan Watts Acoustics Ltd. was a reminder that historically we have217
aargh! We have what??! The rest of it can't be found...
The Grand Wazoo
12-06-2012, 15:31
Sadly, pictures and information are rare....
There was a review in Hi-Fi World in December 1991. I have a copy, but for some reason I'm not able to scan it to a jpg at the moment - I can do pdf's but they're not easy to get on to AoS. Not that I would do such a scurrilous thing of course.
hifi_dave
12-06-2012, 18:33
Way back when, we tried various speakers using multiple arrays of these drivers, unfortunately, none of them did bass and none of them went loud. In fact, the little drivers often ran out of steam and 'donked' in an alarming way.
Pentachord did try to cure this with a sub-woof but it really wasn't very successful and neither were the other designs we tried.
Ali Tait
12-06-2012, 18:41
Sadly, pictures and information are rare, but there's a small picture on the Gramophone review archive page here so you can just about see what they look like.
PENTACOLUMNS (http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/November%201991/235/817288/New+from+Pentachord+Loudspeakers+(whose+System+was +reviewed+in+July)+is+the+floorstanding+Pentachord +C,+or+Pentacolumn,+design+which+is+again+based+on +metal+cone+Bandor+drive+units.+Here+two+50mm+midr angeHE+units+operate+in+tandem+in+a+sealed,+separa tely+partitioned+chamber+at+the+top+of+the+cabinet .+Two+new+100mm+bass+drivers+(designed+especially+ for+this+enclosure)+form+a+compound+direct+radiato r+which+is+fixed+horizontally+in+the+sealed+lower+ cabinet+on+a+compliant+mounting.+The+working+frequ ency+range+extends+from+2520,000Hz+and+the+design+ is+claimed+to+have+a+fast+response+with+a+particul arly+extended+and+well+controlled+bass.+An+active+ crossover+is+included+in+the+%C2%A31,795+price+tag ,+a+second+stereo+power+amplifier+(not+supplied)+b eing+required.+Each+of+the+bass+drivers+has+a+90+w atts+RMS+power+handling+capability.+The+fivesided+ cabinets+are+just+over+Im+high+(42in)+and+are+made +of+real+wood+veneered+MDF.+Further+details+from+P entachord+Loudspeakers,+49+Rusholme+Road,+London+S W+15+3LF.+Tel%3A+081788+2228.)
Cheers Adam.
Way back when, we tried various speakers using multiple arrays of these drivers, unfortunately, none of them did bass and none of them went loud. In fact, the little drivers often ran out of steam and 'donked' in an alarming way.
Pentachord did try to cure this with a sub-woof but it really wasn't very successful and neither were the other designs we tried.
Shame - probably did some things well but I guess you can't sell a commercial product with such limitations.
I've only played these in the thread back when I had a t-amp - had some nice dynamics. Cant remember the rest..
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