JPW p1 speakers Any good?

[dantheman91]

As above.

[Beobloke]

Excellent budget belters - I still regret selling mine years ago.

Very prone to foam rot, though.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I heard the cabinets used to be made by prisoners in Dartmoor clink - dunno if it's true or not.

[shane]

'tis true!

[Mr Nad]

I heard the cabinets used to be made by prisoners in Dartmoor clink - dunno if it's true or not.

I heard that too, so it must be true.

Wasn't JPW one of the brands owned by Julian Richer as part of the Audio Partnership company?

[The Grand Wazoo]

Well, before that, they were a 'proper' brand.

[Mr Nad]

Weren't they all proper before Mr Richer's fingers acquired them?

JPW, Cambridge, Mordant Short, TDL...

And isn't something similar happening to Tannoy? I'm not suggesting that the Audio Partnership has anything to do with Tannoy, but hasn't the company changed hands in the not too distant past?

I have a pair of JPW Mini Monitors (and the sub woofer unit option) and they are surprisingly good given their size. I certainly won't be parting with them. I'm trying to get my eldest son interested in hifi but he is in love with my wife's old micro system.

[shane]

JPW, run by Joy and Peter Wanstall, was set up in Plymouth in the late 70s after the demise of Peter's hifi retailing endeavours where I had my first job. The shop was called Wanstall Hi-Fi, and JPW itself started off as a sideline when Peter bought a Keith Monks record cleaning machine and set up a separate business to make a bit of extra pocket money. After the shop folded, JPW became a loudspeaker manufacturer, and yes, some of the cabs were made in HMP Dartmoor. He and Peter Comeau, who also worked in the shop, started experimenting with speaker design before the shop went bust. I have vague memories of a pentagonal section cabinet about 40" high with a 10" bextrene bass unit firing downwards from the bottom, and I remember Peter W mooting the idea of using Dartmoor then. As well as being good economic sense, I think it also appealed to his sense of humour. (Peter C then left to pursue his journalistic career, and had nothing to do with the JPW speakers that eventually appeared. I think these were designed by a very nice bloke called Stan, but I could be wrong). Peter W went on to form Audio Group International which took over JPW and manufactured under the name Gale for Richer Sound. They also did loads of OEM stuff for Denon, Toshiba, Sony et al from a posh new factory in Plympton, and subsequently closed a circle by buying out Heybrook after Peter Comeau and Stuart Mee sold out, but AIG folded in about 2001, probably due to Chinese competition taking away the OEM work. By coincidence, the factory was all over the local news this evening when the dairy food company that now occupies it went bust (no connection with Peter though). C'est la vie!

That's as I remember it, but my involvement ended in 1977, so I may not be completely accurate.

[Beobloke]

Weren't they all proper before Mr Richer's fingers acquired them?

JPW, Cambridge, Mordant Short, TDL...

And isn't something similar happening to Tannoy? I'm not suggesting that the Audio Partnership has anything to do with Tannoy, but hasn't the company changed hands in the not too distant past?


As Shane says, JPW are not an Audio Partnership company.

Tannoy are currently owned by the Danish TC Group, who bought out TGI (Tannoy Goodmans Industries) in 2002-ish. TGI used to comprise Tannoy, Goodmans, Lab Gruppen and Martin Audio.

Martin Audio are now independent once more and Goodmans was closed in 2005, although I believe that Tannoy still hold the rights to the name and some of the patents, such as ICT. Tannoy and Lab Gruppen are still part of TC Group, more details here:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/Default.asp?Id=11798

[Mr Nad]

Shane and Adam, thank you for the history lesson. I've learnt something new. The JPW story I thought was very interesting.

Thumbs up to you both. And a beer.

:cool::cool::cool:

[TIU]

I just spotted these Denons and immediately thought they were made by JPW as they use the same drivers and binding posts. Does anyone know what brand the tweeter is? I have a pair of the Sonata and think it's the tweeter that could be improved although there was also a Sonata Plus model which used a different, metal dome tweeter.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Denon-SC-E313-bookshelf-speakers-Excellent-condition-/121031457416?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudio HiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item1c2e097a88

These Denons were planned as a £150 option for the D-F10 mini systems but were considered good enough to market separately at £159.99 (would cost quite a bit more these days). It's unusual to get real wood veneer on speakers so cheap - they were very well made and I love my Sonatas which are a sealed box design so can be plonked down anywhere.

[spendorman]

I just spotted these Denons and immediately thought they were made by JPW as they use the same drivers and binding posts. Does anyone know what brand the tweeter is? I have a pair of the Sonata and think it's the tweeter that could be improved although there was also a Sonata Plus model which used a different, metal dome tweeter.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Denon-SC-E313-bookshelf-speakers-Excellent-condition-/121031457416?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudio HiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item1c2e097a88

These Denons were planned as a £150 option for the D-F10 mini systems but were considered good enough to market separately at £159.99 (would cost quite a bit more these days). It's unusual to get real wood veneer on speakers so cheap - they were very well made and I love my Sonatas which are a sealed box design so can be plonked down anywhere.

Audax tweeter, cheap but not bad.

[TIU]

Thanks. That name rings a bell now. :)

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