Jordan Eikona Full Range Speakers

[Boyse6748]

As part of an ongoing project, I picked up a pair of Zebrano speaker cabinets this morning from Ianlenco of the parish.

What happened next was a total surprise.

I must firstly say, that Ian’s hospitality was second to none (coffee and biscuits) and a real gent to boot.


I asked if I could have a demonstration of his latest speakers, which are the Jordan Eikona full range speakers (two in each cabinet) as I had never heard these speakers but had read many reviews.

I can only say that, what I heard was completely beyond belief. These speakers produce a sound stage larger than life and are as smooth as silk across the entire frequency range. Additionally, I really couldn’t understand where the deep bass was coming from. (I initially thought there was a Sub hidden within the room), but no.......the bass was emanating from the speakers.

What really impressed me, was just how musical these speakers are. The mid and top end is just staggering good. These are speaker that I could listen to..... all day long, without fatigue.

I have heard many speakers in my time but these really take the biscuit and I guess you would have to pay ten times the cost to better.

As you can already guess ....... I was immensely impressed and will be looking for two pairs of these fabulous speaker units for my own project.

Having a look through the forums, there appears to be a bit of a love/hate relationship with Full Range Speakers.

For me..... I love them.

I would like to hear any other views, if you thought , Good or Bad.

[struth]

i like mine(not as fancy as his I'm sure), although it takes a bit of getting used to i think. Great mid range

[Pharos]

This diversity is funny isn't it?

So many solutions to the audio problem, so many polarised positions and views about varied designs to achieve the same objective, and this to me feels like an elephant in the room that we none of us can see.

[struth]

This diversity is funny isn't it?

So many solutions to the audio problem, so many polarised positions and views about varied designs to achieve the same objective, and this to me feels like an elephant in the room that we none of us can see.

That's Life

[Sherwood]

I have long been an advocate of full-range speakers. I will agree that some manifestations of the concept are very "iffy" and I particularly dislike Fostex drivers and the designs that employ them. They always sound very chuffy and shouty to me.

My particular favourites are Omega speakers, a USA direct sell venture that now has a UK distributor. Their latest designs employ their own in-house Alnico drivers and to my mind they are fantastic. I had an earlier model the 3XRS, a floor standing unit which employed a single 4.5" full-range driver. The bass extension was simply incredible for such a small driver, but it was the overall coherence of the speaker that impressed me most. In my view, crossovers severely impair the performance of a speaker.

I can well believe the performance you describe from the Jordan drivers.

Geoff

[ianlenco]

Hi Peter,
Many thanks for your kind words - it was a pleasure to meet you. The speakers in question are these:

http://i.imgur.com/ilxsiboh.jpg#gWPQG

They are based on the Jordan DCR plans from their website with a few minor mods - centering the drivers in the baffle and extending the height with a void below the driver cabinet to make them a little taller for floor standing. I discussed these ideas with Colin at EJ Jordan and he approved :) I've had some decent commercial speakers over the years, Proac Responses of various models, Dynaudio Contours etc but have always had a pair of full rangers tucked away somewhere. There's something about the immediacy of the sound that really appeals to me - full range, no crossover in the way. I used to have Jordan Jx92s in VTL cabinets but when I tried the Eikona in the same cabinet I was hooked - the JX92s could be a little strident with some music but the Eikonas have cured that and now having two drivers per side has just improved everything, bass weight, imaging, stop start of notes etc. I love 'em :)

[paulf-2007]

The bass extension was simply incredible for such a small driver,



Geoffi am a fan of single driver speakers and they do some things better than other speakers. Provided you can live with their limitations, and they all have limitations, that's fine. My zu are really a single driver with a tweeter helper as are my own designed css fr125 bass reflex speakers with a ribbon tweeter helper. But as you said " bass extension for such a small driver " surely still a compromise. The laws of physics will have their way regardless of what we think we hear.

[steve-z]

" bass extension for such a small driver " surely still a compromise.
From personal experience of my Eikona 2 VTLs the Eikona 2 is perfectly capable of producing tight low bass in the right cabinet, in my living room mine are flat to just under 40hz then gradually rolling off down to 32hz where they cut off in my room, in a larger room they’d probably go lower, a friend who has built one of the MLTL designs has measured his down to 28hz. The only limitation with such a small driver is maximum output volume at LF although in my living room it’s plenty, as the author of this thread has done, to get more bass clout use 2 drivers per cabinet, but that does increase the cost by £400.

[Sherwood]

i am a fan of single driver speakers and they do some things better than other speakers. Provided you can live with their limitations, and they all have limitations, that's fine. My zu are really a single driver with a tweeter helper as are my own designed css fr125 bass reflex speakers with a ribbon tweeter helper. But as you said " bass extension for such a small driver " surely still a compromise. The laws of physics will have their way regardless of what we think we hear.

Not so. OK, you are not going to get the bass that you would from transmission line speaker or a 15" driver, but a well designed full-range speaker is not shy of bass output.

Geoff

[walpurgis]

Not so. OK, you are not going to get the bass that you would from transmission line speaker

I've built transmission line speakers using full range drivers.

[Boyse6748]

Come, come now.... Behave .....I only said how impressed I was with these speakers, especially for the price point.

Let’s not get into an argument about ..... Mines bigger than Yours !! Or Transmission Line’s are better!!!

I reiterate.... what I heard was STUNNING. “It’s a personal opinion “


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[Sherwood]

Come, come now.... Behave .....I only said how impressed I was with these speakers, especially for the price point.

Let’s not get into an argument about ..... Mines bigger than Yours !! Or Transmission Line’s are better!!!

I reiterate.... what I heard was STUNNING. “It’s a personal opinion “


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That's fine. I simply stated my opinion that a full-range speaker can have an extended bass response. It's not the size that matters it's how you use it!

geoff

[Boyse6748]

That's fine. I simply stated my opinion that a full-range speaker can have an extended bass response. It's not the size that matters it's how you use it!

geoff

No offence taken Geoff, we all like what we like.

Give Ian a call for an audition. If you are not impressed, I’ll eat my hat (if I had one). You have to hear them to believe !


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[Sherwood]

No offence taken Geoff, we all like what we like.

Give Ian a call for an audition. If you are not impressed, I’ll eat my hat (if I had one). You have to hear them to believe !


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I already have a pair of Omega Super 7 Alnico Monitors. These have a single full range driver and I am hugely impressed by these. These are a custom version of the standard Omega Super 7 with Alnico drivers. For the cabinet size the bass response if very good. More importantly, the absence of a crossover along with the Alnico drive unit delivers much of what my much larger Magneplanar 1.7 speakers offer. The point source and absence of a crossover gives them a coherence that few speakers can achieve. I am sure the Jordan speakers sound very good too.

Geoff

[F575M]

I have been following this interesting thread since I am considering to buy a pair of EJ Jordan speakers. I was intrigued by Peter's recommendation regarding the Omega speaker line, they look very nice at an affordable price for us living on this side of the pond.

Is the quality of the drivers as good as the Scan Speak supplied used in the EJ Jordan speakers? How about for classical music?

https://omegaloudspeakers.com/collections/tower-speakers