Jean Marie Reynaud Duet/Bliss Loudspeakers

[No Regrets]

Hello,

I was wondering if any of you have had any experience with Jean Marie Reynaud line of speakers. They are made in France and have a full line up ranging from stand mounted to floor standing speakers.

Here is a link http://www.amherstaudio.com/ (you will have to scroll down quite a bit) to some information on the speakers from the distributor in the U.S. but I always like to hear comments from actual people who have listened to them.

Any comments you'd be willing to share with me would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Don (No Regrets)

[mikecole]

Sorry I can't help you out here. I also would like to hear anybody's opinion if they have heard these. After reading Bob Neil's descriptions on the Amherst Audio site, these would definitely be at the top of list to try with my Leben integrated.

Mike

[No Regrets]

I agree with you Mike. The write up on these do sound very interesting. I am currently working on a deal with some vintage Tannoys, but if for some reason that were to fall through, I think a nice used pair of JMR's or Harbeths would be worth checking out as well.

Don (No Regrets)

[mikecole]

Wow, I just saw a pic of the Bliss Silver on the JMR site. They are a high end version of the regular Bliss. I usually am not too fond of black speakers, but these are really pretty. Sounds like they went all out on upgrading this speaker ... and I haven't even heard the regular Bliss yet :(

[Themis]

All the JMR I listened to had a clean, detailed, mellow and bass-controlled sound. My favorites are the Offrande and the Cantabilé. Very good mid-frequencies. JMRs marry well with tube amplifiers.

They are a bit on the expensive side, though.

[ONIX Addict]

Hi all!!!

JMR is one of the best French loudspeakers manufacturer, the other one (according to me) being Pierre Etienne LEON...

In fact they are the last two "artisans" making loudspekers on the French market... The other French brands, as Cabasse or Triangle or JMLab are industrials... Doesn't mean that their products aren't good but they don't have the same philosophy...

JMR makes louspeakers for more than 25 years, and his son works with him now...

What Themis mentionned is correct: JMR's speakers are known for their precision, very good mid-range freq. and bass restitution, never demonstrative... They don't "show off", just make music!

JMR pays a lot of attention to the speakers' developpement and works on it to get the best for the money from his suppliers...

As all his models are handcrafted, the fact is that the price is rather in the top of the range...

Anyway, if you have an opportunity to listen them, just try !

O.A. ;)

[No Regrets]

Would anyone be willing to offer their opinion on how the JMR's would compare OR differ from that of the Tannoy 12'/15" dual concentrics as far as their sound, imaging, off axis listening, etc?

Thank you,
Don (No Regrets)

[No Regrets]

Well, this past weekend I took a roadtrip, about six hours car ride each way, to hear the JMR Bliss speakers.

I thought that their fit and finish were very nice. They were driven by a Naim Unity piece of gear that has a built in cd player, preamp, and amplifier. Overall, I thought they had nice midrange and highs, but the bass sounded boomy and uncontrolled with no definition. I have no idea if it was their placement in the room, or if it was the Naim Unity not being compatible with the Bliss, but it was very irritating to me. I had high hopes for them from all of the things that I have read on the internet about them, but in this particular listening session it left me very disappointed.

From there I went and heard the vintage Tannoy Monitor Gold type lsu/hf/12/8 12" speakers in custom cabinets with updated crossovers. Now this was something special. They are very transparent, but with great sounding recordings and excellent gear they are very rewarding. I ended up buying the Tannoys.

I think that if you have interest in the JMR's you should still make an effort to go hear them. With different equipment or in different rooms, they may be just what you are looking for. The dealer that I had went to did not have any other JMR speakers for me to hear and compare, and when I told him what I thought about the Bliss, he did not offer to set them up in a different position or different room, or with other equipment. That was too bad, because I thought the speakers had potential with the mids and highs, it would have been nice to try and solve the bass issues. So I have only had the one experience with them and unfortunately it happened to be a negative one for me.

Take care,
Don (No Regrets)

[Themis]

Well, this past weekend I took a roadtrip, about six hours car ride each way, to hear the JMR Bliss speakers.

I thought that their fit and finish were very nice. They were driven by a Naim Unity piece of gear that has a built in cd player, preamp, and amplifier. Overall, I thought they had nice midrange and highs, but the bass sounded boomy and uncontrolled with no definition. I have no idea if it was their placement in the room, or if it was the Naim Unity not being compatible with the Bliss, but it was very irritating to me. I had high hopes for them from all of the things that I have read on the internet about them, but in this particular listening session it left me very disappointed.

From there I went and heard the vintage Tannoy Monitor Gold type lsu/hf/12/8 12" speakers in custom cabinets with updated crossovers. Now this was something special. They are very transparent, but with great sounding recordings and excellent gear they are very rewarding. I ended up buying the Tannoys.

I think that if you have interest in the JMR's you should still make an effort to go hear them. With different equipment or in different rooms, they may be just what you are looking for. The dealer that I had went to did not have any other JMR speakers for me to hear and compare, and when I told him what I thought about the Bliss, he did not offer to set them up in a different position or different room, or with other equipment. That was too bad, because I thought the speakers had potential with the mids and highs, it would have been nice to try and solve the bass issues. So I have only had the one experience with them and unfortunately it happened to be a negative one for me.

Take care,
Don (No Regrets)
Hi Don,

your story is really sad... The Bliss is *not* (to my souvenirs) a boomy or imprecise/uncontrolled bass speaker. Much the contrary even: most people find it rather stiff.
It's very frustrating having to do all this trip (12 hours !!!) and to see a seller who doesn't do much to give it's items enough attention. :( It is obviously the Unity's/room insufficiency in this aspect. I doubt many speakers of this price tag have bass imperfections.

[No Regrets]

I agree with you Dimitri, that it very well could have been room placement or the equipment driving them. That's why I said that if people have interest in them, that they should still make the effort to hear them. I thought the mids and highs were very beautiful and had much promise, however there were times with some songs when it sounded somewhat restrained or had a problem "freeing itself" from the speaker. Again, I think the amplification wasn't the greatest match for this speaker. It was really frustrating to me that considering the long trip that I had made to hear them, and the fact that I had a huge wad of cash in my pocket, that the dealer didn't offer to try different things to see if we could make the bass right. I don't know how much more serious a potential customer can be than what I was. Maybe if the dealer would have spent less time telling me how slow his business has been and more time listening to constructive criticism and trying to make the system sound it's best.....maybe he would have had a sale that day.

In the end it worked out okay for me because I still ended up with a great pair of Tannoys Golds for my den.

Don (No Regrets)

[Themis]

In the end it worked out okay for me because I still ended up with a great pair of Tannoys Golds for my den.

You're absolutely right Don, my surprise made me missed the most important !

The Tannoy Golds are very beautiful speakers (sonically), and very rewarding in many, many aspects. To be honest, I think they are better made than the Bliss, and easier to drive, too; I'm sure you will spend many happy years in their company. :)

Please report changes as they run-in. ;)

[No Regrets]

Dimitri, you are very correct. These Tannoys are extremely easy to drive. I am using a push/pull EL84 amp with a very robust power supply giving me roughly 15 powerful watts and it is sounding marvelous!

The Tannoy Golds are very revealing......easily showing the improvements in sound as my tube amp was warming up, showing the differences in the various recording qualities, etc. They appear to be very accurate sounding to me in the sense that they will acurately reproduce what is on the recording. So it is important to have quality components and excellent recordings in order to be rewarded with excellent playback. They also seem to be very balanced sounding from top to bottom without highlighting anything in particular. The custom made cabinets are heavily braced and lined well with acoustic foam resulting in a color free sound. There is no hint at all of any box colorations. They are made of baltic birch and walnut veneers and are very pretty to look at as well. My wife approves of them very much which makes me happy too.

I keep you posted as I learn more about their attributes, but I think they will be keepers!

Take care,
Don (No Regrets)