Jordan JX92S / BiB - Listening Impressions

[rjbond3rd]

I recently got a pair of Jordan JX92S drivers, and I really wanted to hear them. Ultimately I hope they will go into an MJK Jordan/Goldwood OB: Jordan JX92S OB with a Goldwood GW-1858 Woofer in an H Frame Project

But I decided to just pop the drivers into a BiB that was already in our living room. (According to the BiB calculator, it's not terribly far off from optimal.) The amp used is an integrated hybrid (6SN7 pre / SS power made by BADA) using PC-based FLAC.

We mounted the Jordan's to a wooden plate with a 4.25" hole, then attached to the baffle with four screws floating on self-adhesive closed-cell foam tape from Parts Express. The floating plate seemed to absorb some of the driver's vibration while (presumably) stiffening the baffle. The BiB's are completely in the corners. The house is on a concrete slab.

In terms of single-driver, the bass is incredible. 50Hz is loud, 40Hz is just a bit lower and 30Hz is still decent. This driver/BiB yields gobs of bass, at least in our small / medium room. We ended up stuffing one BiB more than the other to even out the in-room bass response.

The sound is extremely clear. It's not the warm "midrange magic" type of tone, but it's bright, lively and definitely full-range.

Stringed instruments have a lot of harmonics and percussive pluck. What's so weird is that this sparkly, shimmering driver has so much bass. Kick drums are punchy and sometimes room-shaking. The bass is deep, strong and every note is distinct.

Quirks: these unique drivers are precision-engineered scientific instruments. They are completely unforgiving, treble-wise, of incorrect placement. As I'm sure everyone knows, they are designed for off-axis listening, e.g. 45 degrees toe-in crossing well in front of the listener.

The Jordans definitely need that much toe-in. The off-axis sound is smooth and bright. But they are too hot for on-axis listening. Of course, that's not what they're designed for, so it's not a flaw. I did find it hard to always be off-axis though -- I'm not used to being so precise.

We're using the BiB's as 2-channel "home theater" and you get plenty of deep thump out of soundtracks. The soundstage is wide, especially compared to more beamy 8" drivers.

Piano is especially good: clear, bright, meaty and realistic. Early Dire Straits is also great -- punchy drums, deep bass guitar, and clear-as-a-bell Strat tones.

I definitely think the driver is on the slightly "sterile" end of the spectrum as opposed to "warm," but you certainly do get lots and lots of rich bass in the total package. They do sing as long as you have the discipline to stick to the required amount of toe-in (or simply elevate the driver so that one's ears are off-axis). It could be that simply swapping in a different amp mellows them out a bit!

[Godzilla]

>>> What's so weird is that this sparkly, shimmering driver has so much bass. Kick drums are punchy and sometimes room-shaking. The bass is deep, strong and every note is distinct.

>>> I definitely think the driver is on the slightly "sterile" end of the spectrum as opposed to "warm," but you certainly do get lots and lots of rich bass in the total package.

>>> but it's bright, lively and definitely full-range.

Thanks rjbond3rd!

Enjoy the Jordan's! I've always been interested in this driver and probably should have purchased them when they were under $100 each many years ago. Now i can't justify their price with so many other interesting options around at less or similar prices. I'm sure they are great and really appreciate your description of their sound, especially in BIBs. Thanks!

Godzilla

[Bill poster]

Great read- I've been told Jordan drivers are the reference for aluminium units

How loud do they go? would there be any drawback to use two units per cabinet?
Price wise, these can be had at just over£90 + vat in uk, not too bad imo.... toe-in angle sounds crazy and it certainly limits the shape of cabinet design(organic shapes wd work better imo - my GF would get mad having 2 big square speakers turned 45 degrees).

[Scottmoose]

Originally Posted by Bill poster

Great read- I've been told Jordan drivers are the reference for aluminium units

Kind of. Mark Fenlon's drivers have moved things on a step or three since the JX92S was designed though.

would there be any drawback to use two units per cabinet?

You'd need to double Vb (box volume) & you'll also potentially need to decide how to deal with the lobing of the outputs from two drivers on the same baffle. Depends on exactly what you were planning.

[mikje]

Sorry if this seems a hijack away from the Jordans...
I put a pair of 5" woofer/full-range MCM AUDIO SELECT 55-1870 in a BiB and it is really amazing. a $14 driver sounds like far more than one would think. Moving away from the monkey coffins, I really like the BiBs. More on the way.
Great job Jeff!!!
Mike

[rjbond3rd]

Hi guys, in a small/medium room, the drivers play louder than I'd ever need, and they are unstressed. There's certainly no shortage of bass, so I can't imagine needing two drivers unless the room was huge.

mikje, those drivers look like they are worth a spin.

[Nanook]

will be doing a comparison of the Jordan JX92S and P10/MA CHR-70eN. I already know which wins though. Check out the Mark Audio application thread

I thought I knew a good FR driver when I heard one. Guess what? I was wrong!
ya can't fight 9mm peak to peak excursion, even if it is only a 3'" driver. ill replace the Jordys with the MAs and have a go on the OB portion of the Spirits.

rjb, good to see ya milling about. How's the TT thing working out for you?

[Bill poster]

Originally Posted by Scottmoose

Kind of. Mark Fenlon's drivers have moved things on a step or three since the JX92S was designed though.



You'd need to double Vb (box volume) & you'll also potentially need to decide how to deal with the lobing of the outputs from two drivers on the same baffle. Depends on exactly what you were planning.

Mark Audio units are in a different league to Jordan/EAD? I heard great things about the Jordans SPLs and bass control(which is kind of important to me)- I'm sure the new alpair 10s will be v good but don't know how loud they go.

The 'cabinet' I am designing doesnt really have a baffle- its an injection moulded design, very organic in shape- I want to position the drivers as close together as possible(1 of 2 projects)

[Godzilla]

Single Driver Website

Here is the MCM's fr... it was fun to look at the other response charts too. Wow the Audax (discontinued) is smooooth!

Godzilla

[Scottmoose]

Mark Audio units are in a different league to Jordan/EAD? I heard great things about the Jordans SPLs and bass control(which is kind of important to me)- I'm sure the new alpair 10s will be v good but don't know how loud they go.

Yup. The JX92S is a relatively old driver now (I'm not implying it's bad). Things move on, esp. with the new multiform cones Mark has introduced in the A7 & A12; A10 will be getting it next & should be roughly comparable to the Jordan in sensitivity.

IIRC, the MCM was the unit used in the defunct Bottlehead Straight 8 (not sold on the configuration myself, but to each their own) & had its ancestry in the earlier unit used in their Whamodyne boxes. Probably quite a nice little driver for the money.