Jordan with a Ribbon MLTL

[Jim Griffin]

I started down the JX92S minimonitor route more than five years ago. A couple of years back I developed a Jordan JX92S crossed to a ribbon tweeter which received very good comments from listeners.

Recently I built a MLTL which incorporates the Jordan JX92S and Aurum Cantus G2si ribbon as drivers. The MLTL is a slight modification of GM's 48" design. This design marries the exceptional performance of the JX92S with a high quality ribbon as used earlier in my mini-monitor design. The MLTL achieves a lower F3 point (I'm getting below 40 Hz in my measurements) than the mini-monitor could do. The sound is very nice indeed as you have the enough bass impact to satisfy most people yet a very petite size enclosure. My unit (see picture) is constructed from solid cherry side cheeks and MDF. I used Martin King's spread sheets to slight reduce the internal height to 46"and to optimize the port tube length vs. Greg's design. The external box dimensions are 7.5" W x 6.5" D x 47.5" H so the overall package is relatively small for a floor standing speaker.

I also included an external switch to permit me to use either the crossover network between the JX92S and the G2si or alternately to just use the JX92S full range with a baffle step compensation circuit. Thus one can compare the full range driver performance vs. the crossed over version very easily!

I'm thrilled at the performance of this speaker as it handles most material with ease. While it may not suit a hard rocker, it will satisfy a lot of listeners.

Jim

[Godzilla]

Neato!

Wonder how this would sound compared to the Jordan BIB?

http://www.zillaspeak.com/BIB-Jordan.asp

I hope those tweeters go on closeout special at PE one day.

Peace,
Godzilla

PS... do the better TB's sound close to the Jordan's or do the Jordan's wipe the mat with them?

[Nardis]

Originally posted by Jim Griffin
Recently I built a MLTL which incorporates the Jordan JX92S and Aurum Cantus G2si ribbon as drivers. The MLTL is a slight modification of GM's 48" design.

Hi Jim

I also went from your JX92S mini monitor to GM's 48" MLTL design with a ribbon added - in my case a Fountek JP3, which is not quite as refined as the Aurum Cantus model I’ve heard. I kept the length and Cross Sectional area of GM’s design but used a pentagonal cabinet of MDF. This shape produces a very narrow baffle with no parallel internal sides. Building it was "interesting" to say the least.

My xover is still under development (ie I’m using it but am not entirely happy with it). When I get round to finishing a test mike kit, I will be trying to bi-amp, rolling off the Jordans with a passive line level at about 6k and using a 2nd order high pass crossover network on the Fountek. I don’t want to run the ribbon without a protective cap in series and this seems the best compromise.

I’d be very interested to see details of your xover and any changes you made to the port.

[Colin]

Nice looking enclosures. FWIW, I haven't found any need for compensation running my 48 MLTLs when used near walls. In fact, in moving them into corners would need a slight bass cut as it gets too powerful.

[Nortp]

Jim,

Very nice design and execution. I am using jordans in a backhorn full range with a supertweeter coming in around 16K. Very nice driver. Can you comment on the differences that you hear between running your MLTL's full range and with the crossover in ?

PJN

[Jim Griffin]

Comments on questions:

1. "PS... do the better TB's sound close to the Jordan's or do the Jordan's wipe the mat with them?"

None of the Tang Bands 4" drivers are in the same league as the Jordan X92S. The CSS FR125S driver is a closer contender if cost is prime concern but I still like the Hordan from a performance viewpoint.

2. "Wonder how this would sound compared to the Jordan BIB?"

This MLTL is very easy to build. If your linked design and plot are typical of the Jordan BIB simulation, one needs to compare that to the attached. The Jordan BIB appears to be very rough and flawed in my opinion vs. the MLTL.

3. "I'd be very interested to see details of your xover and any changes you made to the port."

The port change is to length it 0.25" vs. GM's original design to account for the shorter length of the line (48 to 46").

The crossover is at 3000 Hz which is superior as it better matches the power response of the Jordan to the ribbon. The Jordan starts to beam a bit above 3000 Hz. On axis the ribbon's upper octave (10-20 kHz) is flatter and more extended vs. the Jordan's upper end response.

The Jordan with a ribbon crossover for the mini-monitor version of this speaker was on the CSS website for the last 18 months but they have recently removed it for some reason. That crossover is a good starting point for the new MLTL design.

4. "Can you comment on the differences that you hear between running your MLTL's full range and with the crossover in ?"

Overall the sound is much as I found with the Jordan JX92S mini-monitor vs the addition of the ribbon to it. The crossovered design with the ribbon certainly has more sparkle and sounds better to me vs. running the Jordan full range. I could live with the full range version but if you ever heard the ribbon version, you would want it.

The main difference between the minimonitor and the MLTL is that you'll not wish for a subwoofer for most music with the MLTL. It is much more complete sounding speaker.

Jim

[revvou]

jim, i have the newer version of jordan jx92s. I wanted to build the mini monitors with the aurum cantus g2si that you build. Where can i get the plans including the xo circuit for it? ur link from the css website dopesnt work anymore. thank u

[GM]

Greets!

I have it, but it's too big to post. Maybe someone will step up and archive it (hint, hint ).

GM

[Colin]

Here's the crossover. I also have the complete file from CSS as a 180k PDF and can email it to you if you want to contact me at

colin(usual symbol)shelbourn(dot)com

If Jim agrees, I could see if I can persuade Ted to put the PDF on his site, as he seems to be building up a number of links to designs using his drivers.

[Nardis]

Originally posted by Colin
Here's the crossover.

Is the value of 1.5mH for L1 correct? It looked high so I ran the values in a calculator.

Should it be 0.5mH?