Looks to me a lot more like the 1970's Aztec than the JX125, but since development is a continuum I concede your point. I also was unaware of the J125 designation, so thanks for that. The defining difference for me is that it has a much smaller cone than the large cast aluminium frame it sits in. The frame of the Townshend unit at 213mm OD is more than 40mm larger than the first series JX125.
Here's a photo of a rather sad looking 1970's Aztec for comparison. I'm in the middle of restoring six of these, which Colin hadn't heard of until I sent him the photos:
Here's a photo of a rather sad looking 1970's Aztec for comparison. I'm in the middle of restoring six of these, which Colin hadn't heard of until I sent him the photos:
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I must say I hadn't heard of the Aztecs either! The frames of the J125s were very large, but the resemblance to the Aztecs is just a coincidence I expect. When the J125s finally stopped working- the friend that still owns and uses them may have over-driven them- I had to modify the cabinets to mount the much smaller-framed JX125.
Thanks for the pictures haiqu- I haven't seen those before.
A sad end for your 50mm units...
The Jordan units have been a bit of a mixed bag for me over the years, generally sounding a bit harsh and, dare I say, 'metallic', at the top end of their ranges. On the other hand, the bass and midrange was generally very good. I sold my JX92s a couple of years ago. A friend runs Eikona 2s in a pentagonal MLTL, and they seem to be much cleaner. Drifting OT...
As Colin says, the larger units are not really designed to use crossed to conventional tweeters. I would bite the bullet and buy a pair of Eikonas if I were the OP, and go three-way with the '150s and the ribbons- that would be quite a speaker!
A sad end for your 50mm units...
The Jordan units have been a bit of a mixed bag for me over the years, generally sounding a bit harsh and, dare I say, 'metallic', at the top end of their ranges. On the other hand, the bass and midrange was generally very good. I sold my JX92s a couple of years ago. A friend runs Eikona 2s in a pentagonal MLTL, and they seem to be much cleaner. Drifting OT...
As Colin says, the larger units are not really designed to use crossed to conventional tweeters. I would bite the bullet and buy a pair of Eikonas if I were the OP, and go three-way with the '150s and the ribbons- that would be quite a speaker!
I hope she did something to make up for that.Same thing happened to my 50mm drivers unfortunately. I was away and a girlfriend turned on the amp without first turning the volume control down. No anti-pop circuit fitted of course ... wrinkled the cones beyond repair.
Toaster: With Eikonas you don't need anything else.
Both the titanium-coned drivers in post #46 and the Aztecs were designed to run full-range. In my experience the Aztecs were very capable drivers, with good bass extension in the right ported enslosure and delicate treble, if a little understated. Much depends on the electronics driving them, they are very revealing drivers. As such they were the preferred reference speaker for at least two amplifier designers whom I knew personally.
I think the JX125s and JX150s will be fine as two-way, judging from the curves both myself and TimA have managed to simulate/measure respectively.
Bill poster: That would have been nice.
Both the titanium-coned drivers in post #46 and the Aztecs were designed to run full-range. In my experience the Aztecs were very capable drivers, with good bass extension in the right ported enslosure and delicate treble, if a little understated. Much depends on the electronics driving them, they are very revealing drivers. As such they were the preferred reference speaker for at least two amplifier designers whom I knew personally.
I think the JX125s and JX150s will be fine as two-way, judging from the curves both myself and TimA have managed to simulate/measure respectively.
Bill poster: That would have been nice.
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Hello Haiqu - good to catch you on here!
The two drivers you posted are the JX125 (left) and the J125 (right), as Toaster says. The J125 was the cast-frame version hand-built by Ted before production moved to Vifa and the newer JX125 took over.
Re the JX53 and the 500Hz crossover point - the later 50 mm Jordans were more robust than the original 50mm Module. I had a pair of JX53/JX125 speakers with that exact crossover, first order, and it worked very well indeed. (The JX53 was able to survive the severe switch-on pop from the Naim amp I had at the time.)
The Titanium driver was produced in 1966 and continued to be available until at least 1974 as the Keith Monks Hypertone. The Aztec was, I suspect, the remaining Titanium cone production in either a J125 frame or something similar. I'll have to check the archives and see if I can find any info on it. The titanium driver deserves a blog at some point.
Thanks to Knarfor on here, we have a pair of NOS titanium drivers which I will build into enclosures when I have time. It will be interesting to see how they compare to the J-W Modules we have here.
The two drivers you posted are the JX125 (left) and the J125 (right), as Toaster says. The J125 was the cast-frame version hand-built by Ted before production moved to Vifa and the newer JX125 took over.
Re the JX53 and the 500Hz crossover point - the later 50 mm Jordans were more robust than the original 50mm Module. I had a pair of JX53/JX125 speakers with that exact crossover, first order, and it worked very well indeed. (The JX53 was able to survive the severe switch-on pop from the Naim amp I had at the time.)
The Titanium driver was produced in 1966 and continued to be available until at least 1974 as the Keith Monks Hypertone. The Aztec was, I suspect, the remaining Titanium cone production in either a J125 frame or something similar. I'll have to check the archives and see if I can find any info on it. The titanium driver deserves a blog at some point.
Thanks to Knarfor on here, we have a pair of NOS titanium drivers which I will build into enclosures when I have time. It will be interesting to see how they compare to the J-W Modules we have here.
Toaster: With Eikonas you don't need anything else.
I think the JX125s and JX150s will be fine as two-way, judging from the curves both myself and TimA have managed to simulate/measure respectively.
I'd add that in the mid-range, in a direct comparison with the 2-way JX92/Ribbon mini monitor (Griffin) the JX150NG doesn't disappoint.
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Likewise!
I haven't heard the JX53 but I suspect that you'd need a line array of about eight of them to match a woofer properly at 500Hz. Unfortunately I had the only four early 50mm drivers in Australia at the time so couldn't confirm that.
From the photos the Aztec is 181mm/7.25" diameter, whilst the J125 didn't exist for another 10 years (at least) and measures at 213mm OD. So they're definitely not the same driver.
Cool! Now I'm really curious about the size of those, which I suspect are even smaller. My rough measurements have them at 160mm/6.3"
The Titanium cone driver chassis is 20 cms (8") diameter.
We have a new Instagram feed so I've posted a pic there but it doesn't seem to want to appear here.
EJ Jordan Designs on Instagram: “The ultra-rare #EJJordan Titanium cone #fullrange #audiophile #hifi #loudspeaker designed by Ted Jordan in 1966”
We have a new Instagram feed so I've posted a pic there but it doesn't seem to want to appear here.
EJ Jordan Designs on Instagram: “The ultra-rare #EJJordan Titanium cone #fullrange #audiophile #hifi #loudspeaker designed by Ted Jordan in 1966”
So the boxes in the post #46 photos must be larger than they look in photos. Interesting indeed. We still do have three different driver sizes, although it looks as if the same cone was used in the titaniums and the Aztecs.
One thing I don't think I mentioned is that the pair belonging to Allen Wright were mid-grey on the cones, having been painted with some kind of teflon coating. It appeared to be done that way at manufacturing since the foam rubber pole piece showed no sign of paint.
One thing I don't think I mentioned is that the pair belonging to Allen Wright were mid-grey on the cones, having been painted with some kind of teflon coating. It appeared to be done that way at manufacturing since the foam rubber pole piece showed no sign of paint.
May not be using the ribbons after all, I just picked up a batch of eight of the 1970s Jordan 50mm drivers off eBay UK. Only five work but since I'm building a 5.1 surround system that will be enough. I paid far too much (inc. postage 100 quid!) but I have a soft spot for these drivers.
I'm kicking myself for throwing out the four I had with wrinkled cones now.
I'm kicking myself for throwing out the four I had with wrinkled cones now.
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@TimA I've spent a week auditioning the JX125 as a bare driver and it is very reminiscent of the classic Jordans I knew in the 70s. Today I hooked up the HiVi ribbons just with a 2.2uF cap in series and ... OMFG! This build is going to be amazing.
I also bought some Zaph Audio ZA14W08 drivers and cheaper Chinese ribbons to test out. While they are not up to the same quality they will make a good cheap speaker for friends and relatives who are still listening to mass-market rubbish with thin walled boxes and no stuffing. The 5.5" Zaph was particularly disappointing, having a pronounced 15dB spike at 9kHz that really hurt my ears. Nothing that can't be suppressed with the correct network of course.
I also bought some Zaph Audio ZA14W08 drivers and cheaper Chinese ribbons to test out. While they are not up to the same quality they will make a good cheap speaker for friends and relatives who are still listening to mass-market rubbish with thin walled boxes and no stuffing. The 5.5" Zaph was particularly disappointing, having a pronounced 15dB spike at 9kHz that really hurt my ears. Nothing that can't be suppressed with the correct network of course.
Haiqu
Sounds interesting. I think there's a really good synergy between the jx150ng and the Aurum Cantus ribbons. I hope your combination works just as well.
My piano tuner recently had a listen to these and was impressed. He owns ESLs himself and has extremely well trained hearing due to his job and he's listened to most of the speakers I've owned over the years but when he heard these he said "you've cracked it".
Those Zaph drivers look interesting. I wasn't aware of them until you mentioned them but looking at the specs they appear to have some nice features.
Tim
Sounds interesting. I think there's a really good synergy between the jx150ng and the Aurum Cantus ribbons. I hope your combination works just as well.
My piano tuner recently had a listen to these and was impressed. He owns ESLs himself and has extremely well trained hearing due to his job and he's listened to most of the speakers I've owned over the years but when he heard these he said "you've cracked it".
Those Zaph drivers look interesting. I wasn't aware of them until you mentioned them but looking at the specs they appear to have some nice features.
Tim
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