Jordan Eikona 2 Designs

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I've been tweaking some things when I have time. Here is my set up how it is now. I really needed to control the box coloration and standing waves better. So one day I took out all the other hokey damping I threw in before. I broke up a bunch of cork into small chunks, I threw about 2 inches on the bottom inside of each speaker. I then put some in a small bag and laid it against the back to catch the waves from reflecting back, and made two small bags of insulation and shoved into the back corners on the bottom.

I moved the speakers apart some more, about 10 feet apart to the outside of edge of each speaker. And I have a nice big area rug in front with felt pad to catch first reflections.....

oh my....word....it's glorious sounding! In over 20 years of being an audiophile I have never heard a stereo sound this amazing, ever. And I mean that. And I've heard B&W systems, Avalon with spectral gear and many others. Granted not their highest of the high end systems but probably $50,000 stereo systems in dedicated large rooms.

I literally listened to music for 12 hours straight late into the night. No fatigue whatsoever either. It's the most real, fluid, organic, 3D sound I've ever heard. I can't even believe it every time I listen. It's like the best of what people like about vinyl, the best about tubes,the best about electrostats, combined with the best about solid state. And then just blows that away. Incredibly powerful too. Very dynamic. Sounds like I have a small sub hidden somewhere.

Obviously it can't do a perfect kickdrum. If I could get that bottom end I would honestly say that I have an entire reference quality system better than I've heard anywhere else. And I really need a more robust cabinet so I don't hear the sound through the walls. One thing I have to watch with these speakers is they tend toward the slightly darker side so it takes careful adjustments to keep it just right.

When I finally can I'm going to build a very thick cabinet, and make a granite baffle. Then add a bass unit with a 12" Eton driver. The same ones the most expensive Avalon speakers use. And cross it over fairly low so I don't have to add anything to the Jordan.

My mom came to visit. She's heard pretty much every system I've ever had. Usually she just chats and doesn't pay much attention when I sit her down in the listening chair. This time however she sat quiet, intently looking into the music soundstage, "wow, that sounds so good!". She kept saying that. She started looking around the soundstage where the instruments would float in air. Then I put on some Roger Waters, she looks over real fast to the left of her, "where is that coming from??". The voice on the song is floating directly left of her, she can't figure it out since there is no actual speaker there. She looks back but with her head cocked slightly to the left intently listening to what the voice is saying into her left ear, as the music plays and unfolds in the front.

The speakers are totally gone 100%. It doesn't even look like they are on. Every bit of sound is massive and floating in space. Far above, far behind, far to the left and right, and sometimes in front and even behind in certain select instances. The even more exciting thing is I know I can get even more refined sound and improvements with what I want and need to still do.

I know, I know, I sound like a salesman. But it's just that exciting and engaging every single time I listen. I feel very few people, even fellow audiophiles get to experience this with what I've managed to set up with this system. I'm really glad I started to explore full range speakers and keep those crossovers out of the equation and range where they don't belong.

And just an FYI, I played around with some Tang band 4" drivers too. They were incredible also. More air and detail, and imaged as good, some things were better, but overall they didn't have enough bass and so it gave them an odd dry sound on a lot of music. And they bottom out sooner. Some things I miss about them though. But overall the Jordans sound far better on far more content. I'd like to add a bass unit to the Tang bangs too, I bet I could get those to sound glorious also. Just hate that I would have hold back on the volume though. The Jordans can be blasted and I feel they are just the right size for musical balance. Out of curiosity I have some alpair 10's coming. Maybe I should try the tang band 5's. Can't really get those in the US though. It's looking like the Jordans are going to be the speaker for life I think. It's part of an entire system build of course though. But what it's allowing to come through is nothing short of amazing.
 
5 inch Tang Band's are at Parts Express.

Larry

Hi Larry. There are a few Tang band 5" drivers at parts plus. But the one I was looking for was from the more expensive line. The step up from the Tang Band W4-1879 4". They have a 5" version that for some reason parts express stopped carrying. They have to be special ordered from Tang band or some place across seas. I was thinking if they give just enough more bass to fill in what the 4" was missing it might be worth trying out. They do have impressive detail.
 
There are a few Tang band 5" drivers at parts plus. But the one I was looking for was from the more expensive line. The step up from the Tang Band W4-1879 4".

W5-1880. I suspect it fell into an awkward price bracket vis-à-vis size. The 4in version & the 8in versions seem to be quite popular; the 5in & 6in versions less so. Presumably that's why they've brought out the newer range loosely based on / inspired by it, but with a ferrite magnet rather than the multiple neodymium structure, e.g. the w5-2143 etc. to get the cost down a bit. I imagine they'd sound quite different from the Jordan units though, given that their cone is a paper variant compared to an alloy.
 
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v1001 - thanks for the cracking review, I'll pass that on to Ted. He also has his Eikona systems widely spaced and prefers the that way. You could experiment with felt on the baffle, around the driver, to see if that reduces edge reflections and improves imaging further.

The cork chunks are a novel way to stuff cabinets. Regarding tthe actual cabinet construction - lots of advice on here and different approaches. We have a customer who makes custom concrete baffles for the Eikona and claims great things, though I've have yet to hear them. He's based in the UK so importing them to the States would, I imagine, be prohibitively expensive.
 
Jim Griffen I have some questions regarding your design:

1.) Regarding stuffing - do you mean complete stuffing of the internal space from top down to 3 inches below driver and where is the 3 inches referenced from (center of the driver, bottom of cone, bottom of magnet, bottom of frame, etc.)?

2.) Regarding bass frequency response - which line (red of dashed blue) are you referring to when you specify F3 = 24 Hz for the 40 inch MLTL.

TIA
 
It is Jim Griffin--no 'e' in my name.

On stuffing it is 0.75 lbs/cu. ft. and goes from the inside top of the box to 2-3" below the driver frame in the enclosure. Meniscus Audio sells bonded Dacron stuffing material that is 0.75 lbs/cu ft in one inch thick sheets. You cut layers to fit the volume and place inside the enclosure. Be careful to not over stuff the enclosed volume.

The bass frequency response to which I refer is clearly the red line in the plots. The low end F3 point (response 3 dB down) is 24 Hz or so to my eyes for the 40 inch long model.

If you really want to understand the blue line, you can read Martin King's description on his quarter wave transmission lines website.

Jim
 
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Thanks Jim.

Sorry for being such a lunkhead (was reading the very bottom set of numbers). I should have known it was the red lines as I commissioned Bob Brines years ago to apply MJK matched application to create what he now calls the M18-F200 (using the now out of production Fostex F200A driver that I had Bud Purvine EnABL).

I'm a civil engineer but have never been able to grasp more than a rudimentary understanding of TL's even though I drank the Bud Fried Kool-Aid back in the 70's.

And sorry for double posting on Audio Circle. Being a new member here and an old thread wasn't sure if/when you'd see my posting.

The Eikona 2 appears to be an amazing driver on paper. Wonder how it sounds compared to my EnABL'd F200A (which I'm still very pleased with).

Actually was looking for a desktop MLTL (folded no doubt) for the Eikona 2 that could also be used in-room with subwoofer(s).
 
I recently bought a pair of Eikonas, and would like to build the VTL cabinets. I have a beautiful piece of African padaul that I'd like to use for the baffle.....unfortunately, it's a little too short: the baffles would be about 3" too short. I'm wondering what the effect of that would be. Is it the TL length that's important? Could I increase the cabinet depth proportionately so that the overall volume is the same? Thanks for your help, I'm really looking forward to building these.
 
I’d only muck about with a proven design such as the VTL if you’re really sure what you’re doing, and I think asking the question sorta answers that. Colin may have a suggestion for other designs that would fit the material you have on hand, or you could glue a piece of solid wood of another species - or some veneered plywood - with a shadow line reveal strip to make an aesthetic feature on the front baffle.

Scott - who’s the new avatar?
 
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