[Clemstage]

Hello l am new here but already for a long time fan of open Baffle loudspeakers.
This month i read a review about a very interesting and affordable new loudspeaker called Jimi.
It is a new brand called Club27, named after the many artists that died at the age of 27.
We are talking about a 100 db loudspeaker consisting of a 12 inch wide bander, horntweeter and a 15 inch active woofer in a separate sealed box.
These can be bought completely build or as a diy package.
This speaker is designed by Robert Bastanis who has a great reputation.
I am very curious to listen to them.
What do you think, could it be a game changer?

[JohnR]

Hello, "game changers" are usually just BS, could you post a link or two?

[Clemstage]

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/club27/1.html

Hello Johnr,

Gamechanger may be the wrong word.
Let me know what you think of it.
Clemstage.

[JohnR]

Hey, from what I can tell the "Jimi" is the "open baffle" speaker?

It looks like a hybrid i.e. only OB for the midrange driver, which according to their website extends from 100 Hz to 7 kHz.


http://www.club-27.com/index.php/audio-products/speakers/club-27-open-baffle-jimi

[Davey]

It looks pretty straightforward to me.  A large wide-range driver driven full range with tweeter and woofer augmentation.
I imagine some acoustic measurements of the polar response would not look too good.......but that would not be unexpected given the simple configuration.

This system seems to be aimed at trading off smooth directivity for high-efficiency and lack of box coloration.

It has a nice look to it.  I'm seeing many systems of this basic configuration the last few years.  This one is not over-the-top price-wise.........that's a good thing.

Dave.

[rabbit]

i have delt with Roberts products in the past. they work as random frequency generators with no control over anything.

do you want:
random on-axis response? check
terrible off-axis response? check
lots of beaming and shouty breakup distortion for most treble freq carried by the woofer? check
verticle loobing since up to multiple large woofers try to play huge parts of the music spectrum? check
a potentially big whole right in the midbass since the woofer box acts more like a subwoofer and the dipole woofer have very little dynamic capabilty and zero xover or EQ? check

a 2-3way speaker with only a capacitor in series with the tweeter is a very bad idea. which is why you never see it from a commercial manufacturer.

btw his €600 crystal woofers has all the same parts as eminence beta 12a mk1. the frame, the cone, the surround, the coil and magnet size etc.
the stock ones are $69 retail. almost 10% of the price! yet he claims his are custom super highend whatever with zero specs or measurements.
i consider him a scammer who cant design anything and just hides under nice words and high prices.
lots of people fall this crap all the time. and owners defend them at every turn.
if he bothered doing an ounce of designwork maybe he could have a working provable product, you can get a DSP board for $80 today for christ sakes.

[Clemstage]

Hi Davey and Rabbit

That is an early conclusion Rabbit. i have not heard them yet, but I don't think that the reviewers Marja and Henk are nobodies in the reviewers world.


Here is a description from the club-27.com website:

The central units of the Club-27 Jimi speakers are the 12“ wideband drivers which cover the frequency- band from below 100Hz up to about 7Khz. The unique in- house treatments let the wideband drivers behave well and non- resonant by themselves from the bottom to the top. No series crossover- parts are required and the signal- path is most direct and not downgraded by any crossover- parts. This also allows the power- amp the best possible control over the drivers. The easy load, the high efficiency and the high impedance of the open baffles make the Club-27 Jimi speakers ideal partners for any kind of amps and even fly- powered SE tubed amps will live up powering the Club-27 Jimi open baffle speakers.

The open baffle design is free from cabinet- resonances and together with the dipole speakers- character the amount of finest details and the quality of imaging is orientated in the live sound- experience only and not affected by the usual limitations.
The 1“ horn- tweeters are crossovered with a single cap and they are perfect partners for the 12“ wideband drivers offering extreme detail and uncompressed dynamics.

The Club-27 Jimi speakers offer stable imaging with full detail down to lowest listening- levels, best transient response and uncompressed stress- free listening even at live music listening- levels.

The active powered 15“ woofers of the Club-27 Jimi speakers offer powerful and deep bass- response with lots of punch. The big magnet high power 15“ bass- drivers offer the right performance to be the perfect partners for the open baffles and they offer seamless integration because the Jimi speakers are designed as a system from the beginning. The woofers can be placed behind the open baffles or stand alone. This and the easy settings to the belongings of nearly all rooms give the Jimi speakers better versatility than any passive powered speakers. The two 15“ woofers are mounted into sealed cabinets and each woofer has it`s own woofer- amp. The performance and authority of the Club-27 Jimi speakers bass response belongs to the best and will even satisfy listeners who are used to other big and very expensive speakers.

The Jimi speakers come with a rusted cortent steel front plate. However, the steel front plate can be chosen in any RAL color.

Clemstage

[rabbit]

i saw no mention of the challenges of such a speaker in the review. Srajan Ebaen did touch on it in his Zugspitz review however. (similar designs multiple times pricier than Bastanis own, which also are much more expensive than club27)
i have listened to prometheus and little big fun, the defects of both speakers can be easily recognised within minutes, and all models share the same crossoverless design traits.
i mean, just slapping a 10-12" waveguide on the baffle and activating a xo point in a minidsp would result in clear acoustic improvement.
he has been doing this for 15years and seems to deny all common sense.

[Davey]

Clemstage,

Are you affiliated with Club-27??

Dave.

[Bob2]

The cabinet work looks a bit "Steel Case" to me.
Would like to see them up close and give a listen though.

[Clemstage]

Hi all,

Thanks for your reply's. I opened this thread just to get your opinion, knowing that there is a lot knowledge and experience among the members.
Also it is a dutch company and I am from the Netherlands, I am not connected to this firm.
I did spoke with them but it is so new that it is not even possible to have a demo at this moment.
I intend to do that as soon as possible. I am also not a pro or technical guy.
What has triggered me was the following quote in Sixmoons:
"Throughout the review period, we were more than thrilled with the capacities and capabilities of this Dutch/German collaboration called Club-27. For the asking price, the astute music lover gets an incredible instrument that's able to create an aural image which is strikingly realistic. Thus far we have experienced only a few loudspeaker systems which offer equivalent performance to the Club-27 Jimi. Those few loudspeaker systems are at least six times more expensive ... and yes, that includes our own Avantgarde Duo Omega horns. Enough said"

Clemstage.

[rabbit]

i know lots of people enjoy bastani speakers atleast for some time, i would think the reason they are happy with them is simply because they are high effeciency and part dipole, while being used to smaller boxspeakers.
but if they were modified to work somewhat correctly you would immediately start to question the original configuration. i certainly wouldnt purchase his so-called horn speakers. (they have no real horn imo) cheap behringer PA speakers sound better.
cant wrap my head around if the guy is dilutional and simply havent heared any good design, or a straight up fraud. well atleast his prices are a fraud. cheap pro woofers at 10 times the price, handmande speakercables 2x1m €2600. he also got multiple brands under his belt with similar configs, like the zugspitz that go up to €28.000 where he even managed to screw up the shape of the baffle (round).
at this point he must have tried a dsp/crossover at some point to see what happens. could he possibly have made it worse, or is he just denying the results? after 15 years it takes alot to admit you were wrong all this time... maybe thats it? also as soon as its done by the book atleast his boxspeakers will start looking typical and people will think "oh wait iv seen that before it just looks like an overpriced zilch econowave build" and the "mystery" people seem to see in crossoverless, oil coated drivers will be gone. no more hype or staggering prices.

[Clemstage]

To Bob:

You can choose for painted plywood or a cover from 3mm oxidised metal wich can be pure or have a transparant lacquer.

To Rabbit:

thanks for your contribution. I can't argue with that because I am not a tech guy and do not have seen or heard them. For me it is in the listening experience. Does it grab you? Is it fun? Do you enjoy it? And like a lot of gear and systems, you have believers and non believers.

Clemstage.

In the meantime I got an invitation to listen to the Jimi this weekend.
I will let you know my listening experience.