Posted by Duke [ 63.87.108.184 ] on November 01, 2006 at 00:51:22:

In Reply to: Nice summary posted by rnhood on October 31, 2006 at 19:51:37:

Hi Neal,

Thanks for your kind words.

You ask about the difference between the two. Good question!

As you observed, they are more alike than different. Both had to go low enough to reproduce the low E on a bass guitar (41 Hz fundamental). Both had to have a smooth impedance curve and decent (though not outstanding) efficiency, and both had to use prosound drivers. To a large extent, what drivers were available off-the-shelf set the limits I ended up working within. Having tried several custom woofers, I am of the opinion that a driver manufacturer is probably going to put a lot more engineering effort into optmizing the woofer that their name is on than into optimizing the woofer that your name is on. Maybe if I had the experise to really design my own woofer and then have it built to my specifications... but that's out of my league.

Stormbringer was aimed at a price point - which I missed; I was shooting for well under 2.5 grand a pair, but was unsatisfied with the sound from the less expensive drivers that I started out with. Also I wanted to have one model with a grille, for customers who needed one for whatever reason. And finally, I wanted one model to be shippable by Fed Ex ground.

The more expensive Jazz Modules have nicer-looking cabinets and a more expensive woofer that's a little smoother and more articulate up near the crossover. The rounded cabinet edges may also be an audible improvement over the sharp edges on Stormbringer at high volume levels. The Jazz Modules don't sound $1200 better than Stormbringer, but may be a little better in some ways. Still, people who heard both speakers seemed to be split roughly 50-50 as to which they preferred.

The tonal balance is a little different - Stormbringer is slightly warmer. Some people thought it was a bit too warm and full sounding. In the next few days I'm going to experiment with bringing up the top end by a dB or so, as to my ears it sounds just a wee bit soft on top. I'll have to listen and decide which way sounds better.

Also, in theory the 10" woofer of the Jazz Modules blends better with the 10" waveguide than the 12" in Stormbringer does. In practice I doubt it's a very significant difference.

Personally I prefer the Jazz Modules. If I didn't, there would have been no reason for me to go public with them. I would have just showed Stormbringer in both rooms.

I don't know if I've answered your question adequately or not. If not, let me know where I fell short and I'll try again.

Best wishes,

Duke

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