JPW Sonata bookshelf 'speakers

[TIU]

..

 

[earl of sodbury]

Those look better than decent TIU, good to see they sound it too - right result

 

[murray johnson]

£15 !!! he saw you coming!

glad you think they are ok. they were a pretty well regarded speaker in their day.

real wood veneered 'prison' cabinets too by the looks of them.

 

[Glens of Antrim]

Very nice looking boxes - enjoy!

 

[kingsxfan]

God I owned a pair of these years ago

used to good effect with my old NAD 302 amp and NAD turntable, haha!

I ended up blowing the tweeters on these quite a few times driving them far too hard with loudheavy metal. Cost me all of £25 to replace them with a new pairheh-heh! A ferro-fluid design if I remember correctly.

Enjoy

 

[TIU]

£15 !!!    he saw you coming!

Is this your cynical self Murray?

That's a good buy, isn't it? Especially regarding their condition.

'Prison cabinets' ? Were they made by Patrick McGowan?

:lmao:

Ferro-fluid design Phil? Don't know the technical details and can't find much about them TBH. They are heavy for such small boxes and surprised me when I first went to pick one up.

 

[murray johnson]

For £15 they are a very good buy.

The cabinets would have been made in either HMP Dartmoor or Channings Wood both of which have very good woodworking shops.

Ferro fluid is a brown sticky Ferric liquid put into the gaps of tweeter magnets which can give the tweeters higher power handling and a smoother response..

 

[Anthony]

very nice

I was really impressed withthe JPW AP2s I bought for my brother in law ,lovely things. sounds like the Sonatas aren't bad either esp. considering the price.

i wonder how much the tape player is adding to the overall warmth. a lot i would guess.

 

[yoda900]

Well done, £15 a bargain that will give many hours of enjoyment.

These are good speakers and the Minims, the smaller ones are just as fun.

 

[TIU]

Hi Yoda, on eBay presently there is a pair of Minims. If I didn't bag these I was going to go for them. I expected the Sonatas to attract some bidding but obviously not. Sometimes a seller not going to town on a detailed listing is a distinct advantage.

Anthony, I suspect you are right about the tape deck. I think I have warm, analogue-liking ears.

MJ, it seems appropriate they were made in a prison after the nature of my meeting in the street with the seller. I'm sure I looked over my shoulder before handing him the readies. It felt really weird. They are very well made and solid. I'm enjoying this second system more than my main one with the Revolvers at the moment.

 

[ob1]

:^for a price ofbottle of house wine and a pint of beer in my pub....bargain.

 

[Nawty]

Sonata's were my very first speaker

I had some wonderful times with them including my first WTF was that moment when Pink Floyd appeared to be coming from everywhere around me

 

[icehockeyboy]

ob1971 wrote:

:^for a price ofbottle of house wine and a pint of beer in my pub....bargain.

You charge £15 for house wine.....in a pub............you robbing git!

The house wine at Hassop Hall (v posh country house hotel/restaurant) is only that!

 

[ob1]

icehockeyboy wrote:

ob1971 wrote:

:^for a price ofbottle of house wine and a pint of beer in my pub....bargain.

You charge £15 for house wine.....in a pub............you robbing git!

The house wine at Hassop Hall (v posh country house hotel/restaurant) is only that!

may be my place is a lot posher

Not really, my langudoc house is £11.95 + 1 pint of Chang Thai lager = £14.95

 

[cjm]

The Sonatas are terrific little speakers. I had a pair I passed on to a friend who wanted a straighforward hifi setup. She got the Denon DM31 initially and loved it, but as she belts out music on the second floor or her large victorian house and listens downstairs in her ground floor kitchen (duh????), I suggested a Pioneer A400 to give more power. So that's the setup she's had for a couple of years and she hasn't looked back. Even athigh volumes, those sonatas sound refined, musical and, as you said, do a surprisingly goodbass delivery.

I love the description of the system you've 'cobbled' together - cheap speaker wire etc - and it's a great reminder of just how good such a system can sound, without in any way breaking the bank. Modern equivalents won't IMO inevitably improve upon that sort of setup. Enjoy!

Chris

 

[syep2001]

Like them....try an AP2

Similar, but far and away better!

 

[TIU]

These smaller ones are ideal for the room size simon. Anything larger would be too much I think. I have a Sony CDP-591 now (sorry no pics yet, I don't have a digital camera and if I did my Mac doesn't have USB to upload them) courtesy of Rory and UPS. The brighter sound I was expecting is not too prominent as the overall balance is just right.

It is difficult to sum up how this little system sounds. In the main I am amazed and really really surprised. It's the bass actually, it's incredible and not expected at all from such small boxes. Listening now to Peter Gabriel and I hear lovely deep, smooth and tuneful bass at moderate volume and then POW, it goes even deeper and more glorious. I keep looking at them on the wall to figure where it's all coming from. I just haven't noticed this with my main system which has bags more treble detail (more hi-fi?) and bass but not this impact. Also with these JPWs the vocals leap out over the top of everything and grab you by the short 'n' curlies. I am hearing music more like it was heard in the studio, I'm pretty sure of that.

I would love someone to call round and hear these because something has clicked into place to create a magical experience. I have been to Tony's a few times and been gobsmacked by that 'being there' sound, and attended bake-offs so I have heard very expensive systems, so I know what to strive for. With these speakers and the Alto I have achieved something quite extraordinary. As I said before, maybe it's a special synergy of large drivers (for the cabinet size) in closed boxes, a rather special little amp, the smaller confined room with only one door and small window (far more intimate) and rock solid wall mounting to allow the JPWs to perform to their best.

 

[auralflea]

Hi Gary

That lot does sound interesting.

Maybe we can get together some time - if you can put up with Stourbridge Scum that is

- at least I am not a Yam-Yam

anyway...

Kevin

 

[TIU]

Hi Kevin, I'd love to hear your Systemdek. If you came here you'd have to make friends with our over-excitable dog. If not, all you'll hear is her loud barking.

I have relatives in Brierley Hill, just off Hillfields Road, so know some of the area. Maybe move to PM to arrange a meet? My college course ends next week so that will free up some time.