Is Jamo E-series worth it?

Well, i auditioned the same stuff - in 2 different dealer shops. They played U2 and other rock music at par with only much cheaper Sony floorstanders. My pink panther theme sounded good! I could hear a lot of instruments. But most other recordings sounded fairly average on them. The E 550 doesnt have such great cabinets - maybe it causes vibrations ? Dont know ...
And my verdict is - Its probably value for money if u play only very good recordings on it, and your acoustics are good. On the other hand, if you have a normal room (with 10 other things jostling for space, no wooden paneling - like at a dealer's set up), its not such a great buy. E550 is more like buying a good brand at reasonable price.
Oh, and in case its the 550s that you buy, ask the dealer for a discount - its discontinued by Jamo. Maybe for this range, u would want to audition Space - a bombay brand with only one pair of floorstanders (16.5 K retail). To my ears, they sounded way better than Jamos, tho i auditioned these in a non A/c Room with stuff all over - not a home theatre room like Cinebels has. What kind of music do you listen to, btw?

At 20k price point forget Jamo. You will be much better off with a pair of Wharfedake 8.4 floorstanders at 22k. I would seriousely suggest you listen to the AE EVO 1 bookshelf speaker at Prithvi's place. They are availiable for around 16k or something.Awesome low frequency extension and very good mids and highs. The good speakers from Jamo starts at the E855.In the E series only E855 and E 875 are good.The E855 are pretty good for the money.For really good sound, you may have to go upto the D series.

BTW are you very much bent upon a Floorstander ? What music you listen to, elaborate your taste and listening habits then we may be able to comment better.
What is your tightest budget for the speakers beyond which you cant think of buying ?
Are you thinking of Bookshelves ?

yup your speaker choice depends on your choice of music and room size.I can only think of wharfies and Polks..

Thanks for the advice guys. Jamo is offering discounts on both the E series speakers.
My favourite music includes:
Norah Jones
Dido
Mark Knopfler
Bruce Springsteen
Celine Dion
Mariah Carey
Kenny G
Bjorn Lynne
Lobo
Jagjit Singh
Nat King Cole
Blues artistes (various)

My room size is 16 x 12 feet.
I checked out the Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 with a valve amp at a shop at Carter road, Bandra above Cafe Coffee Day. It overall sounded good but turned harsh on B.B. King, the blues artiste. The speakers were a fresh pair, just unpacked from their box. The shop guy told me that the harshness was because they weren't broken in. Also the speakers were transparent and so revealing to bad recordings.

Is there much difference between the Diamond 8.3 and 8.4? Will the speakers sound more mellow after they break in?

hey Neutral,
My new room of which the construction has started will be around the same size as urs.
i have never listened to the diamond 8.3 but the diamond 8.4 is a good speaker for the price and is a pretty versatile speaker.
except that it cannot perform well enough when i play real heavy metal and hard rock.
seeing ur music tastes which almost mirror that of mine it will excel but may make u want more(mostly because i have started to listen to many speakers that cost atleast 2 times more than them and even 5- 6 times ).
The AE Evo3 is rumormed to be better than the diamond 8.4 at arnd 32k but at that price u can check out the new 9.5 which is better than the 8.4

What is the source and amplifier u will be using?



regarding break in just read my review and u will understand. it is the first one. and i have been very frank in that review.
http://audioreview.c..._130245_1594crx.aspx
i really felt like returning the speakers when i had them for the first week.
they take at least 100 hours of break in to start performing .
but once they do u won't feel like turning them off.
Cheers,
Ben

Hi Benkenobi,

The source will be a universal DVD player (Pioneer or Toshiba) and a likely amp is the NAD 320 BEE 50W/ch. Will the Nad be powerful enough to drive the Wharfedales? Their sensitivity is low. What do they partner best with - solid state or tubes? I wonder why the dealer used a tube amp. I thought they were more suitable for horn drivers like Klipsch's.

Hey Neutral,
the Nad will drive the whafries fine but it does get a bit more warmer than when driveing other speakers since not only the sensitivity, the impedance of the speakers are also less at 6 ohm.
i too am using a universal dvd player. however, i wish that the Nad had a 'coaxial in' as am sure the performance of the setup would have gone thru the roof.
but , it is a good start nonetheless.
go for a pioneer dvd player.
regarding the solid state and tube amps with the 8.4, u are a better judge cause i have never heard a tube amp or pre-amp.
howevr, they pair up really well with the Nad.
Again it all depends on ur choice in music and how hard u like to push ur speakers and how mad u want to drive ur neighbours. .
Cheers,
Ben


p.s have already been warned 5 times by the neighbours(3 diffentet neighbours).now they don't bother anymore.
like the sayng goes "nayi bala donke"

To have a better look at what Ben is suggesting, the Wharf showrrom at GemPlaza has a Nad PreAmp and a Rotel Power Amp.
You can get a demo of the set up with the Wharf's. And I guess the DVD player is Pioneer.

--Viv

ben wrote :

.s have already been warned 5 times by the neighbours(3 diffentet neighbours).now they don't bother anymore. like the sayng goes "nayi bala donke"

very lucky you.....but my neighbours too many old people and blame me for disturbing them during nights...when those old wankers watch hot vidoes on music channels...

Hi,

I'll check if the Nad offers sufficient juice. If I do play my system loud, 'Norah Jones' will put my neighbours to sleep. So no fear on that front unless they sleepwalk.

One word of advvise,
the wahrfedales are about one of the best speakers i have come sacross for female vocals .
they are just too good and would be very hard to beat at even twice the price(am referring to female vocals only, so need to hang me up to dry guys )
regarding the Nad being capable enopguh.
don't worry.
even i (a crazy maniac who gets in trouble every time i turn on the sysytem with my mom) don't go above the 12'o clockk position as it is way too loud and any higher than that and i'd be out on the street.
Cheers,
Ben

p.s:Mohan,even my neighbours are senile people with 2 year old grand children.
don't get me wrong,am not a saidst or anything, but i enjoy some of the music to be 'pumped up' which unfortunately doe'snt hold up well with my neighbours. they have given up complaining cause it doen't have any effect on me.
when am listenig to music, its just me and my music.

thats true brother but some are so old they have grand children of my age and esp their grand daughters are not too attractive...or else I would''ve come to some collective terms with em.... I too like to pump volume ...any thging above nine 0 clock is suicidal..aaarghhhhh.

Hi Viv, where's Gem Plaza? I stay at Bandra, Bombay.

Sub boss and Benkenobi,

No clue to what you guys are talking about man. With the amp at half or even less than half its volume, the sound is very loud! How come? Is it due to room reflections. I always thought that you had to take a system close to full volume to make the room shake.

Or are these amps really high current with very conservatively stated specs.

Man I'm using a Klipsch rf3 refernce with 98db/w/m sensitivity and with true 65+65 watt amp the whole building rocks... For me quarter or 9'0' clock is super loud and you r talkin about half or past half volume my ears will start bleeding......

Hi Neutral,
sorry!. Did not know that you are Bombay. GemPlaza is down south in Bangalore!!!!!

Hey Neutral,
well there will obviously be relections but keep in mind as to how large my room is and also that the speakers are 1.5 feet clear from the back wall and seperated by 9 feet.
and u got that right abt conservative rated specs.
this is a feature of nad and harman Kardon amps.
Cheers,
Ben

Sub boss, I'm floored. The stuff of dreams. By the way, where do you stay? You need a bungalow for such impressive equipment. Are there any other music lovers at your place.

Please tell me, are horns (Klipsch for example) just loud or do they rival other normal sensitivity 90dB speakers in clarity and beauty for vocals and instrumentals. My loves are Dido, Norah, Mark Knopfler, and Kenny G.

i may be shooting my mouth off here.
but horns are mainly used in P.A systems and in concerts and don't measure up with the best of dynamic drivers or even ribbon tweeters for living room listening.
They are loud and shrill when pushed hard.
Only my observation.
i could be terrribly wrong though.
please correct me if i am.
Cheers,
Ben