Parrot Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 HDBRbuilder, Can you tell us more about your audition of the Jubilee speakers yesterday? For instance, what you listened to through them, the size of the room, how long you listened for, etc. etc. Also, what were the materials and finish? Thanks for your informative posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 RE: My Jubilee audition on Tuesday. Engineer Jim graciously interrupted his busy schedule to have a Jubilee set up for me to listen to. It was the same bass bin as the home version will be, but the high-end horn was fiberglass (or something similar), not wood. The bass bin was pushed by two 12" active drivers and one 12" passive radiator(drone). The listening format was MONO, not stereo. The amps were Crown. I first listened to whatever was in the CD player at the time, then changed over to some good ole Stevie Ray Vaughn. They sounded great!! And...they can get alot louder than what I heard, too. The listening room was the one up at the lab where others have heard them. The materials are fine veneers over MDF for the front and top panels...it appears the rest of the bass bin is plywood and wooden laminates. Underneath the grilles on each side of the bass bin are the exit ports of the folded horn...each port has "wing-shaped cross section" struts across them to provide structural support. Looking down into the bass bin, through the "door in the top" you see that it is lined with foam rubber at the rear, and from top to bottom you see one active 12" woofer, one 12" passive radiator in the middle, and one active 12" woofer at the bottom...all firing forward through chokes where the sound hits a vertical splitter sending the sound to each side instead of a horizontal splitter as on the k-horn, which sends the sound upwards and downwards. I was informed that the Jubilee drops only about 5 Hz lower than the k-horn specs, but its bass bin has much higher range...up to over 1000 Hz. This allows its crossover to begin around 800 Hz for the transition to the tweeter horn. I was also informed that the Jubilee is not only more efficient than the k-horn (needs less power to operate it), but it can handle over 600 watts per channel!! So...that leaves it as quite an improvement over the k-horn in its power range!! I was allowed to check out the interior of the bass bins on not only the home version, but some of the earlier prototypes. The original prototype versions had just the two 12" woofers powering them, but a 12" passive radiator(drone) was added to the final version for the home. Unlike the k-horn that fires forward, then splits into two horns, one firing over the top and one firing underneath of the "pyramid" towards the tailpiece where the directivity is rotated 90 degrees to follow the walls and floor,....the Jubilee fires forward, splitting and running around both SIDES, towards the rear where it apparently crosses and runs forward in its own built-in horn around the opposite sides from its starting point, and again runs forward out each side of the front of the bass bin. This allows it to be placed in a corner or along a wall. As a matter of fact, it performs better if it IS NOT snugged into a corner but is set out from the corner a particular distance...just as any other NON-CORNER HORN works!!! It seems that the Jubilee home version may well not be produced with a wooden tweeter horn due to cost of those horns to the company...consistancy of quality control for wooden tweeter horns is also a consideration...as is varying density in the wood used...anybody who knows wood realizes that two boards from the same tree can have very different densities!!...but that is all still up in the air at this point in time. Suffice it to say that the home version Jubilee has a footprint not very much smaller than a k-horn, but is considerably shorter in height. PWK's design parameters of the Jubilee: 1. More efficient than the k-horn. Parameter met! 2. Frequency range of bass bin both lower and higher than a k-horn. Parameter met! 3. Frequency range high enough for bass bin that it can be produced as a two-way system instead of a three-way system. Parameter met! 4. Smaller than a k-horn. Parameter met! 5. Doesn't have to be in a corner like a k-horn. Parameter met! 6. Even though more efficient and requiring less power, can handle much more power than a k-horn. Parameter met! 7. Sonic accuracy of a k-horn. Parameter met! When will they go into production? Sometime in the near future for the home version...the theater version (which is a three-way system) is already in production! The delay in the production of the home version is apparantly due to the decisions about the tweeter horn and some of the other little things such as shiny parts on top...LOL! Either way...the company wants to get them into production fairly soon!!! Price for a PAIR of the home Jubilees???...somewhere in the $15,000 range...soooooooo...better start saving up your aluminum beer cans for money at the recycling centers RIGHT NOW, if you want em!!!! ------------------ If you want to send a private message, or have already done so, be aware I have not as yet been able to retrieve them. Send e-maill instead, please...just note Klipsch forum in the heading so it doesn't get deleted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 What Crown amplifier was it? Ironically enough, it was CROWN that caused my massive prejudice AGAINST all things horn back in the 70s and early 80s. Those countless nights and days with those various Crown and Phase Linear amps running assorted horns almost drilled a one inch hole in my skull. Yes, they were bulletproof for the most part. And damn, they could play loud as a bastard. But for the love of St. Nick, there was not a more unmusical piece of audio gear I could think of. It took me great pains and ire to rid my college radio station of every professional Crown amp. I didnt start liking horns again till vintage and SET tubes... kh ------------------ Phono Linn LP-12 Vahalla / Linn Basic Plus / Sumiko Blue Point CD Player Rega Planet Preamp Cary Audio SLP-70 w/Phono Modified Amplifier Welborne Labs 2A3 Moondog Monoblocks Cable DIYCable Superlative / Twisted Cross Connect Speaker 1977 Klipsch Cornwall I w/Alnico & Type B Crossover system one online / alternate components / Asylum Listing f>s> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esker Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 HDBRBuilder - Wish I'd known you were going. I was thinking about asking for a Jubilee audition, but I hate to put them to the trouble. I'm not sure they'd let me in anyway, even though I'm a retired Klipsch salesman. If Mr Jim Hunter is soon to leave for Indianapolis, will there be anyone to tour the museum with? Or will the museum leave with him? Sonic accuracy of a Klipschorn - does that mean it sounds pretty much like a Klipschorn? Thanks for the briefing on the Jubilee - Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 During the grand tour of some 14 months ago we listened to a pair of Jubilee. Now on one actually said they were the passive radiator type. They might have been the theater types. A representative, who will remain anonamous, showed us the "look pretty" and removable facade on them. An engineer mentioned the passive radiator design as if it was still in the testing stage. He did say the passive radiator was good for a few Hertz. All this gets me to thinking. Maybe the theater and home versions will, in the long term, be the same with a passive radiator. It makes some sense to have a single product with the best specs. Just add a look pretty facade for home. My further guess is that the plastic mid horn we saw is a "mule motor" used until the final design is finalized. We see something different in the picture of Paul with the Jubilee. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partaymon Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 HDBR.. you get to play with ALL the cool toys!! I'm a little, bummed, now--- just bought five LaScalas-- kinda like havin' a Mercedes when your neighbor just bought a Bentley! Maybe that next Lotto ticket will pay off!! The Jubilees sound like they will be, to paraprhrase Steve Jobs, "outrageously great!" I'd love to audition a pair, just to be able to say "wow!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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