As the regular reader may have noticed, we love to discover audio gear that's not yet a household name. We like the odd ones out, those who dare and innovate. We like their thinking out of the literal box, of designers and manufacturers driven purely by one goal: to bring out the best-sounding music. Passion is a good thing. It just carries the danger that one who gets so passionate loses his grip on reality; or at least suffers a challenged perspective.

As this story goes, we were contacted by a Dutch manufacturer of loudspeakers and audio accessories, Club-27, which until now was unfamiliar to us. The term 27 club did ring an obvious bell. We're of the generation that likes the music of most its members. You see, 27 Club is the only club in the world whose members are all inducted post mortem. Though gruesome it may seem, its members were powerful musical influences. From Alexandre Levy, blues man Robert Johnson via Brian Jones to Jim Morisson, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse to the club's most recent member, Bosnian singer Slađana Guduraš, they all lived hard and died young - at the age of 27 to be specific.

Dutch Club-27 names each of their speakers after a member of the original 27 club. With almost 50 members by now, there are plenty of opportunities to pay tribute to musicians we have lost. Armin Bos of Club-27 asked if we were interested in reviewing their latest model christened Jimi. When we learnt that Robert Bastani designed it and that it was an open baffle with Bastanis drivers, our interest stirred. When he mentioned 100dB sensitivity, 16Ω impedance and active subs, we were intrigued. We asked Armin to contact Srajan for the administrative stuff and told our countryman that we were all set for delivery. Not long after that we made an appointment with Armin to have the speaker set up in our listening environment. At the arranged date and time, we not only met Armin but Robert Bastani who joined him. The Jimi arrived packed in four pieces; two heavy baffles and two separate subwoofers.