I also enjoy reporting on micro boutiques which might slip through the cracks of the mainstream press. After all, this site too is a sole proprietor affair and Big Audio Corp is already very well served elsewhere. Now it's more fun to canvas the small makers for review opportunities. If it's a personal maiden voyage into such a brand, all the better, unusual name par for the course just as is 6moons. About the filter network, "superficially speaking, it's 1st-order for the mid/woofer, 3rd-order for the tweeter. But this is no textbook filter. Each of our slopes are damped for correct phase linearization, to avoid typical phase issues at the cut-off frequency and for a friendly impedance curve as seen by your amplifier. Many brands approach an equivalent 2-way design with seven parts using this architecture. We use 21 for optimal control of the drivers' response. That's not just thrice the parts, they're all audiophile grade without compromise."
That's back at a higher-than-usual bill of materials. It underlines Maximino's choice of direct sales for a happier final sticker. That linearized impedance for optimal power transfer makes our amp happier too is also true. What that looks like for our Spanish designer we see next, with blue impedance vs. frequency, magenta impedance vs. phase. The former doesn't drop blow ~5Ω and the twin resonant peaks of the port loading hit 15/17.5Ω respectively. Phase rotation remains within ±45°. "As I see it, the impedance/phase curve and the amp that drives these speakers must deliver enough current for the full possible dynamics to show. As I develop speakers, I start with a frequency response curve developed from experience. As each driver has a different response and impedance, it is the study of the filter where the correct linearization of the resonance points is found. Then come auditions of different musical genres to match the real world to computer simulations. Prior knowledge of these Accuton drivers means that the result is already almost 100%. The fundamental pillar in speaker design is the enclosure. Unlike the rest, our designs require calibration of the mechanical stress we put on the enclosure. In this process the tension of the material is adjusted in a dynamic balance between completely inert and the limits of the elasticity of the materials, in this case wood. It prevents the assembly from being destroyed in the future just like a piano or bow. That's why we cannot build our enclosures with industrial wood. That would suffer disastrous structural deformations. If you look at our impedance curve, there's no pulse to indicate any cabinet resonance. Therefore Jazz 2022 responds electrically as set by the Accuton drivers together with the necessary linearization carried out by the filter so that the frequency and phase response are consistent with what we really hear."
Front ports are generally easier on room interactions than rear ports; and that this one angled up and placed high even minimizes floor bounce. The heavily partitioned dense cabinet with its ovoid cross section, narrow spine and damping fill attempts to scatter and exhaust rather than reinforce internal reflections with parallel walls and a wide rear panel. The integral plinth secures physical time alignment by canting the cabinet back whilst building in a wider foot print for extra stability without unsightly outriggers. On paper, the Jazz 2022 looks like a thought-through very mature effort indeed. I couldn't wait to meet and hear actual samples. By early January Maximino had begun to build my loaner pair for a planned mid-February drop. Made to order, this is quintessentially bespoke so "we give our client the choice of finish i.e. veneer type and paint color beyond the default options."
In anticipation of their arrival, I put Josef's 2019 review through Google Translator.
Applying some lost-in-translation corrections then focusing on key paragraphs, we learn that he "…discovered the BonySound speakers through the brand's Facebook pages then saw and heard them live at the 2018 AVM fair in Madrid. There I had opportunity to chat with the designer to learn that behind the speaker's distinctive cosmetics hide many ideas, tests and lots of science. I was immediately struck by very unexpected sound quality. I confess that whenever I face any speaker with white ceramic drivers, I'm instantly on the defensive. My experience with them diverges from paper cones where I take for granted a certain warmth or more natural tone…
"…When my wife came home on the day of their delivery, her response to the looks was a mixture of wonder and admiration. She made me see how special they were when she called them objects of art. From that moment on I looked at them with very different eyes…
"But let's talk sound… the BonySound don't sound at all aggressive nor do they veer into the hyper analytical… With a pair of 400-watt nCore amps, midrange and treble didn't lose their human but precise touch that had already seduced me with the EL34 tube amp. But now surprising bass extension appeared down to below 30Hz with impact wherever the music demanded. I obtained similar results with a classic Denon PMA-2000 transistor integrated where at the cost of some transparency, the sound maintained its coherence across all registers. I could spend hours listening to this combination. The icing on my cake came with a Swiss amp of punch and sweetness, the darTZeel LHC-208 with built-in DAC and network player…
"… In addition to the aforementioned friendly sound in general, the Symphony II now highlighted transparency and precision on a grand soundstage well beyond the edges of the cabinets and with depth far through the front wall. Their transparency had me appreciate small vocal inflections, treble details in how a triangle or cymbal decayed. I really felt that these speakers lit up the entire stage. Their ability to nearly hit subsonic frequencies was surprising…
"…Above all else, this assignment convinced me how drivers which I previously considered too analytical can really give us a fantastic, exciting and pleasant sound…" [For the full review go here.]
To extrapolate, my Spanish 2-wheeled but fast-riding colleague had a preference for powerful amplifiers which atop a high-resolution but friendly sound delivered unexpectedly potent and extended low frequencies which in his room with a 35Hz standing wave eclipsed 30Hz. Who needs more than that? From his photos showing many exposed bolts including those for the tensioning rods, we also appreciate once more how skillfully the Jazz 2022 hides all such hardware for a cleaner more streamlined appearance.
When the Chinese New Year of the Tiger began February 1st 2022, Maximino had his new neodymium-powered Big Jazz 3-way below. It goes to an 8½" woofer paralleled by a matching passive radiator, a 2" dedicated midrange and a 25mm ceramic [€16K] or 20mm diamond tweeter [€27'500]. Sensitivity increased by 3dB to 89dB and the -3dB point has become 30Hz. Dimensions grew to 128 x 44.5 x 48cm HxWxD and weight doubled to 85kg.
When Maximino announced shipment of my samples, "inside the flight case I have placed a roll of black sealant film so that you can pack it up how it arrived for the way back. I've also included return labels." It's in such little things that true professionals distinguish themselves. It happens far more rarely than you'd think so deserves mention when it does.
Welcoming Jazz in the main downstairs system would be another new arrival, Sonnet's extraordinary Pasithea DAC. That had moved my former Denafrips Terminator Plus into the upstairs speaker system to elevate the resolution of the big rig. Bring on the jive of Jazz next.
Albedo's 6¼" Aptica 2-way would play counterpoint to compare by contrast. It'd be my cc not for cubic centimeters, closed caption, carbon copy, cashier's check, the Internet domain of the Cocos Islands, city council or credit card but ceramic cones for a change. When I bought the Italian transmission line, my gloss ebony finish commanded €9'380/pr. Even on price this would be the perfect comparator.
Of course bonySound's direct sales also implied that for the same coin, Jazz 2022 would be a lot more speaker. Aside from weight and crossover parts density, my question was if and how it'd translate at the ear. What might more actually mean other than load up pride of ownership and put a gloss sheen on smart-shopping credentials?
It's questions like these which even 20 years on the beat don't curb. Waiting on the door bell to ring or delivery driver to call, reviewers are regular buyers if by proxy. But if there's no longer expectancy, our writer is—in the immortal words of Russell Crowe's gladiator—already in Elysium. For that I had far too much anticipatory glee and bees under my bonnet.
Tracking DHL Freight, the shipment had started in Madrid and arrived in Aachen/Germany two days later. Then a week passed during which DHL's online terminal had no updates. 15 days after Maximino first created his consignment order, his two flight cases had landed in Dublin. There a regional subcontractor would cover the final 280km stretch. A day later that DHL van was at the door just when heavy gusts and hail pummeled the area. Despite their weight, the big flight cases proved easy to unpack. Soon after Jazz 2022 sat in the usual spots in the main room. Being 10dB less sensitive than our Aurai Lieutenant 3-ways still didn't max out Enleum's 25wpc AMP-23R but in full-range mode without our 2×15" sound|kaos Ripol sub, I swapped in the 250-watt Kinki EX-B7 mono amps. Those had the usual icOn 4Pro autoformer passive preamp back at standard attenuation so -30dB below 4V source gain.
