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8. Reproduction of low-level signals: The sample of Telemann’s Twelve Fantasias for the Nose Flute [Globe Glo 51 17, NRDS N°.3] points at how hard it can be to reproduce a wooden flute realistically and believably. The low-level whistling sounds and others which are not directly linked to the music should be clearly audible but not unpleasantly distorted. With the Jamos, the flute sounds were open and lively, slightly forward but with nice harmonics and uncorrelated noises. The presence of those tiny sonic noises was not emphasized but nonetheless observable.

9. Soundstage and stereo image: Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Mandolins RV 532 [New London Concert, P. Pickett, L'oiseau-Lyre 433198-2, NRDS N°.4] can be used to assess the ability of the system/speakers to accurately locate sound sources on the horizontal axis whilst the background orchestra provides a good indicator for center image stability.


The two mandolins were placed more or less properly but without extreme pinpoint accuracy. The orchestra in the middle spread out sideways but the stereo image was shallow. The focus was on the line between the speakers.

“Mille Regretz” performed by Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI [Carlos V, Mille Regretz, Aliavox AV 9824, NRDS N°.16] provides a superbly rich test for many qualities including properties of the stereo image, accuracy of localization and general airiness. This complex 16th century vocal fare proved almost too much for the R 907 which put forward a lot of sound at the expense of sharpness, vocal clarity and imaging. 

 10. Spatial information: The slow Andante from Haydn’s String Quartet [Saulesco String Quartet, Opus 3, CD 19520] shows up if a system (electronics and speakers) fails to correctly reproduce the relationship between direct and reflected sound by becoming woolly and vague, formless and obscure. When the echoes are reproduced in the right proportions, they support the quartet's delicate sound. Here the Jamos were very spacious and airy to sound splendidly immaterial.

11. Musicality 1 - Rhythm and tempo: J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Cembalos [BWV 1062,Veritas VC 5 45054-2, NRDS N°.5] provides a highly illuminating example for how certain music does not permit any mental impression of the music proceeding too slowly with respect to what the music in fact requires. The listener must be able to feel the rhythm and tempo of the performance right in the listening seat. If the music seems to drag behind, Van Asperen’s and Gustav Leonhardt’s communication with each other and the orchestra shatters.


The cembalos sounded great, slightly overtaking the rest of the orchestra. The music proceeded rhythmically, the sound possessed universal appeal and the tune was well painted but lacked the deepest innermost meaning.


12. Musicality 2 - The overall color of the sound: There is a colossal difference between whether Ivo Pogorelich’s interpretation of Mozart’s Fantasia KV 397 (DG 437763-2, NRDS N°.5) is reproduced by a system that's cold, gray and spiritless or one that permits Pogorelich’s playing to be conveyed with all its elegance and magnificence intact. The Jamos handled the big and massive piano well and tracked pauses and tempi with good microdynamics. The overall color of the sound was positive but lacked luminosity. Still, the music communicated.

Summing up: Jamo's R907 presents a seamless, highly coherent sound. Sweeping from LF to HF reveals how the R907’s subjective response diverges from the upward linear path to somewhat subdue tone. Music with a predominant midrange won't get the special treatment. Vocal sections are in danger of being blanked out by the R907’s fleshy and voluminous bass but that depends on the music sample. Like the R909, the R907 is not a speaker for small spaces and I believe that some of my conclusions about its bass performance are explained not by the speaker itself but by the moderate room size of my audition even though the space was acoustically treated to attenuate resonance modes below 200Hz.

The R907 has a big spacious sound as dipoles often seem to and easily tracks complex heavy music with decent purity. Due to the omnipresent sound, delineation of recorded space in the middle frequencies is compromised and the soundstage is therefore not markedly 3-dimensional. The sonic focus is on the line between the speakers.

Cooperation and coherence between tweeter and midrange is excellent, contributing to the speaker’s ability to reproduce timbre with reasonable accuracy. All in all, at its best the R907 can sound fantastic with a big dose of realism and subtlety. But that's not the whole story. On specific music, the speaker could be a bit more analytical, brighter and clearer - in short, more self-explanatory.

How does Jamo's R907 compare to the R909? Hindsight comparisons are beset by uncertainties. It is doubtful for instance whether a past sound event can be objectively remembered and in what sense. Despite such doubts, I did not find it awfully difficult—at a certain level of generality— to have concrete thoughts about the R907 and R909.  Suppose somebody asked me about the transition between midrange and treble. Was it as coherent with the R907 as it had been with the R909? I would not hesitate a moment. Yes, it was very smooth and most of the time, I paid no attention to it, always a good sign.


The same was true of the immaterialness of the sound as the most palpable consequence of the fact that these speakers possess no enclosure. Like the R909, the R907 is living proof just how hard it is to build a box speaker whose sound does not include reminders of a box. Perhaps due to its tonal balance, the R907 is not quite as invisible as the R909. In two regards the R907 comes very close to its bigger sibling but doesn't match it. The first is treble quality. The highest notes of the R907 are refined but my recollection is that I was more excited about this quality with the R909. The second deals with timing and the speaker's ability to stop and start when prompted. The R909 was unbelievably good at this. The R907 was good too but didn’t impress me as much.



In two aspects it seems clear that the R907 and R909 differ. The first is the R907’s tonal balance, which I believe to be more subdued than the R909's. The second is bass reproduction. Relative to the midrange and if I remember correctly, the R907 seems to produce somewhat more mid and upper bass than did the R909. Just like the R909, the Jamo R907 has a handsome and healthy demeanor. And  as with the big brother, the sound is more vital than emotional. The Jamo R907 will appeal to people who have a good eye for aesthetics and who value a great but conventional type of sound. Hippies and pure egoic hedonists should probably look elsewhere however... 

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