Just Ordered This Book...

[Andyoz]

...On studio monitor design:

http://www.amazon.com/Loudspeakers-recording-reproduction-PHILIP-NEWELL/dp/0240520149/sr=1-30/qid=1170445766/ref=sr_1_30/105-1175008-1300402?ie=UTF8&s=books

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g240/andyoz/jbl-1.jpg

It's by an English guy called Philip Newell. Judging by the front cover, I think JBL's name will come up quit often (they are JBL drivers aren't they?).

I found it while looking at his other book about studio design which is a good read apparently. See here:

http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Studio-Design-PHILIP-NEWELL/dp/0240519175/sr=1-24/qid=1170446011/ref=sr_1_24/105-1175008-1300402?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Storm]

Wow, that is a pricey book - but over 400 pages, thats alot of reading.

Looks very interesting.

Tell us how the book is when you get it - I just might purchase a copy.

:)

-Storm.

[Andyoz]

Luckily, I only paid £25 on Amazon UK which isn't too bad and it goes on the business expense account!

Will let you know how it is.

Is that an Aquaplas woofer on the front cover?

[X_X]

Hi Andy!

Howz the 250Ti?

That is a great looking monitor on the cover. I like the red....has me thinking.:D

One project at a time...:(

[boputnam]

Judging by the front cover, I think JBL's name will come up quit often (they are JBL drivers aren't they?).

Yea, although the cabinet configuration is unknown to me - DIY...? The LF mounts are unconventional...
Could that be a leather-covered baffle? Interesting look.

2405 - UHF
104H - MF
2213H - LF - Not sure on this one. dust cover is slightly oversized so may be a recone, but the expose speaker leads yell "JBL!!" to me...


Is that an Aquaplas woofer on the front cover?You bet. Pretty, ain't it...?

[Zilch]

Not sure on this one. dust cover is slightly oversized so may be a recone, but the expose speaker leads yell "JBL!!" to me....?Was thinking 10".

I forget the model number, tho.... :dont-know

[johnaec]

2213H - LF - Not sure on this one. dust cover is slightly oversized so may be a recone, but the expose speaker leads yell "JBL!!" to me...That's defiitely a 12", but it looks like it has a 4" voice coil. I'll bet someone took something like an E120, then mated a 2213 cone to the 4" voice coil. Weird! :hyp: I wonder if it's described in the book?

John

[Andyoz]

I'd guess 12" as well. I'll tell you when the book arrives.

Amazon normally give you a preview of the first few pages where the front cover photo is normally identified. But not in this case unfortnately.

[Zilch]

Heh, heh,

Andy stumps the forum!!


:nanana:

[Mr. Widget]

Andy stumps the forum!! It really looks like a 123A/2213 cone with the correct accordion suspension, but that is definitely a 4" dustcap... and it was put on by someone who knew what they were doing... the fact that the VC leads are still showing makes one assume a 4" VC???

A run of factory odd ducks? A franken-woofer made by a craftsman who may even have known what they were doing?

I am stumped... not that it is all that difficult. :applaud:


Widget

[Guido]

Thanks for this info.

Couldn't resist and just ordered it at Amazon Germany :bouncy:

[Andyoz]

Wow, I really didn't think that picture would cause so much discussion! I didn't even know it was actually a JBL woofer to be honest.

My copy from Amazon won't be here for about 2 weeks so Guido might be the first reader.

If you really want to know the answer, you could email Philip Newell at his company here (he moved to Portugal some years ago):

http://www.reflexion-arts.com/quienessomos_ingl.htm

Interesting guy as you can read from the bio. I think he'd be excited to hear from guys who are holding up the JBL tradition as the brand must have featured heavily in his long history in studios.

[Andyoz]

Howz the 250Ti?

Going great. Was listening to Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" today. Never liked the song until I heard it through the JBL's, some great guitar work :D

Like every other Ti owner on this forum, I am wondering what the hell I'll do if I ever pop one of the 044Ti's and have to source a replacement..

[X_X]

Going great. Was listening to Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" today. Never liked the song until I heard it through the JBL's, some great guitar work :D

Like every other Ti owner on this forum, I am wondering what the hell I'll do if I ever pop one of the 044Ti's and have to source a replacement..

Great! I remember reading a post about the 250Ti. Something about how the 250Ti's excel because they do no harm. Can't remember who or what thread, but it's a great way to sum it up. After you hear enough speakers- finding ones that don't mess with the recording is a refreshing find!

You know...you could put some protection on the 044 (fuse it).

Nathan.

[Andyoz]

I think that it has more to do with the fact they are true "full range" speakers, especially regards the low-frequencies.

I have owned quit a few well regarded English designs (ATC, PMC) that have spec's showing similar response extremes as the JBL's. They are probably more accurate, but they just don't give rock the beefy sound that it needs to be enjoyed. Gotta trust you ears I guess as spec's relating to LF performance don't tell the whole story at all.

[boputnam]

Wow, I really didn't think that picture would cause so much discussion! I didn't even know it was actually a JBL woofer to be honest.

If you really want to know the answer, you could email Philip Newell at his company here (he moved to Portugal some years ago):

http://www.reflexion-arts.com/quienessomos_ingl.htm

Interesting guy as you can read from the bio. I think he'd be excited to hear from guys who are holding up the JBL tradition as the brand must have featured heavily in his long history in studios.Well, I did just that, and they are indeed really nice guys and kinda excited their handiwork got noticed! Here's the email and reply I got:

-----

Dear Philip Newell:

The cover of your most recent book ... was highlighted on the Lansing Heritage forum and caused curiousity on the driver complement. We are quite intrigued with the interesting and beautiful design. We are guessing:

UHF = 2405
MF = 104H
LF = 123A/2213H - not sure on this due to the oversized dust cover??

Can you shed any light on it's design? It is beautiful.

Thanks...

------
Dear Bo

My name is Sergio Castro and I am the director of Reflexion Arts in Spain. I am also the person who did all the art work and put forward the idea of using this monitor as the cover for the new book. I thought it looked beautiful and different from anything else, as this monitor is one of quite a short run of units.

This is a Reflexion Arts 240b and it is an upgrade on the original RA240, Philip designed in the early 80s, in itself already a big upgrade on the JBL 4311. At the time he thought that to maintain phase accuracy he needed two main things: align vertically the drivers and, at least, bi-amp the systems and use an electronic crossover. Then he decided to us a Gauss 12” bass driver a JBL LE-2 for mids and a JBL Slot (2405) for the highs. The monitor had to fit in with a family of monitors which he had developed for studio use. Unfortunately, for financial reasons the Reflexion Arts original company went bust and around 1991 I founded a new company in Portugal, under this name, with the permission of the former owners and Philip as consultant, who in the meantime had moved to Portugal. Both Phil and the company moved to Spain a couple of years later and that’s where we have been officially for the last 10 years.

The 240b was then a new upgrade to answer to the request of a ‘small’ monitor with the sound character of our big ones RA239 and RA234. Obviously if you want to keep the bass response right (both in amplitude and phase) you really need the box and the speaker to have the right size. So this box is externally 40 x 46 x 62 cm and tuned to 20Hz. The response goes down flat to 25Hz. So you have guessed right the drivers in the prototype are a JBL123A alnico and that’s still original – so it is the picture that gives a distorted idea of the dust cap – and an LE-2/9 (with a foam dust cap) and a brand new JBL2405. In the production runs we have been using the more recent ceramic version, the 2213H and the 104H for the mids. The box is made out of a special composite plywood (30mm thick) and it’s lined inside with a very dense and effective acoustic material which makes a very heavy, low resonance, box.

The bad news is that this monitor will have a very short life as JBL stopped manufacturing the 2405 (I have just bought the last 12 units) and it seems that they will be stopping the 2213H, at least as normal production. This will force us to develop a new monitor in the very near future. I am attaching the system leaflet just as an information of how the system is set.

Please feel free to publish all this information, or if you prefer I can go in the forum and add it myself.

Best regards

Sergio Castro

------

Like I said, some really nice guys. I directed Sr. Castro here, as he may wish to answer any follow-up questions, directly.

[Andyoz]

Ah, you just beat me to it as my copy of the book arrived today and it indeed says that the front cover photo is "Reflexion Arts Model 240b".

It is also obvious from the cover photo that there has been some Photoshop done on the picture to increase the size of the woofer dustcap. We were all wrong on that one so I guess you can never trust a photo nowdays.:D

Have only skimmed through the book and it seems very thorough. It apears to be more along the lines of a technical discussion of studio monitors rather than a chit-chat about various models and trends in the types of monitors used throughout the decades. The authors seem to have got the balance betwen in depth technical detail and general discussion right (at least for me anyway). I will get back in a few days with more info.

p.s. I knew the guys at Reflexion Arts would be keen to reply to any enquiries, their list of completed projects is very impressive. The other by the same authors I ordered on Studio Design arrives tomorrow.

[Zilch]

A good alignment, but not "Flat to 25 Hz":

[grumpy]

electronic xover... bump filter @ 20Hz? :)
or an in-situ spec?
meaningless w/o more info, in any case.
Nice pics/cabs. -grumpy

[boputnam]

...The response goes down flat to 25HzZilchster, I'm surprised at you! Sure it does, +/- XdB (unspecified)... ;)

[glen]

I will get back in a few days with more info.


Hi Andy,
Hope you might have the time to give us a review of the book.
I am becoming interested in those classic Westlake main monitors of the early seventies. Thought there might be some info available in this book (crown amps? bi-amping?), but your initial note from skimming it made it sound more technical (useful) than historical/anecdotal.
Amazon didn't list any reviews or show a table of contents, so any information you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Glen

[Andyoz]

Hi,

I have still only skimmed through it as I have been hooked on the same authors other book on studio design. I did recall he mentioned the Westlakes a few times in the book though. Will get some time over the weekend to read more.;)

If you pm me your email address, I'll try to scan the contents pages and send over to you.

[Andyoz]

Just an update re. this book.

I have been delving into it some more (30mins reading each night in bed). It's not a book you could read in one go as it's gets fairly heavy on the techie side. Having said that, the author has a great way of explaining some complicated concepts in easy to understand terms (I believe that's a sign of someone who really knows their stuff).

He does jump around from subject to subject in the book and from what I have heard about the author that's the way he is in real life (one of my work colleagues met Philip Newell at a conference once).

He obviously has a passion for horns and after reading his basis for it so do I. The book is worth the price just to get his explanation of why they are so good and the reasons why they have a bad name in some circles, i.e. bad designs and bad application of potentially good designs.

The author does have some very strong ideas about things...I may put some quotes on the webste as I am sure they will foster debate.

Guido - have you read you're copy, what do you think??

[Robh3606]

A good alignment, but not "Flat to 25 Hz":


Might be close with room gain and looking on an RTA.

Rob:)

[Zilch]

I'm the only one messin' with 123A/2213, apparently.

They've been playing here for several months now, closed box, C36, L100t3, and L88.

Ed May's favorite woofer, I believe Harvey said.

Vented, they need to be tuned low in big boxes to kill the boom.

Above 3 cuft., there's better choices than trying to make a closed-box woofer play vented. :dont-know

On topic: Ordered the book.... :yes: