OMG I'm crazy! aka I just bought the JM Lab Electra 926

Daneel

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I just bought a pair of JM Lab Electra 926s after demoing them against the B&W 703.

They sound nice :)

Full review to come, in the mean time here are some pictures!

Is it just Arcam and I with JM Lab speakers or are there others hiding here somewhere? Where IS Arcam recently anyway!?

Rags, you HAVE to come and hear these. Bring your C2 and 750 with you please! :D
 
plasmoid, I'm not sure what you mean. They look like they should be played loud?

Any opinions on these at all, looks or sound wise? Given the small number of threads on these I don't suppose there is a wealth of knowledge about JM Lab here but still, I was hoping for some comments!

Perhaps my thread name wasn't the best choice. Could a kind mod edit it to "OMG I'm crazy! aka I just bought the JM Lab Electra 926"? Thanks!
 
Well done Daneel.

Did you buy them ex dem or new ?

They look very ugly (I think I expressed the same sentiment to Arcam on his standmounts!).

So why did you prefer them over the 703's ? Im assuming the sounded better but in what way ?
 
Basically, the 703 won on bass, the 926 won in mids and highs. Imaging, sound stage etc were fairly equal overall, though there were differences between the two.

The 703 seemed to have a bit more extension but both were tight and tuneful. In the midrange there was something added to the sound of voices that I didn't like on the 703. I can't quite describe it, more colouring than veiling. I found this surprising as I was expecting big things from the FST driver.

The highs were simply cleaner on the 926 with the 703 tending slightly towards harsh.

The 926s sound more natural than the B&Ws overall and that alone was enough to swing it in their favour. On live recordings there is much more a feeling of being there. I could still do with vocals being a bit more forward and sweeter but I think I can fix that between amp and pre-amp. The 926 manages to be smooth and detailed at the same time which is what I have been searching for. The midrange didn't match that of the Neat Ultimatum MFS but I can't expect perfection and I pushed the budget as it is with the 926.

I thought the 926 was going to be ugly, all the pictures on the web make it look poor but having seen it in the flesh I think they are rather attractive. I'm not sure what the black stuff is made of but it looks really good and overall build quality is excellent. It would seem that we have different tastes rags, I think the 926 is better looking than the 703 and I love your Parasound Halos. It makes a big difference seeing it yourself rather than looking at a picture.

My set-up isn't ideal, the speakers should be further apart and further away from the wall but even so the soundstage at home is nice, if not as wide as in the demo. I'm moving house in a few months though so hopefully I'll find something suitable.
 
For the first time tonight I got the chance to try my 926s with movies. I only had the front 2 set-up and tried just one scene, but still, it's worth a post. I feel these speakers don't get nearly enough attention given how good they are.

I just received Kill Bill V1 R1 and stuck it on the Tokyo long fight scene in the club with DTS sound. The first thing that surprised me was the depth of the bass. These speakers are rated to -3 dB at 40 Hz but I swear it sounded like my CHT-10 was still in place. In fact it sounded better than that. The really low stuff was missing but you felt it when an impact ocurred.

The girl whirlling the ball and chain around was very impressive, with great imaging. The dynamics were pretty damn good, as was detail. One of the main things that got me to buy these speakers was how life like the sound was, and that was much in evidence here. When glass broke, it sounded like glass breaking. Very impressive.

The only thing I was slightly unhappy about was that some of the chain sounds weren't nice to listen to, it was a little sharp. Soundtracks are known for being bright though and I'd guess that engaging THX mode or tweaking the EQ would fix that. Plus I was listening a lot louder than usual, at -10.

Not many people have the space for these but if you are in the market for some musical speakers that do a damn fine job with movies too I suggest you give these a demo.
 
Daneel said:
The midrange didn't match that of the Neat Ultimatum MFS but I can't expect perfection and I pushed the budget as it is with the 926.
QUOTE]

I know what you mean.........I bought the Ultimatum 7s, ow that hurt........still, they are fantastic and I probably will never own another pair of speakers till Im 96. :laugh: Of course theres always the 9s :rolleyes:

Both the 7s and the 9s go really low, the designer was after a flat frequency response down to 20Hz (big amps needed mind) and judging by the sudden thumps and room pressures coming out of mine he probably succeded. These things really rattle items in the room and I felt slightly queazy during the Portishead album.
 
So why did you just order an Ultra? ;)

That's the next thing on my list I think; can't decide between that and the matching centre for the Electras.

The midrange on the MFS was amazing as I said, but I don't think it was as neutral as the Electras. So while they are superb for music (my demo track was Katie Melua - Belfast, it sounded like a front row seat, I know cause I've seen her live 3 times) I'm not convinvced they would be great for movies.

The dealer I demoed the MFS at had the 5s I think or maybe it was the 7s but said he didn't like them as much as the MFS.
 
I knew someone would pick up on that..........so, Ultimatums for the hifi, seperate rooms, amps, cd, tt etc. I really dont think I need anymore bass.

I had the MFS speakers for a few weeks, but they did'nt really perform well with high volume rock. The 7s just pin me to the wall, Ive had several none hifi friends (sceptics the lot of them :rolleyes: :laugh: ) that I ended up sweeping up their jaws after a couple of tracks. Im using a pair of Naim 135s and keep wondering just how good they would be with another two in biamped formation :eek: The Ultimatums need really high quality amplification and need careful placement, but they are the manufacturers favourites and my wifes (very, very, important :smashin:).

The Ultra is for the h/c, now consisting Phillips 962SA, Sanyo PLV30, 3 Neat Critiques, soon to arrive s/h Denon AVC10SE and as yet undecided about the rears. Possibily a pair of Missions to replacethe Yamaha Satellites. Not going 6:1 or 7:1 just plain old 5:1
 
Ok, what do you do? I need more money! ;)

Very nice set-up you have there. Thinking back on it and having looked up the website I think it was the 5s he had as well as the MFS. Neat thinks they are a little weak/weird don't they?
 
Daneel said:
Ok, what do you do? I need more money! ;)

Very nice set-up you have there. Thinking back on it and having looked up the website I think it was the 5s he had as well as the MFS. Neat thinks they are a little weak/weird don't they?

Thank you.

Yes, they think the 5s are slightly strange, they were designed as a floorstanding MFS. Still a good speaker in most respects, infact they get rave reviews by a lot of dealers.

But the 7s and 9s are special speakers and IMO theres virtually nothing that can touch them, Im still running in at present (they need 200 hours) and they really are fantastic. Apparently one guy in Japan has bought 5 x 9s for fronts and main surrounds plus a few MFS for the extra surrounds :eek:

The guy who designs them, owns the company and is a semi-pro musician, playing everything from piano to bass guitar. He lives and breaths music and has perfect pitch (a curse or a blessing ?), the other half of the team, Derek Gilligan has interesting credentials, Trevor (Dereks brother) is a leading light in production and mixing for bands like Sparklehorse. Derek used to work with him setting up gigs and was regarded as Trevors 'ears'.

As you can tell I know them quite well..................so you can probably work out the rest for yourself ;)
Most of the system is s/h or the product of ebay deals and price research. I try not to buy anything new or without major discounts. The Philips player had to come from HK (there were no Prog scan DVD players around at that time) and the sub are the first things that have gone against my rule of thumb.
 
It would be interesting to see how the Neats stack up to the Utopias from JM Lab. I haven't demo yet as I knew I wouldn't be able to afford them for quite some time.
 
I have some! Look here

There's a DVD player on there as well now, along with some CDs on the remaining shelf.
 
Daneel said:
It would be interesting to see how the Neats stack up to the Utopias from JM Lab. I haven't demo yet as I knew I wouldn't be able to afford them for quite some time.

:laugh: It would be, who is going to carry them and the associated power amps :eek: Anyone for a scrotal support :suicide:
 
Congrats Jeff :thumbsup:
Now its just the small matter of getting together the money for the CC901 and the 906 :D I`ve ordered the CC901 and the 906 last friday, too bad its three weeks delivery time ;)
 
I think you need a bigger house! ;)
 
Those are some sexy speakers, and I bet they sound great too. I wish I had loads of cash to spend :(

Enjoy them!
 

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