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Reflections on selecting appropriate electronics (dr.Han van Diest)

During the last months I used very different electronics in combination with a lot of JMR speakers. I give you an impression: I used components of the brands: Accuphase, Advantage, Arcam, Audiolab, Burmester, CEC, Classe, Krell, Levinson, Linn, Meridian, Pass, Plinius, Siemel, Spectral, Threshold, Vincent, Wadia, YBA, etc.  Speakers I used were: Twin mkII, Appeggione, Cantabile, Trenté, Evolution 3 and Offrande.

What are the results?

With almost all components of these brands you can get good results with JMR speakers; although the results are different in quality. In most cases it makes a difference when you use an amplifier of, say, EUR 500 to EUR 15000 (or more).  But it is my experience that this difference in price is not in correlation to the resulting quality. This makes me rather critical. I, as Die-is't!, see it as a mission to combine components and speakers in a optimal configuration for a reasonable price.

What does that mean for JMR speakers? It is not possible here to look for every electronic component in the world which could be matching with the JMR's.

Speakers of JMR are easy to drive. That seems to mean: every normal amplifier is sufficient to drive these speakers.

In a sense, this is true: you don't get any electronic problem with driving these speakers in most cases.

In an other sense this is a pitfall. Let me explain.

It has to do with the character of the JMR speakers. All the models share some qualities, although one model more than an other. When you read the reviews, you can notice  that. Here, I mention the most important one. JMR speakers are designed around the idea of expressing musical emotion. This idea is realised better in more expensive models. For me it is an mystery how Jean-Marie Reynaud is able to do that so consistently; this mystery augments when you evaluate different models of other brands.

 (This has something to do with the fact that the cheapest model of JMR is not so cheap in the eyes of some people. I think the Twin MkII is Jean-Marie's ultimate possibility at this moment: building speakers more cheaply would mean affecting negatively the purpose of speakers, i.e. the communication musical expression. I for my self appreciate this consequent view.)

 Anyhow, to realise this idea of expressing emotion you need other, 'analytical' qualities of speakers. This are the qualities some 'audiophiles' are inclined to overestimate (deepness, soundstage, tight punchy low, clear detailed high, air around the performers, etc. etc.). A good design of a speaker implies  the correct balance between those qualities as means of expressing the emotion of music. Overestimating those 'analytical' qualities can be a thread for realising the communication of this expression (a possible trap when a designer uses computer aided tools).

Further refinement of this expression requires refinements of the analytical qualities, not the other way around; a view which is almost perfectly realised by Jean Marie Reynaud. (We live in a world in which things can always be done better, a view of which Jean-Marie Reynaud is an embodiment.)

This all gives some indications about choosing electronics in combination with JMR speakers.

First some general remarks.

a) You can use almost every electronic component (amplifier, cd player, transport, dac, turntable) for driving the JMR's, but...... differences in quality of electronics are unmistakably to be heard.

b) Not all analytical qualities of amplifiers/electronics are of the same category as those of the speakers. This means that differences in quality of electronics can be heard, using well designed but 'low cost' speakers. Electronics in the price category of EUR 5000,- can better dramatically the quality of sound of well designed speakers in the category of, say, EUR 700,- .

c) Given this situation, it is the challenge of an audio-advisor to find the best relation between price and performance in a world of many brands and changes of models.

d) Not every criterion in the evaluation speakers (or a combination of speakers and electronics) is a matter of subjective or personal taste. The basic quality, expression of musical emotion, is not so subjective as is generally assumed. You can experience this 'objective' quality when, during listening, you try to forget that you are listening to electronics or speakers. It is a sign of a good/high quality, when you forget easily that you're listening to electronics and get engaged to the music itself. An other question is that the threshold of this easiness can differ with different people.  This threshold is really 'subjective'.

e) On the other side, what is more dependent on your subjective taste is less important for the real purpose of speakers, i.e. expressing the emotion of the music. You can see those 'subjective' qualities as the 'finishing touch'. Speaking about these qualities is only meaningful when the basic function of this expression is realised. I experience this point very often when discussing with clients the use of speakercables or interlinks.  There can be differences, you can not say what is better objectively, but you like some qualities more than others.

f) Between these (d) and e)) are the analytical qualities (see elsewhere). Discussions about these qualities without relating them to their function of expression the musical emotion can be perverted. However, most of these qualities are to be measured and are in this sense 'objective'. However, this objectivity has no necessary relation to this function. So, 'best measured' components can be bad or absurd, in the light of this principal purpose of expressing music. Unfortunately (or not?) we're not (yet?) able to measure the quality of components in terms of this ultimate function.

What does this all tell us about choosing electronic components in combination with JMR speakers?

1) There is no receipt which is easily to be used. I'm happy with this: it would mean the end of the task of an audio-adviser.

2) The points just mentioned gives some criteria for evaluation; you can agree with them or not.

3) As the numbers of brands it so enormous, it is not professional to state that one or some combination(s) is/are the ultimate best.
What I will do is give you some personal experiences.

4) JMR speakers are 'friendly' for electronics. Not only in a electronic sense, but in terms of the general function of audio-equipment too. As they are so dedicated to the expression of musical emotion that shortcomings (in this sense) of electronics are (partly) compensated.

5) In an other sense JMR speakers are not so friendly to electronics: they reveal in a dramatically way differences in quality of electronics

6)  The other side is that, when using well designed electronics (i.e. from the same idea of expression musical emotion), the results can be extremely good...... without the necessity of using very highly priced (overpriced?) components.

7) Indeed, I've had good results with many brands (see: introduction).  Generally spoken, I realised the best price/performance relation, when the price of a (well designed) amplifier (integrated or pre/main together) is in the same category as that of the JMR speaker. For digital equipment this relation is about: two-third to one. To be sure, this holds for JMR speakers. Given the high price/quality relation of JMR speakers it can happen that the prices of other speakers must be higher to realise the 'same' price/quality relation.

8) As you can see on my site, in my program are the brands Plinius and Siemel. I selected those brands according the same criteria as I selected Jean Marie Reynaud speakers in my program. You will understand, you can get extremely good results when driving JMR speakers with components of these brands. Especially the following combinations sound extremely well:

·        JMR Cantabilé with Plinius 8100

·        JMR Trenté or Evolution with Plinius 8200

·        JMR Offrande with a) Plinius CD LAD/SA serie, or Siemel TU10/TA20.

9) To be sure, combinations of other brands are possible too. It would be arbitrary to mention some and not others. For me, this calls for keeping clear the criteria for evaluation combinations (see above).

10) To be sure again, I experiment with brands which are generally known as the top of the High End Audio (judged to their (high) prices). Mostly (but not always) with very good results. One thing becomes clear to me: it is not necessary to spend so much money for electronics to realise the best results. That is why I don't mention those brands here.