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Revisiting Jim Rogers JR149s

Tony L said:
I suspect what I actually want is a pair of traditional three-leg wooden stools of the right height and diameter, not a speaker stand at all! AudioChic are right on the money design wise, but really expensive. There has to be a good wooden stool option somewhere!
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The guy will make anything you want. He seems to be the only seller willing to do so. Hifi racks are ridiculously expensive, they have doubled their prices in the last 12 months.
 
I have not run my JR149's or Chartwell LS3/5a's (1976 vintage) for a while, but I remember preferring the midrange of the LS3/5a. What I have thought for a long time, JR149 fitted with the LS3/5a crossover.
 
Yes, the legend and hype is right; there is something very special about the LS3/5A midband. They really are quite remarkable there, but it comes at the expense of some life and dynamics. The 149s run them exceptionally close in the mids to my mind, but just sound more alive dynamically, and are certainly better in the bass. I don’t think the LS3/5A crossover would suit the 149 at all, I suspect that is where the dynamic issues and slightly tubby bass-hump live. Two truly great speakers, but I’m coming to the conclusion I don’t need both.

PS I suspect my comparison is as fair as possible as both have the same current Falcon B110 and T27 drivers. I am only comparing cabs and crossovers here. The hard part is they both want to be in different places at different heights!
 
deltaunit said:
Maybe those stands are by Foundation?
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I don’t think so, Foundation had whatever lurked within well sealed inside as I recall, plus I’ve never seen one with three legs.

Further clues: they are welded, nothing un-bolts, and the top-plate is tapped for five top-spikes, i.e. you can have four (one in each corner), or three (one at the front and two at the back). They are an unusual size too, I’m trying to picture what size speaker they were made for. Maybe something Linn Index/HB1/Mission 700 sized. At 43cm they are too low for JR149s, HB2s, SL6 etc, but too tall for BC1s, 770s etc. Maybe Epos 14s, though those are pretty much BC1 sized? No idea. They may well be a version of the Meridian stands I had in mind, though I don’t think they are the same as the ones I can find pictures of despite being remarkably similar (Meridian). I can’t find anything closer anyway!

deltaunit said:
How about a plant pot stand?
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There’s potential there for sure, these are pretty much what I was thinking of in a three-leg stool design. I’d just like to know how the legs were attached, i.e. is it going to be stable/solid. I’m in no rush to move on this, I’m just looking at options.

I’d actually like to know how much it would cost to commission a skilled wood-turner to make something really nice to my own design, e.g. get some made to a ‘60s Ercol furniture quality with turned legs jointed and wedged through the top plate with a similar mid-century-modern flair. I’m sure it would be expensive, but I’m curious just how much!

When it comes to the time I’ll certainly ask the eBay seller linked upthread if he can turn stuff as the pricing there is very competitive. I definitely want something round with three legs, 149s just never look right on square stands!
 
I’m really liking the 149s on these stands, they are working surprisingly well. I’ve applied a bit of back-tilt by sticking the rear two spikes up as far as they’ll go and having the front one down. Just a degree or two, but it gets the baffle straight on from a normal listening height at a mid-field distance. They still sound great near-field on the beanbag.
 
wow&flutter said:
Reminds me of a milking stool!
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The Etsy ones? Yes, very much. I’d love to find something round, three-legged, but with a mid-century modern edge to the design.

What I’d really like is to commission a pair constructed something like this beautiful hand turned stool:


Scroll to the end of the video to see where he ends up, but it is fascinating watching the process. Amazing skill and a great channel, as is Richard Raffan’s. I imagine something of that style, but precisely to size, would be very stable and look great. Looking at his end result I think folk will get my Ercol design reference upthread (I grew up in a house full of beautiful late-50s-early-60s mid-century modern Ercol furniture).

The 149 always looks entirely wrong on square stands designed for square boxes. They clearly do not belong there to my eyes. This is a key reason I took a punt on the current three leg metal ones. These are actually working very well indeed, much better than I expected, so I may well end up doing nothing, at least for a long while. Whatever I’m certainly reluctant to ‘half way’ it from where I am. If I do go for wood stands I want them to be exactly what I have in mind, so basically I’d have to find a woodturner.
 
30 days to return -- I like steampunk.

You need to try Mark 2s @Tony L -- I know that Mk 1s have a lovely midrange and treble but it really is a near field speaker - for that reason I am sure that prefer Mk 2s. They are more amenable.
 
I’d really like to hear MkIIs out of curiosity, though my history is with MkIs and really this was a nostalgia project - I wanted to go full circle to where I started and evaluate the journey. I’m astonished how good they are though, they sound like a very good modern speaker to my ears everywhere bar volume headroom, which doesn’t matter to me as I have 15” Lockwood studio monitors downstairs! They seem to really like the little Leak amps too, such a nice flat-earth/round-earth balance with great PRAT etc, but also superb tonality and soundstage. They just aren’t a speaker for loud, but that is no issue to me. Since getting them lower they are far happier filling the typically sized back bedroom where I have them setup. I have my old ‘80s minimalist Ikea Jarpen wire chairs up there behind the beanbag and they sound pretty good and weighty from a standard seating position. This is the reason I decided to tilt the stands back a little so the baffle is now straight on from that seating position. As with all small sealed boxes you do have to use the room to your advantage, both in speaker and listening position, but get it right and they can have surprising heft and punch. Most of the time if I didn’t know what I was listening to I’d think it was an SBL sized speaker, though again I’m not cranking them up loud at all. Say 80-84db peaks max.
 
Yes I can imagine the Mk 1s are good with the Leak, mine are just beautiful with the Radford -- but less so with the smaller CJ transistor amp.

I'm quite tempted by steampunk stands -- it would be a good way to experiment with heights. I moved the Mk2s down to 30 cm when I saw your post -- they're the smallest stands I have. What a difference it makes to the bass! (But not good, so they're back up to 50cm)
 
Tony L said:
If they were detachable I’d likely get that done, or some others made, but the stands are fully welded so a non-starter really.
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My boss’s son is an engineer known for his remarkable metalwork so I think it’s possible. They would inscribe the right size circle, cover the rest of the stand carefully to protect it, & cut around the circle with a laser cutter or a crude angle grinder or something & finish it nicely. The cut edge could be either painted or the entire stand powder coated again.

I’d love to hear wooden stands as they can look so much better than steel ones but I fear they’d not be sturdy enough. I’m a firm believer in keeping speakers rock steady (not spiked though).
 
I came across this thread doing some research on these. I’ve found a pair at my later father in laws that he bought with a view to restoring. I’ve found new drivers that were bought to put in. I think there is one of those subs that’s like a coffee table that I think needs restoring too. Sorry to jump on this thread but I will study it in more detail. Next time I’m down at mother in laws I’ll get them out and see what state they are in!
 
I've recently bought a pair of red logo JR149s, serial 2477, with the older style crossover 2 x 3.3mfd electrolytics, poly & tropical fish, the same as post 1194 on page 60, which are all original.

I've looked back on the previous advice and I want to replace the electrolytics but Falcon don't have the kit at the moment (spring 2024 was when they said they may have them) and I can't find the appropriate value alcaps on their site.

Can anyone advise if these would these be a suitable alternative?
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/jantzen-premium-elko-smooth-capacitors.html
 
r-lecto said:
Can anyone advise if these would these be a suitable alternative?
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/jantzen-premium-elko-smooth-capacitors.html
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Yes, I used those for my 149s earlier this year., they sound fine.

I'm not sure how many of each value you will need but I used the Jantzen caps you've linked for the 3x 3,3uf on mine. However, the 1,5uf (1x on each of my crossovers) weren't available in the same range so I used these https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/jantzen-elecap-electrolytic-cap.html just for the convenience of making one order.

Mine also have 1x 2,2uf capacitors on each circuit but the originals are the green Erie (polypropylene?) so I left them.

Good luck,
Kevin
 
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