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JPW Sonata
Quality Bookshelf Monitors
JPW Sonata
Quality Bookshelf Monitors
From the early 1990’s and not to be confused with later cheap and cheerful JPW models, these quality British bookshelf speakers are in excellent condition, all original, unmolested and in full working order. They actually sound really nice.
This write-up is from the May 1991 edition of What Hi-Fi Magazine:
The JPW Sonata is far from being the second-best-sounding loudspeaker of the group (of 16 ranging from £100 to £800). It is the best value however, and by a sizable margin. First appearances suggest a very ordinary system based on cost effective but rather ordinary drive units, the only slightly unusual point being the size of the enclosure, which is bigger than most of the price level. Take a closer look though, and you’ll see that the finish is real wood veneer which is extremely uncommon even at twice the price. The idea of using real wood veneers on the box has certain attractions on aesthetic grounds of course, but there’s another much more important, though largely unrecognised factor here.
Veneers strengthen the panels they’re applied to. A (cosmetically inferior) veneer is used on the inside of the panels for balancing purposes, and the effect is to sandwich the chipboard that makes up most of the thickness of the walls, in this case stiffening it enough to make the Sonata much less resonant than usual when tested with the standard knuckle test: - basically, you rap it hard and listen for echoes (bad) - or a dull thud (good). The solidity of the enclosure reflects directly in the solidity of the sound, which extends throughout the frequency range down to the deepest bass, which is where most lightweight cheapies come unstuck. The Sonata is the speaker of contrasts: dynamic contrasts, tone colour contrasts, contrasts between notes and the spaces in between that somehow seem to get ‘filled up’ in lesser designs. A visual analogy for these benefits being the loss of deep blacks and subtle shadow detail on lesser television receivers. Don’t expect the Sonata to perform great straight from the box. Judge them after a thorough running-in process, which will take you at least a week, the Sonata will show their best.
Specifications:
• Design : Sealed box, 2 Way Loudspeaker System
• Frequency Range : 70Hz to 20kHz
• Sensitivity : 87dB
• Impedance : 8ohms
• Power Rating : 70watts
• Drive Units : 16.5cm paper cone bass unit with PVC surround, 1.4cm dome tweeter with ferro-fluid damping
• Dimensions : [H x W x D] : 320mm x 230mm x 215mm
• Weight : 4.6kg each
SOLD
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Please contact us either by telephone on 01883 340073
or by sending and email to enquiries@retrotechaudio.co.uk
if you are interested in purchasing this item.
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