Jem Design Audio Blog

Saturday the 5th of April from 12.00-16.00 hrs has been selected to be the first day where I will be demonstrating the M7s Reference. We are delighted to invite you to join us on our special day. Please be advised that this will take place in my own living room in Zoetermeer so seating is limited. Please reserve your seats via mobile and whatsapp: +31 6 47452313 email: info@jemdesignaudio.nl

Zaterdag 5 april van 12.00-16.00 uur is de eerste dag waarop ik de M7s Reference zal demonstreren. We nodigen u graag uit om deel te nemen aan onze speciale dag. Houd er rekening mee dat dit in mijn eigen huiskamer in Zoetermeer zal plaatsvinden, dus het aantal plaatsen is beperkt. Reserveer uw plaatsen via mobiel en whatsapp: +31 6 47452313 e-mail: info@jemdesignaudio.nl

Route and parking: The address is Willem Paaphove 6 in Zoetermeer. Very close to the main road N206. Parking in the street is only possible for loading/unloading. We advise you to park in the parking lot on the Verweijhove, a few hundred meters from the location.

Route en parkeren: Het adres is Willem Paaphove 6 in Zoetermeer. Dicht bij de hoofdweg N206. Parkeren in de straat is alleen mogelijk voor laden/lossen. Wij adviseren te parkeren op de parkeerplaats op de Verweijhove, een paar honderd meter verderop.

The goal was not to create a single system but rather a a best performing monitor platform (the 7-series) to be able to satisfy different audiophile inclinations. That would begin with the creation of a high performance cabinet, combined with the ability to adapt standard drivers to this cabinet. I wanted a system that would be second to none in the monitor class. But what needs to be done to accomplish this? To begin I have made a list of shortcomings that I have noticed in (monitor) loudspeakers throughout the years. Problems that need be to solved. A loudspeaker without these would become the best one. The list :

1) Non-lineair frequency response
2) Lean sounding/ lacking in low and midlow band
3) Harsh sounding
4) Uncontrolled and/or excessive low freq response
5) Sweet spot to small
6) Cone (edge) and suspension breakups
7) Listening fatigue
8) Cabinet resonances
9) Necessity for impractical speaker placement
10) Limited imaging capabilities, music “sticks” to the cabinet
11) Grainy sounding
12) Oscillatory behaviour
13) Port problems (booming, chuffing, compression, resonances)
14) Low definition, lack of detail, muffled
15) Time alignment problems
16) Cannot play loud without problems (distortion, sharpness, timbre)
17) Suppressed dynamics
18) Sound discrepancy showroom vs at home
19) Low efficiency
20) Driver integration problems
21) Difficult to drive
22) Too heavy /non-liftable
23) Makes non-audiophile recordings sound even worse
24) In need of certain special equipment to shine

Many top end manufacturers do adress quite a number of these points. But I never heard one that does them all or even almost all. Solving all in one system would be really breaking through current performance barriers. So I decided to try and solve every single one myself. Me considering I already have quite some experience in loudspeaker research and design (40+ designs) and also repair and modification I asserted it would take about a full year to do. It turned out easier said than done. The one year eventually turned into 5 years. It did take really time consuming R&D in all kinds of fields. Plus the above 24 points are only the acoustic relevant ones. So not only acoustics, electronics, driver selection, driver mods etc but also wood- and metalworking, new finishing, production, measuring and QC techniques plus sourcing and probing components and suppliers.

To be continued....
 

I Finally , a five year project coming to an end! Like many in the pandemic year 2020 I had time to think about all kinds of things. I missed my days designing loudspeakers, woodworking.... From 1998 until 2009 I designed, build and sold more than 40 different types of loudspeakers. Most of them from solid wood. I began thinking: what would it take to build a perfect loudspeaker? Could I make this happen?

In my early days my most succesfull loudspeaker was my Reference Monitor. I had two types in succession. The MG-711 Reference (2002) and the the MG-722 Reference with the inverted driver lineup from 2006. I thought he last one was still not full 100% perfect but clients told me it was very hard to beat soundwise when compared to top of the line monitors from well known brands. The Reference models all had a Magnesium woofer and Corundum tweeter just like the current model. In 2020 I began drawing my “perfect” monitor cabinet.

In 2021 for the first time in 15 years or so I visited an audio show in The Netherlands. Many years had passed so I expected a much improved overall sound quality. But was disappointed. Everything seemed to be at where it was 15 years ago. On the other hand, an audio show is not the place to check the sound quality of anything. Rooms are usually filled with people. Music pieces used in demo's unknown to me. Much equipment is not being demonstrated. Room-loudspeaker mismatch etc. But it encouraged me to make a list of loudspeaker shortcomings. As complete as possible. And then to project this list on my project. In my mind, to be able to call my future loudspeaker a true Reference loudspeaker all of the listed problems must be solved. ALL. The list (see other blog post) grew from 8 to 12 to eventually 24 points. My projected one year development time became five....

Two of the
loudspeaker designs
from the period 2005-
2009 .
Left a standmount with 60mm ribbon and 5" Accuton woofers. The one on the right
is the MG-722 Ref.
 

My name is Jamshid Mousavi but you can call me Jem. After my graduation (I have a Bachelor in Economics) and military service I started working in a desk job like so many. I already knew from the start it was not the career for me. But the pursuit of happiness was more important than a regular career so I diverged from the path. I wanted something creative. To be able to use my head AND my hands. So eight years later in 2003 I started to build loudspeakers and photograph for a living. I have always been crazy about audio and especially loudspeakers. As a teenager I already started to experiment with loudspeakers. Not only because I was interested in the technology behind it but also It was hard to find a decent loudspeaker for the budget I was able to spend.

As it happened at the time I was also working for the Dutch audio importer of SEAS, Focal and Accuton loudspeaker drivers Clofis Nederland. How convenient! We also imported some other nice equipment such as the CEC belt drive CD players and the French Audiomat known for its suberbly made tube amps and DAC's..


 

I recently got the chance to purchase an Audiomat Maestro 24bit/96kHz DAC to replace my Audiomat Tango 2.5. The Maestro was state of the art at the time and still very hard to beat to this day. I now use it in my demo's. In 2009, when my first daughter was born I gave up building loudspeakers and focussed on my much less messy photography. But in the pandemic year 2020 I started to make new plans.....

< This is me and my lovely lady Marjolein.