Speaker Designer Andrew Jones’s Newest Creation
by Rich Isaacs
On January 21, San Francisco Audiophile Foundation members were treated to an in-depth presentation and demo of the new Mobile Fidelity SourcePoint 10 loudspeakers at the home of Leslie Lundin. Andrew Jones is one of the most prolific and highly regarded speaker designers working today, having designed speakers for KEF, Infinity, Pioneer/TAD, and Elac.
Due to the level of interest among members, there were two presentations that day, one in the morning and one that went into the evening. I was there for the latter event, which had over 25 of us in attendance. Andrew spoke about (and played demo selections on) his latest design for nearly three hours. He came across as personable and down-to-earth, with a good sense of humor (“If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn’t be research”).
Andrew gave a lot of background on his previous designs and work situations. His said his inexpensive but high-performing Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speaker design came about as a result of retailer Best Buy’s desire to have a good entry-level speaker to sell. He related the story of being approached by Mobile Fidelity with the idea of creating the company’s first foray into the loudspeaker business. He was given a few parameters within which to work, among them using a 10-inch woofer in a more traditional (mid-Century modern) enclosure design, and the fact that they wanted a two-way speaker. Before this, he had been working with concentric driver designs but they had primarily been utilizing smaller drivers in three-way configurations.
He spoke of finding a workspace and selecting drivers and cone materials, ultimately eschewing more exotic materials for traditional paper cones. The design of the baffle involved angles and bevels to minimize cabinet diffraction. He explained the choice of ports in the rear of the speaker versus in the front, and spoke of the process of resolving the conflict between the magnetic forces of the tweeter and woofer.
The demo involved music delivered through a HiFiRose streamer into Leslie’s Parasound A21 amplifier. Elac speaker cables and an AudioQuest Niagara 1000 power conditioner were utilized. The first selection was from an old Harry Belafonte live recording. I was unfamiliar with the piece, and when the music started, I have to admit I wasn’t blown away. But when Belafonte’s voice came in I was mightily impressed – it was clean, detailed and very present. Subsequent selections were varied and equally noteworthy in their sonic signatures. They included pieces from Count Basie, Holly Cole, Aaron Neville, Tool, Yello, and an orchestral composition. The speakers seemed effortless at high volumes, and the bass was exemplary. I think most folks would not feel compelled to add a subwoofer.
Despite the fact that the room had a lot of reflective surfaces and was essentially devoid of acoustic treatments, the speakers floated a very well defined soundstage. The SourcePoint 10s did a credible “disappearing act.” They can be placed vertically or horizontally. Considering their performance, they sell for a very reasonable $4,000 including dedicated stands ($3,699 without stands).
Andrew stuck around well after the “show” was over, and graciously answered members’ questions. All in all, a very successful event.