BRITISH manufacturer EJ Jordan Ltd has launched the Marlow, a compact loudspeaker with the unique combination of a single, wideband drive unit in a BBC-inspired cabinet. The wood-veneered cabinet is made from high-quality, heavily-damped 9 mm Baltic birch ply, a technique based on the pioneering research by the BBC. Behind the Marlow’s acoustically-transparent grille is the Jordan Eikona, an advanced, alloy cone drive unit that covers the majority of the musical spectrum. It was designed by audio legend Ted Jordan to produced a more natural sound than the conventional approach of separate woofers and tweeters.
EJ Jordan managing director Colin Shelbourn says: “The Eikona is a world-class drive unit and we wanted it to be at the heart of a traditional-looking loudspeaker whilst enabling it to perform at its best. This set us quite the challenge.
“The BBC cabinet technique is neither cheap nor easy, but has clearly audible benefits. It’s closer to creating a musical instrument than manufacturing a loudspeaker, requiring a lot of skill; every component is critical to the final sound.
”We also wanted the Marlow to have as small a carbon footprint as possible and we’ve managed to source almost everything within the UK or Europe.
“We are extremely proud of the result. It has taken us two years of research to get to this point: a loudspeaker that’s compact, sounds natural, and has a traditional, fine furniture appearance.”
The development process led to two versions being made available.
The standard Marlow features Kimber TC wiring and Swiss-made, silver-plated 4 mm sockets. The higher spec Marlow CE uses exclusive, pure-copper binding posts and matching internal cables from renowned UK amplifier designer, Tom Evans. Both versions are supplied as matched pairs with individual serial numbers.
Mark Manwaring-White, valve amplifier specialist and MingDa’s UK distributor, heard the first production pair and commented: “… The Marlows were an eye opener or should I say ear opener. To be honest I am not generally a fan of stand/shelf type speakers, big and brash is my taste BUT on this occasion, I was somewhat staggered by the results, especially with the valves. … Quite a staggering sound from a small box.”
The standard Marlow costs £1960.00 (ex VAT) and the Marlow CE costs £2280 (ex VAT). Both are finished in real walnut veneer, with rosewood a £160 option. Matching stands are available, and both loudspeakers and stands can be ordered direct from EJ Jordan Ltd at www.ejjordan.co.uk.
SPECIFICATIONS
- SIZE: 330 x 200 x 180 mm
- WEIGHT: 3.0 kg per speaker
- SENSITIVITY: 86 dB/watt
- FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 44 Hz – 18 kHz (+/- 6 B)
- POWER HANDLING MAX: 100 w peak
- RECOMMENDED AMPLIFIER: 10 – 70 watts