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Reviews: small stories about refurbished, repaired or recoated Jecklins... U.W.E. thanking you for help, to get the JJ Float Electrostatic Headphones back to work for me, which I have now been using for almost a year with great success. Your courtesy, helpfulness and technical expertise have been a great help to me and I can now listen to my favourite music late at night without disturbing the rest of the house who are gone to bed. It is great to know that are still some knowledgable music lovers with great technical expertise out there who are prepared to help us ordinary music lovers. Best Regards, Colman Morrissey This is a review of the Jecklin Float Electrostatic system. My pair of headphones and their matching energiser are circa 1992 and are Mk11's. I have always enjoyed electrostatic loudspeakers and have owned several pairs, mainly Quad 57's and 63's. It has been very difficult, however, finding a suitable amplifier for them. It is important to get a good electrical match as these loudspeakers can upset some amplifiers. Some of my favourite amplifiers are thermionic single-ended and most of these are not entirely happy with either of these loudspeakers. The loudspeakers themselves provoke the amplifiers into behaving badly. However, it is possible to mix single-ended and electrostatics more perfectly. Find a pair of electrostatic headphones which use passive energisers rather than miniature amplifiers. Some popular varieties are early Stax energisers or Jecklin Float units. These energisers contain impedance matching transformers plus a circuit to produce the polarising voltage. These connect to the loudspeaker terminals of an ordinary amplifier. A modest single-ended amplifier will do fine. Probably because a lot of power isn't required to drive these electrostatic headphone systems, they don't seem to stress single-ended amplifiers. Even very modest amplifiers using 2A3 or 300B or 45 valves work well. You get to hear what single-ended can really do because it is no longer being unkindly loaded and you get to hear all the good points and none of the bad, because single-ended amplifiers can sound truly horrible when presented with a typical loudspeaker load. I do understand that not everyone likes the single-ended sound. Some people prefer the power and control of other types of amplification. Jecklin Floats are superb sounding when you find that magic amplifier and have good sources. A high class CD player is probably required or a fairly good turntable. These headphones look odd, but the materials, etc. are used for a reason. The plastics and foam and nearly every component used in their construction is self damping and avoids metallic ringing tendencies of some other products. The energiser itself is well made and the matching transformers appear good. The shaping of the headphone allows a little natural cross-feed which makes the imaging more natural. The electrostatic elements themselves are large and robust and even-handed in their approach to music. The headphone and energiser when properly integrated into a good system can produce some of the best sounds available at any price. Sweet, clean, even, powerful, natural with leading edges intact and wholesome timbre. BUT, the Jecklins have a weakness. Time. Over many years the foam can degrade and start to look very tatty making the headphones uncomfortable to wear. However, help is at hand because their is a gentleman in Germany who can help to restore your headphones to their former glory. Uwe kindly help to refoam my pair. They look as good as new and sound as good as ever. Neville Steele Great headphones! But only after refurbishing. I have always been a electrostatic man. There is something magical when a super light membrane between charged stators reacts to musical signals. Talking about transparency, speed and focus... So it was only natural that after many trial and error periods with dynamic headphones (Sennheisers, Beyers, AKG:s, Grados) I finally got tired and started looking for stats. Staxes and Jecklins. Jecklins? Yes. During my audio reviewing years I have had an opportunity to listen to the Jecklin Float Electrostats made in Switzerland in the eighties. Funny looking thing, like a helmet from some sci-fi movie, but who is looking at him/herself from the mirror while listening with headphones. Sonically The Jecklins had left a strong mark on my audio memory. Very detailed and open sound without the usual “in your head” presentation. OK. My searching for Jecklins lasted a couple of months and ended when a Swedish guy was ready to sell me his “in good working order”. The price was right and we did a deal. So far so good. Anyhow, the cell foam pads were so badly worn out that I decided to have them renewed. But how? I’m not a very skilled upholsterer. After some “googleing” I found that there was a guy in Germany who was ready to help in getting the Jecklins cosmetically “like new” again. Excellent, easy communication and wolletfriendly for sure. What else can man ask for? Warmly recommended! J.E. |
(c) 2005-2008 U.W.E.