Review samples supplied by Hexagon Audio
Retail prices in the NL including 21% VAT, per pair:
Black or White Lacquer, Matte: € 5.500
Black or White Lacquer, High Gloss: € 6.000
Any RAL color, Matte or High Gloss: +10%
One of the benefits of being a reviewer is that relatively unknown brands still have a way of finding me. Of course, it also helps if a given distributor (Hexagon Audio in this case) has an eclectic portfolio.
Established in 2011, Pylon Audio currently has a wide range of loudspeakers, of which I will be reviewing their top-of-the-line product Jasper 25.
The bass- and midrange frequencies are reproduced by a pair of 18cm Scan-Speak Revelator mid-woofers (18W/8531G00), while the upper mid frequencies are taken care of by a tweeter with one of the lightest domes in its category, the Scan-Speak D2608/913000. The drivers used in the Jasper 25’s design have been carefully selected, not only in terms of technical parameters but also in a series of subjective tests.
With the Jasper 25, Pylon has moved away from rectangular forms because bent surfaces reduce the formation of standing waves inside the enclosure. The profiled front wall of the enclosure is designed not only to increase the aesthetic experience and visual lightness of the structure but also to align the acoustic centers in the sensitive mid-high section. According to the manufacturer, this helps to achieve the consistency so important for the realism known from listening to live music and it also facilitates the location of instruments within the sound stage.
The Jasper 25’s are quite deep, especially when compared with the very shallow Magicos, but they are narrower and less tall than the S1 mkII’s.
At just over 100 cm tall, 20 cm wide, and 41cm deep, the Jaspers have a well-balanced appearance, relatively narrow from the front and relatively deep to achieve a good internal volume, and as a package neither too small nor too large and at 31kg’s, they are still easy to move around.
Specified at a nominal 4 Ohms and with a 90dB efficiency, the Jaspers should be compatible with a wide range of amplifiers. With a specified bandwidth of 32Hz – 20kHz, listening tests readily confirm that the Jasper 25’s go very deep indeed, and the bass is of good quality, too. However, as I found, their rich and full-bodied tonal balance does favor well-controlled amplifiers.
System Context
The Jasper 25’s will be listened to in a system consisting of the CH Precision C1 DAC connected directly to the CH Precision A1.5 power amplifier via a CH Balanced Link XLR cable. The speaker cables used are mainly the Jorma Trinity, although great results were also achieved with the FoilFlex cables. As digital sources, I will use the Antipodes K50 Music Server, the Aqua LinQ and the Grimm Audio MU1. The analog section normally consists of the Origin Live Calypso mk4 turntable with ViRA Aidas Rainbow cartridge, the CH Precision P1 phono stage, and Ayon Stealth preamp. As a very nice extra, I currently also have the AVID Sequel turntable with Dynavector 10×5 mkII cartridge available.
