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The storied life of bassist and designer
extraordinaire Phil Jones is the stuff of legends to
be sure. I certainly will not wax poetic about what
Phil’s impact on the world of bass guitarists has been
but his unique approach to bass amplification is well
known throughout the music industry. He has also
made an impact on the world of h-fi loudspeaker
design. After studying electronics in college and
then music at The Welsh college of Music and
Drama while playing bass in various bands in the
English bar and nightclub scene, with a dab of BBC
studio work thrown in,
he became a bit
frustrated with the level
of equipment available
for bass players. Phil
began to modify his own
equipment in search of
the elusive “tone.”
He went on to
become a pro sound
engineer for Vitavox, a
respected British
loudspeaker company. This led to the formation of
his own sound reinforcement company. It was here
that he designed a speaker for his own recording
near-field use. This speaker went on to become the
Acoustic Energy AE1, a legendary small monitor
that is lusted after by many audiophiles to this day.
The AE speakers have seen use in some fairly
notorious settings, not the least of which is Abbey
Road studios.
In 1990 Phil moved to the US and worked briefly
for Boston Acoustics, designing the Lynnfield series
of hi-fi speakers. In 1998 he founded American
Acoustic Development, which produces the speaker
at the center of this review.
Phil is a true believer in producing products that
deliver high quality sound at varyious price points.
The C Series represents his attempt to produce a
high quality speaker with a lot of slam for a
relatively respectable price. At the top of the C
Range, the three-way C880 can serve as a home
theater speaker or as an entry-level audiophile speaker. Where it will find its strongest market may
well be performing both duties simultaneously.
Either way I found it a great opportunity to listen
to a speaker priced at the lower end of the spectrum
for a change and to see how much bang for the buck
one could get. I have listened to Phil’s model 7001
Reference Monitor and had hopes of some trickle-
down into the C880. I was not disappointed
considering the cost difference of nearly $6,000.
These are not small boxes and you need to have
a fairly large room to handle them. The speakers
measure 49.3 inches tall by 11.8 inches wide and
14.8 inches deep. They are available in three
attractive wood tone vinyl wrap finishes. At these
prices it is hard to provide a solid veneer for a
speaker this size but the Cherry finish on my review
set was very nice with a convincing appearance
from a distance of three feet. The speakers weigh
68.5 lbs each so they do require a bit of muscle to
move them around. The interesting thing was that
when performing the knuckle wrap there seemed
to be slightly more
resonance from the
cabinet than I expected
considering the size and
weight.
The C880 is a full 3-
way design that
incorporates two eight-
inch woofers (natural
fiber with a polymer
coating), a 5-inch
midrange driver, and a
1-inch titanium dome tweeter. The speakers show
an impedance of 6 ohms and will handle from 25 to
250 watts per channel. The sensitivity is rated at 92
db so this is an easy speaker to drive. Stated
frequency response is 25 Hz to 25 kHz.
The speakers arrived well packaged. Unpacking
and setup were relatively easy considering the size
of the speakers. I positioned them in my normal
position and hooked them up. I let them run for a
few days before sitting down to any critical listening.
During the very first listening session I began to hear
a buzz coming from the right speaker. It almost
sounded like a tube buzz so I began checking the
tubes in my amps. Then I realized that it was, in
fact, the speaker that was buzzing. Seems AAD had
a bad run of midrange drivers.
Once notified of the problem, they immediately
sent not only a replacement for the right speaker
but also one for the left. As soon as they arrived I
pulled out the old drivers and installed the new
ones. It was easy and quick to replace both drivers.
Technical Specification
System: 3 Way Floor Standing Loudspeaker.
Drivers:
2 x 8" Woofer
1 x 5" Mid-Range
1 x 1" Titanium Dome
Impedance: 6 Ohms
Sensitivity: 92dB
Frequency Response: 25Hz ~ 20KHz
Recommended Amplifier Power: 20-250 watts RMS
Finish: Cherry
Dimensions(HxWxD): 49.3x11.8x14.8(Inch) / 1253x299x377(mm)
Net Weight: 68.5Lbs / 31Kg
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