Description

I often recommend JSE Infinite Slope Model 2's. (see review of Model 1 below)

Recently to someone looking for the 'best' tall floor stander, with a high budget. It could seem like a joke in a high budget search, except they remain uniquely remarkable.

IF I wanted a pair now, I would plan on having my Woodworker clad them with a very nice select veneer, that would kick them up a big notch.

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Jeff Joseph, Joseph Audio) was a salesman at Harvey's during the short time Harvey's sold the JSE's (see below) (I never met Jeff until he had his own company, just as a customer talking to him). Check the technical specifications: he still uses the Infinite Slope Crossover in several of his designs. He has superior cabinetry, designs, deserves the high praise of his products.

https://www.josephaudio.net/products

IOW, the results of the crossover was and remains remarkable, a very large part of my continued recommendation.

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Model 2's 4 way were JSE's top of the line model. Big response at NYC Trade Show.

Harvey's premier audio store NYC featured them, huge and instant success. My friend Wayne at Harvey's told me when they arrived there.

UNTIL: they repeatedly failed to meet delivery promises. 

Wayne told me, they were making the enclosures themselves, the biggest mistake they ever made. Harvey's customers quite angry, Harvey's dropped the line.

Thus Very Few people heard or were aware of them (even though great reviews were published).

Only speakers I heard in a trade show that I instantly wanted. 

Got lucky, my friend Phil at Leonard Radio had taken a pair in trade, with burnt tweeters. Leonard's owed me a favor and sold them to me for $700. Replaced the Dynaudio D21 Tweeters myself.

Frequency Response, Imaging, Totally Involving. Everyone loved their sound here.

Front Panel 2 layers 3/4" MDF: 1-1/2" thick. Tall (tweeters high)Sloped fronts (theory of time alignment, and alters the angle of dispersion of direct and indirect sound waves off the floor and ceiling; 

Heavy on 4 dual wheel furniture casters. Dual wheel caster's axels do not wobble like single axel's do). (I changed to 3 casters: more weight per wheel and 3 legs or wheels find level anywhere you move them). 

I tried spikes, no advantage, went back to wheels, big advantage for alternate placement and alternate toe in. (setup for 1 centered listener; alternate toe-in for two listeners, each off center).

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review of Smaller Model 1 (very positive reviews of Model 2, but cannot find any).

http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/jse-infinity-slope-model-1-486.html

Clarifies the two unique patents (see also photo of technical sheet).

1. Infinite Slope Crossover 80 and 100db/octave
2. Bass Phase Shift (using 10" and 12" woofers uniquely for extended bass


The two Patents belong to Richard Modafferi

Richard Modafferi, inventor and independent consultant to AudioClassics, has established himself as one of the world's foremost authorities on tuner & loudspeaker design and development. He holds Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the NJ Institute of Technology. A Senior Engineer at McIntosh Laboratories from 1968-74, he designed the MR77 and MR78 tuners and the famous "Rimo" filter. The MR78 tuner has received world wide acclaim for its State of the Art performance. From 1974 to the present, Richard has been a self employed inventor at Modafferi Acoustical Systems, Inc. He has been granted a United States patent for Phase Shift Bass Loading and for the Infinite Slope Crossover. Richard also serves as a writer, reviewer and test lab for Audio, Audio Critic, The Sensible Sound.

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I designed/had built Rosewood Enclosures for my Vintage 4 way horns/15" woofer (in my main system now and forever!. (had help from Electro-Voice Engineers, still in NYC at that time). Super efficient, 16 ohm so I could use my Vintage 30 wpc mono tube amps with 16 ohm taps..

I gave the JSE's to my son, too big for his wife: he gave them to a friend, they sound absolutely terrific in a large space in the old Firehouse he bought and lives in. He instantly bought a 2nd pair.

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The D21 Tweeters were famous for burnt coils. Every party my teenage son had, I checked the tweeters next morning. Pair of D21's were $60. back then, he paid.

I switched to Vifa Tweeters, never burnt out, my friend changed to SEAS (John Sollecito's choice).

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Room Details

Dimensions: 0’ × 0’  Small
Ceiling: 0’


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    Comments 18

    Owner
    I'm away at a family funeral weekend, I will quickly tell you this

    replacing tweeters is easy, read the comments, we can get specifics from my friend who rebuilt two pairs. 

    the 12" woofers originals are dual coil, unique, see how many and where wires come/go take photos, make notes.

    you have original dual coil, or you have replacements, single coil put there by ____?

    my friend had one missing 12" dual coil, so he picked single coil replacement woofers, we can find out what. 

    IF you have dual coil versions, and not want to pay to ship/repair/ship back, he might want to buy your bad ones.

    elliottbnewcombjr

    Congrats on rescuing the JSE's! You'll want to replace the problematic drivers with appropriate ones and Elliott Newcomb...who has posted on this thread before...is your go-to guy. Just post which specific drivers need replacing here. (As with any speaker, they were designed to produce optimal sound using certain drivers and it's very important that you buy the "right" ones...even if it means waiting a bit to get your JSE's up and running). Good luck!

    ozone46

    @ozone46 & @elliottbnewcombjr - I lugged them into my company's office (boy these things are heavy) and I plugged them into a Fosi Audio BT30D-S (Class D Integrated Amp 50 Watt x2 + 100 Watt) with no subwoofer. They have ~2" holes in the largest diaphragms near the base.

    I ran a few 'calibration' tracks through them to see what I was working with and they sounded pretty awful but they made sound haha. I covered the large holes with aluminum "heat tape" and replaced the tweeters with some that my coworker happened to have laying around our office for some reason... then we played another test track. THEY SOUND AMAZING. 

    There is certainly more work to do to get them up to where they can be, but I feel honored to have stumbled upon such amazing pieces of audio goodness. My coworker and I will team up to restore them fully and we plan to replace any and all components that can make these things really sing.

    I would be very grateful if anyone here would be willing to recommend replacements for the various drivers (especially the largest ones) we don't have unlimited funds but we are willing to spend a bit in order to realize the potential of these bad boys. :)


    heyimgarett

    What a find! Happy for you (and the JSE's). If you need woofer re-coning, I can recommend the guy who did mine, although he's in PA...which may not be workable for you. Please post your impressions once you've got them up and running. Good luck!

    ozone46

    Owner
    You got my heart racing. They deserve a higher quality finish, now's the time to do it!

    elliottbnewcombjr

    @ozone46 you’ll never believe this but I just literally *found* a beautiful, and I mean beautiful pair of Infinite Slope 2’s left on the curb in the rain in Bushwick (Brooklyn, NY) and I got an Uber XL to move them back to my *tiny* apartment in Cobble Hill. I am going to repair any and everything that is wrong with them and maybe do some bondo work on the dent on the side, but they are going to sound *amazing*. I am elated right now.

    heyimgarett

    My buddy from Baltimore...also a JSE 2 owner...just texted me that a friend of his bought a refurbished pair for $1200 from Lawrence, Mass. Gotta be the ones you suggested in this thread...yes? Refoamed woofers and new tweeters.

    ozone46

    Owner
    The Dynaudio D21's burnt out, all the time. They didn't sound any better than the replacements VIFA's, and seems my son blew them. 

    My friends two pairs: Scanspeak, (not SEAS), and Morels.

    both pairs sound terrific, different rooms, I think my friend would save the extra money and go for the Scanspeak ones.

    elliottbnewcombjr

    Hi again,

    Have you heard your friend's pair with the SEAS tweeters? Or the Morel's?

    If so...what were your impressions?

    Have you read any owner comments about replacement drivers vs the original Dynaudio's?

    A few years ago, a friend of mine's four woofers needed refaoming. Instead of going that route, John S provided him with replacements that he (John) said were better.

    When mine needed repair/replacement, I reached out to John (no response) and then to the company with which he's now associated. They contacted him and also got no reply. My takeaway: the JSE's are old and he no longer can or wants to be involved with repairs.

    BTW: he told my buddy that, were he to build them again, they would go for over $20,000.

    ozone46

    Thanks, Elliott!  Coincidentally...I have Morel speakers in my car after-market system.

    ozone46

    Owner
    Physically fitting: diameter of tweeter fits original hole: front is 1-1/2" thick, perhaps a notch is needed for the driver's terminals which the front flange will conceal. Number of holes varies, not an issue.

    elliottbnewcombjr

    Owner
    John Sollecito recommended:
    Tweeter: ETON 19SD/1 (still available?)
    the 7" driver (3rd one down): SEAS Prestige U18RNX
    ....................................
    My friend has two pairs of JSE Model 2's. 
    Formerly Mine: the VIFA's I had put in were blown, by my son.
    Other pair: original Dynaudio D21's also blown.

    He got advice from Madisound: tried two different tweeters:
    Scanspeak Discovery D2606/9200 ($40/pair 2020)
    Morel MDT-32S ($112/pair 2020)

    'convinced himself' the Morels were preferred, however, someone else might prefer the Scanspeak, very very subtle difference.

    elliottbnewcombjr

    Owner
    I just wrote my friend who tried two different tweeters, which one he preferred ____? , and if it fits existing D21 hole ____?.

    elliottbnewcombjr

    BTW: I have a Velodyne sub paired with my JSE's. My current listening space is small and naively supports nothing below 40Hz so the sub gives them some extra weight and depth.

    An audiophile buddy uses a Klipsch sub, also with good results.

    ozone46

    Hi Elliott,

    Hope 2024 has been good to you, so far.

    As you may remember from our previous exchanges (started on dpreview), I still on a pair of JSE 2's and love them. I had the woofers refoamed a couple of years back by a guy in PA who was familiar with them.

    For future reference...I see you've mentioned Vifa and SEAS tweeters as possib le replacements.

    What's the difference between them and difference compared to the original tweeters?

    Can they just be dropped into the JSE's directly and work with John's original crossover?

    Thanks!

    Ed

    ozone46

    Owner
    $1,500, local pickup Texas

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/175688092340
    ...................................

    Pair of later Model 4's; $2,200, local pickup Florida

    https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650003632-jse-infinite-slope-model-4/

    elliottbnewcombjr

    Owner
    Well, I have a friend in Norwalk, Connecticut that might sell his. Anywhere near there?

    This is the nicest pair I have seen, $1,100. plus shipping, they are in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

    Even adding a lot for shipping, that will be quite low for what they are.

    https://holthill.com/products/jse-infinite-slope-model-2-ready-to-rock

    https://holthill.com/search?q=jse

    elliottbnewcombjr

    How much are these. I keep hearing about these from several members. Used pairs are not to be found.

    brunomarcs

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