Pylon Audio Jade 20 Speaker Review
Retro comes in different forms. With one you want to live even longer than you have already lived, with the other you want to part with as quickly as possible and get yourself an older, better retro. A newer one is also possible - the main thing is that it turns out better than it was. The trend for modern acoustics in a vintage style opened the door to the industry and, without looking back at anyone, began to establish its own rules.
Although, if you look from the outside, it didn’t get any worse for anyone. Large wooden boxes with bass drivers covering the entire front panel now look fresher and even slightly more sophisticated. But everything in moderation: we must not forget that it is vintage and make it too beautiful.
Vintage Looks
On the other hand, such acoustics have long served as a standard for an entire segment of the speaker industry. So does anyone need this? Undoubtedly. And we need it too because recently they have started to make vintage speakers that are not only very beautiful but also sound great. We fully support this trend and focus on the Pylon Audio Jade 20.
One could expect something similar from the Poles: they have a couple of manufacturers there who have been making different speakers for almost a century. But then Pylon Audio, Europe’s largest manufacturer of acoustic cabinets, comes onto the scene and begins to set its own trends because it wants and can.
In just a matter of years, the cabinet production shop turned into a huge full-cycle factory, where Pylon Audio makes the speakers they want. Well, with one eye on world trends, among the vast family of acoustic lines of all varieties and ranks, the Jade 20 appears - the first and only speakers from Pylon Audio that have that same, many times unique vintage appearance that we have definitely already seen somewhere.
But you also need to understand that the treasure trove of vintage designs is not bottomless either. And this trend itself is based on similarity, and who was similar to whom initially - history does not store such nuances.
Old school technology
The form factor for Jade 20 was taken to be the most universal: these are large shelf holders that can stand on the floor on their own due to the inclined support. But the angle of inclination is such that in this position the sweet spot will be located about three meters from the line of speakers. The situation can be changed by branded metal stands: they will slightly raise the Jade 20 from the floor and give the whole structure a drop of airiness.
Cool tweed grills also look good and put a bold design point: Jade 20, welcome to our slender old-school ranks! But even without grills it looks stylish: a black front panel with a huge woofer, a slot bass reflex and a tweeter in a horn; turned corners of cabinets that look as if they are a monolithic structure made from a whole piece of wood; laconic back panel with a pair of terminals for wires.
We have already seen all this once, but it all turned out so well again that even now we can’t take our eyes off it. For this effect, American walnut veneer was impregnated with oil and then rubbed with wax. Purely old school technology, nothing less. The cabinet responds differently to tapping in different places, which indicates the presence of spacers and stiffening ribs inside. And the weight turned out to be substantial - as much as 35 kilograms each, although they do not look so massive.
Sound
...no self-respecting company will make vintage-looking acoustics that sound as authentic as they look. And we won’t blame anyone for this: everything has changed too much, criteria and tastes have been spoiled by technological progress, and that very deliberately flashy vintage sound has lost many of its fans.
What is happening now can be called a “race of accents”: whoever makes it clear more accurately and resourcefully that there is a little vintage in this modern sound is the winner. Therefore, the Jade 20 technically has only hints of old-school technology, which is expressed in the form of a paper cone for a 12-inch diameter woofer. This category also includes the Tactrix horn system, which contains a compression tweeter. Both drivers are Pylon Audio's own production.
The rest of the equipment didn't disappoint either: serious copper wiring inside the cabinets and a proprietary crossover that divides the range between the speakers at a frequency of 1,200 Hz. Another non-standard solution in which the tweeter played an important role: not every driver is capable of playing at such low frequencies.
Test
Although the accent race had long been declared open, this phrase was needed to achieve the right literary effect: while the participants of the race compete, Jade 20 snatched the starting pistol from the judge and used up all the squibs in one fell swoop. And all because the race is, of course, exciting, but why take part in it at all if you already have everything? Those who doubt prove, but Jade 20 don’t prove - they demonstrate.
For our test demonstration, we used a pair of amplifiers: the Fezz Audio Torus 5060 and the Fezz Audio Titania Evo tube amplifier. Signal source: Aurender A200. And the first track was not chosen by chance, because in a system with such bass drivers you immediately want to experience them: “Limit To Your Love” by James Blake. The calculation was made accurately, but Jade reacted to the track in a fundamentally different way than expected.
It turns out that such ripples and transients in the lower register are not a problem for them at all. The bass is extremely fast, without avoiding depth, and the attack density is such that drum hits can be used instead of squibs, if someone else wants to compete after this. At the same time, you can hear that the bass is not straightforward and not strict - you greet it with rounded eyes and the thought “wow, that’s cool.”
An attempt to find the crossover crossover frequency by ear failed. And, apparently, you can try searching in any track, because there is purity and transparency in the mid and high frequencies, which, nevertheless, are full of life and information.
Let's go through a classic that will also soon become vintage: “How Deep Is The Ocean” by Diana Krall. Here, right from the first notes, Jade 20 makes it clear that if you were looking for the right, dynamic and articulate bass, then this is your place. They make the bass line transparent for you, reveal all the information that is there and completely refuse to throw a bass reflex veil or mass.
The bass reverently “breathes” in your direction, because 12 inches is still its own, special experience. Every poke or pinch, every attempt by the sound engineer to give intimacy and stretch out the bass note - it seems that with the Jade 20 nothing can be hidden. Usually, in friendly conversations, such a bass is simply called “cool”. Quite suitable.
No less interesting things happen in other ranges. Sometimes the tweeter does not hesitate to show that it is compression and give light and life to the track. But Polish engineers managed to play with this moment so that the sound did not seem capricious or intrusive, but on the contrary - it appears refined and transparent, which looks very appropriate against the backdrop of the cool bass.
The vocals are clear and clear, the stage is wide, and the sweetspot seems endless. And in general, the track played the way a classic setup should play mannered jazz: at first it pretends to be academic, but then touches all the most delicate nerves that are responsible for the perception of music.
Well, heavy artillery: “August In Vienna” from JAZZMACHINE. Not if, but when you get around to listening to the Pylon Audio Jade 20, remember and play this track. Deliberately primitive and intrusive at the beginning, it hides shadows and halftones in the depths. When Jade starts to take them out, you just want to lean back on the sofa/chair, throw your hands behind your head and dissolve in a smile. So that's what you are, music!
Conclusion
It seems that Pylon Audio, when creating their retro-style acoustics, took a wrong turn and grabbed all those high-end things that we had already heard in their older lines. But this did not hinder, but rather the opposite - it helped to outline their character. Some hear echoes of the 70s in it, citing transparency, speed and purity of sound. Well, if in the 70s they knew what vintage should sound like in 2024, then we can completely agree with this opinion.
In general, this sound can be called modern. Let them be paired with a lamp - it is shown to them, but the transistor does not interfere at all. Their sound is free from the overtones of the cabinet, from the overtones of the bass reflex and from the obsessive vintage sound, which often becomes the main idea for creating such speakers. The Pylon Audio Jade 20 are made in such a way that you simply trust them: you trust their appearance, you trust their style, and then, after turning them on, you trust them with all your favorite tracks.
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