Vaughn speakers

[gregspurge]

Hello all, first time poster here.

For years I have wanted the Vaughn Plasma Series speakers, but did not buy because the $20K price was too big a step. Well, I waited too long. Recently heard that the founder Jim Jordan died and his website is gone.

Can anyone suggest a website or a place to buy one?

Greg

PS I had an occasion to talk to Jim Jordan and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Edited for grammar.

 

[Mrmb]

Until you mentioned it, I was unaware of Jim Jordan's passing. I was so saddened to hear of his loss to family, friends and the audio community.

I first met Jim Jordan around the CY2000 at his audio store in Indianapolis's Broad Ripple area. At the time including all of the audio hardware, he had a +$20k 50" plasma that I was mesmorized by -- my how times change!?!

I learned more from Jim about audio in a few years, than in the decades before.

Jim was an music/audio aficionado and hobbyist first and a store owner/salesman in name only. I bought several components from Jim, including my first PC Audio DAC, a Wavelength Brick. Jim was honest and objective while wearing his store owner/salesman hat! He became a friend as well as an audio mentor. I missed Jim when he moved from Indiana to California. And was happy knowing he returned to IN a few years ago.

I caught back-up with Jim at the 2012 RMAF in Denver. My son and I attended RMAF purposefully to listen to all of the speakers that we could. Knowing that Jim's sonic preferences and mine were similar, I knew that his Vaughn loudspeakers would be killer and they were. His and Gordon Rankin's (Wavelength Audio) room was one of my and my son's favorites. We went back there several times.

Speaking of Gordon Rankin, he may know something about whether any new inventory or pre-owned Vaughn speakers are floating around somewhere.

 

[Mrmb]

For years I have wanted the Vaughn Plasma Series speakers, but did not buy because the $20K price was too big a step. Well, I waited too long. Recently heard that the founder Jim Jordan died and his website is gone.

Can anyone suggest a website or a place to buy one?

Greg

PS I had an occasion to talk to Jim Jordan and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Until you mentioned it, I was unaware of Jim Jordan's passing. I was so saddened to hear of his loss to family, friends and the audio community.

I first met Jim Jordan around the CY2000 at his audio store in Indianapolis's Broad Ripple area. At the time including all of the audio hardware, he had a +$20k 50" plasma that I was mesmerized by -- my how times change!?!

Jim was also the first one to alert me to a new product on the audio horizon, PC Audio. Apparently, he was aware of Gordon Rankin's immersion into creating a Computer-based DAC. As soon as I learned one was available, I ripped all of my CD's and I traded my Wadia CD Player for a Wavelength Audio Brick Silver and added a Macbook laptop as a music player and never looked back. Fun times!!!

I learned more from Jim about audio in a few years, than I had in the preceeding decades!
Jim was a music/audio aficionado and a hobbyist first and a salesman by trade and name only. I bought several components from Jim. He had a wealth of audio knowledge and experience and he was objective, even while wearing his store owner/salesman hat! He became a friend as well as an audio mentor. I missed Jim when he moved from Indiana to California. And I was happy knowing he returned to IN a few years ago.

After Jim's move to CA, I caught back-up with him at the 2012 RMAF in Denver. My son and I attended RMAF purposefully to listen to all of the speakers that we could. Knowing that Jim's sonic preferences and mine were similar, I knew that his Vaughn loudspeakers would be effortless and killer and they were. His and Gordon Rankin's (Wavelength Audio) room was one of my and my son's favorites. We went back there several times.

Speaking of Gordon Rankin, he may know something about whether any new inventory (probably unlikely since there is no website) or pre-owned Vaughn speakers are floating around somewhere.

My belated and sincere condolences to any of Jim's family, associates and friends, who may chance upon this!!!

 

[gregspurge]

Until you mentioned it, I was unaware of Jim Jordan's passing. I was so saddened to hear of his loss to family, friends and the audio community.

I first met Jim Jordan around the CY2000 at his audio store in Indianapolis's Broad Ripple area. At the time including all of the audio hardware, he had a +$20k 50" plasma that I was mesmerized by -- my how times change!?!

Jim was also the first one to alert me to a new product on the audio horizon, PC Audio. Apparently, he was aware of Gordon Rankin's immersion into creating a Computer-based DAC. As soon as I learned one was available, I ripped all of my CD's and I traded my Wadia CD Player for a Wavelength Audio Brick Silver and added a Macbook laptop as a music player and never looked back. Fun times!!!

I learned more from Jim about audio in a few years, than I had in the preceeding decades!
Jim was a music/audio aficionado and a hobbyist first and a salesman by trade and name only. I bought several components from Jim. He had a wealth of audio knowledge and experience and he was objective, even while wearing his store owner/salesman hat! He became a friend as well as an audio mentor. I missed Jim when he moved from Indiana to California. And I was happy knowing he returned to IN a few years ago.

After Jim's move to CA, I caught back-up with him at the 2012 RMAF in Denver. My son and I attended RMAF purposefully to listen to all of the speakers that we could. Knowing that Jim's sonic preferences and mine were similar, I knew that his Vaughn loudspeakers would be effortless and killer and they were. His and Gordon Rankin's (Wavelength Audio) room was one of my and my son's favorites. We went back there several times.

Speaking of Gordon Rankin, he may know something about whether any new inventory (probably unlikely since there is no website) or pre-owned Vaughn speakers are floating around somewhere.

My belated and sincere condolences to any of Jim's family, associates and friends, who may chance upon this!!!

Mrmb:
Thanks for your reply !

Greg

 

[TOMMYN]

Hello all, first time poster here.

For years I have wanted the Vaughn Plasma Series speakers, but did not buy because the $20K price was too big a step. Well, I waited too long. Recently heard that the founder Jim Jordan died and his website is gone.

Can anyone suggest a website or a place to buy one?

Greg

PS I had an occasion to talk to Jim Jordan and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Edited for grammar.

Hi Greg,

Currently I have brand new in the box never used Custom Plasma speakers that are in the Cabernet bodies Jim designed them with twice as many drivers 16 not 8. Let me know if you are interested in them.

Tom

 

[gregspurge]

Hi Greg,

Currently I have brand new in the box never used Custom Plasma speakers that are in the Cabernet bodies Jim designed them with twice as many drivers 16 not 8. Let me know if you are interested in them.

Tom

Can you send a photo?

 

[TOMMYN]

Can you send a photo?

Hi Greg,

Sorry for the delay but as I mention these speakers have never been opened since Jim shipped them. We only opened one of the pair to show the quality of the product Hope this will help.

 

[tobeornottube]

Hi Greg,

Sorry for the delay but as I mention these speakers have never been opened since Jim shipped them. We only opened one of the pair to show the quality of the product Hope this will help.

Email from Jim- The Cabernet ll’s fortunately do not have a lot of parts in them which is a good thing but what they have is important. Due to the line array output with 4” full range drivers there is no need for an inductor to roll the top end out to blend with the ribbon tweeter. The comb filtering effect at high frequencies creates an acoustical filter so no inductor is needed. Just need to match the roll off of the 4” drivers with a Jupiter Copper Foil capacitor on the ribbon tweeter which worked better than even the V-Caps in this application. So there is just one passive crossover part in the entire speaker! This allows for unreal dynamic expression and natural music flow. No amplifier power is sucked up by a complex crossover so it truly behaves like a 100db efficient speaker. The input is through the latest WBT Nextgen binding posts which have much less metal mass than the older WBT designs and allow for efficient signal input. The Bybee Crystal Internal Bullets have a parallel straight wire bypass which provides the benefits of the Bybees with improved dynamics, both micro and macro. From there we use Jupiter cotton covered copper wire which has the resolution of the Nordstrom internal wire along with a smooth, natural timber that is the best I have heard.The drivers are wired as four sets of four series connected drivers connected in parallel for a super easy to drive 16 ohm load.
These drivers are loaded into the cabinet with two 12” passive radiators tuned to 70hz.
The cabinets are 3/4” butcher block Bamboo ply with 1/2” lightweight composite board dampening with additional 3 layer 3/4” dampening pads that vary in density from layer to layer to avoid cabinet resonances and dampen internal standing waves.
The subwoofers are made from premade cabinets finished in gloss black with 10” woofers that go down to 25hz and are loaded with two 12” passives on each side tuned to 27hz. The Bash 300 watt amp drives the woofers with the speed necessary to keep up with the 32 four inch drivers. The subs use the same triple layer multi density dampening pads as the main speakers.
The plasma tweeters are the original Dukane DUK 5’s with outboard power supplies. I purchased these already rebuilt from a stereo dealer in Santa Rosa Ca. I added a V-Cap for crossover capacitor and added volume pots so they can be used to match different amps or speakers. They have new electrodes and tubes so are ready to go.
This is the email from Jim Jordan of Vaughn Speakers describing his efforts on these plasmas. Jim believed that these plasmas represented his finest effort which he also believed brought about his best speakers ever. Coming from someone as humble as Jim, this is quite a statement. I am incredibly fortunate to own 3 of his finest efforts.

 

[tobeornottube]

The reviews on Jim Jordan’s “Vaughn Speakers “ should be read. Nearly all compare his Plasma speakers to $200,000 speakers while Jim’s were just a fraction of that price. He made truly great speakers and was very humble in his pricing. Proud to have known him. The industry suffered a great loss with his passing!

 

[tobeornottube]

Hello all, first time poster here.

For years I have wanted the Vaughn Plasma Series speakers, but did not buy because the $20K price was too big a step. Well, I waited too long. Recently heard that the founder Jim Jordan died and his website is gone.

Can anyone suggest a website or a place to buy one?

Greg

PS I had an occasion to talk to Jim Jordan and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Edited for grammar.

 

[tobeornottube]

Greg, these spearkers are the result of Jim’s last and best effort to produce his finest speakers and are a significant improvement over the plasma signature’s. These were sadly done around the time when Jim found out he was sick. Subsequently his effort, he pushed to the max. From his emails he upgraded nearly every component and what makes them very special is that with each component he did not rely on reputation but instead used listening and comparing as his criteria for choosing. As you know there are two powerful beautiful subwoofers included and he reworked to improve everything with the plasmas and rebuilt the power supply (large blue metal boxes that sit on the floor.). As an interesting addition to these speakers Jim allows for choosing between the plasmas and Ribbon tweeters. He has a toggle switch on the upper side section of each speaker. I remember in our correspondance how he would notify me of changes made again and again to improve the sound. This was an amazing effort by a very talented designer who happened to be a very nice and seriously dedicated man. I count my relationship with Jim as a blessing. As I have said he was very generous and managed to remain humble in his dealings with others. Just a reminder, please read the many reviews that attest to the brilliance of his speakers and how with his generous nature, in spite of being compared to speakers with a value of over $200,000 he chose to keep his prices at more than reasonable level, just a fraction of their actual value.

 

[tobeornottube]

Mrmb:
Thanks for your reply !

Greg

Greg, I just want to make sure you understand that these speakers are significantly better than the already great Plasma Signatures and not by a little. According to Jim these are his best ever. His emails explain why. If you are seriously interested I am more than willing to work with you on a price much better than asking price but more than the signatures and no matter what these are a bargain at the asking price and something you’ll never regret owning. Of course the photos are weak but really did not want to remove them from their packing by Jim. These plasmas are much higher grade than anything previous as are the speakers. The power supply for the plasmas are much improved with very convenient features added. Let me know if interested still or do you prefer to live with even more regret, these clearly are worth more than the reviewers opinion of their $200,000 value since much improved. Hope to hear from you and like I said am willing to work with you on “fair” pricing.

 

[tobeornottube]

Greg, I just want to make sure you understand that these speakers are significantly better than the already great Plasma Signatures and not by a little. According to Jim these are his best ever. His emails explain why. If you are seriously interested I am more than willing to work with you on a price much better than asking price but more than the signatures and no matter what these are a bargain at the asking price and something you’ll never regret owning. Of course the photos are weak but really did not want to remove them from their packing by Jim. These plasmas are much higher grade than anything previous as are the speakers. The power supply for the plasmas are much improved with very convenient features added. Let me know if interested still or do you prefer to live with even more regret, these clearly are worth more than the reviewers opinion of their $200,000 value since much improved. Hope to hear from you and like I said am willing to work with you on “fair” pricing.

Greg, you say you have wanted the plasma speakers. This set is by far Jim’s best effort and these plasmas are significantly better than the previous model. If you do not buy these then you’ll have to live with the regret of passing on a set that is much improved over those that you wished you had gotten. Personally I cared for Jim and I prefer this set goes to someone who can appreciate what he has. I guarantee this set was Jim’s last and best effort at perfecting already truly great speakers. I would keep them if my environment permitted it. Luckily I have three other sets of Jim’s speakers, not plasmas but Cabernet’s and the third animal had not named yet. I may remove one example from their unopened boxes so that they can be accurately identified. Jim always made my sets with the option of choosing tweeters by simple switches. Who ever purchases any of these is certainly going to quickly realize what a lucky day when he made the purchase. I have his special speaker cables made by one of his best friends who I traded tubes for. They are excellent cables with beautiful sound carrying capabilities.