Andrew Jones Leaves Elac - New Solano Series Speakers Released for 2021

[gene]

Andrew Jones has left Elac Americas to pursue a “fantastic opportunity” elsewhere. What might Andrew Jones be cooking up next? Meanwhile, Elac has announced the Solano series of loudspeakers. The first Elacs of the post-Jones era feature the company’s signature JET5 Air Motion Transformer tweeter. We are excited about the new Solano series of speakers from Elac but can't help to ponder what Andrew Jone's next move is. In this report, we speculate possible scenarios. Give us your thoughts on where you think AJ will wind up next.

Read: Elac Solano Serries Speakers for 2021

 

[Hetfield]

Holy cow, that's huge news. Hmm very interesting, this is gonna be an interesting move.

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[ryanosaur]

Just spitballin’ here:
What if Sound United gave him Boston Acoustics to revitalize? Seems like they’ve been near dead for 3-4 years… Their A series was just starting to run dry in 2018 when I was getting back into Audio. Haven’t seen anything of consequence since, even as Polk and DT have released statement pieces in the Legend and Demand series, respectively.

 

[carlthess40]

I’m sure he is going to run with all the projects that ELAC would not let him do . I’ll be watching out for all his new stuff and I’m sure they will be of great quality
Let’s all wish him well with his new job

 

[Hetfield]

The question I have is he going to go to the super duper stratosphere expensive or stay in the somewhat affordable realm. I'm curious what comes of this. I bet Elac is not happy though.

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[ryanosaur]

The question I have is he going to go to the super duper stratosphere expensive or stay in the somewhat affordable realm. I'm curious what comes of this. I bet Elac is not happy though.

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What are you talking about... ELAC is stoked to have had some highly praised designs from him... they can ride that train for years to come!

 

[Hetfield]

What are you talking about... ELAC is stoked to have had some highly praised designs from him... they can ride that train for years to come!

Yeah I thought about that after I posted. I guess to them they got what they wanted, Elac is on the map and has speakers that will sell for years. I was thinking not happy he left but maybe in the end they don't care.

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[mns3dhm]

There are a lot of speaker brands that have gone the way of the dinosaur for various reasons. A few that would be interesting to see reappear:

Acoustic Research
Snell
Thiel

 

[John Parks]

There are a lot of speaker brands that have gone the way of the dinosaur for various reasons. A few that would be interesting to see reappear:

Acoustic Research
Snell
Thiel

+1 on AR! Interestingly, Thiel used a coaxial/coincident (whatever their marketing term was) driver in their upper tier speakers, which is something AJ has loads of experience designing (KEF, TAD, Elac). Hmm...

 

[Movie2099]

I'm guessing everyone that has Goldenear Speakers will be throwing them away, now that they know they're owned by AudioQuest......

 

[Hetfield]

Once Sandy Gross left Def Tech they went downhill and it seems the same with GoldenEar.

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[davidscott]

+1 on AR! Interestingly, Thiel used a coaxial/coincident (whatever their marketing term was) driver in their upper tier speakers, which is something AJ has loads of experience designing (KEF, TAD, Elac). Hmm...

And Allison - speakers designed for specific room placement.

 

[gene]

I'm guessing everyone that has Goldenear Speakers will be throwing them away, now that they know they're owned by AudioQuest......

I cringed when I saw that move happen.

 

[jackmac]

I'm surprised that no one has suggested that Andrew Jones has gone true mainstream through a company like Sony/Samsung/Sonos. He really has a knack at designing great value systems and the Pioneer speaker disfunction seemed to be the primary driver of his move to Elac in the first place. It is exciting to think about what he might be able to accomplish with a company that has both top tier scale and electronics pedigree.

 

[Movie2099]

Just spitballin’ here:
What if Sound United gave him Boston Acoustics to revitalize? Seems like they’ve been near dead for 3-4 years… Their A series was just starting to run dry in 2018 when I was getting back into Audio. Haven’t seen anything of consequence since, even as Polk and DT have released statement pieces in the Legend and Demand series, respectively.

He’s probably heading over to Emotiva. Revamp their lineup. Maybe ATI is bringing him in to run the Monoprice speaker catalogue. Here’s a big one, McIntosh!!

 

[lovinthehd]

Did he make enough cash to start something of his own (or at least more of his than Pioneer or Elac were)? Or will he just join someone existing once again for a salary but a fatter one (hard to know what the opportunity mentioned is)? How long before his non-compete deal (assuming there's one) expires? The suspense isn't killing me one way or the other but wish him luck/success....

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm guessing everyone that has Goldenear Speakers will be throwing them away, now that they know they're owned by AudioQuest......

They didn't appeal in the first place but now that fraudioquest owns 'em, definitely not a consideration from here on out....

 

[prerich]

I would like to see him bring back Infinity and an updated version of the Composition Prelude P-FR (the high efficiency model with the benefit of DSP on the base module)

 

[gene]

It would be nice if Andrew Jones could make a speaker with a sensitivity rating of at least 90dB at 1 meter/2.83V and also be able to play loud in a large room. The problem with most of his designs for Elac is they rely on a 5" mid with 1" coax tweeter which really limits dynamic range.

 

[Kingnoob]

It would be nice if Andrew Jones could make a speaker with a sensitivity rating of at least 90dB at 1 meter/2.83V and also be able to play loud in a large room. The problem with most of his designs for Elac is they rely on a 5" mid with 1" coax tweeter which really limits dynamic range.

Similar issues with the cheapos when he worked for pioneer he made that budget line. Figures he quit probably go to another company I wonder feel like will finally have better speakers if someone else designs them.
His TAD and I’ll try and speakers must be only thing he’s really good at, which I can dream of never able to afford it.

Never heard the Pionero elite line so I can’t say how good those are. Elac should at least be on par with svs and similar prices brands .
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