Help-Are my Jamo's genuine?

[audiology]

I'm hoping someone may be able to help here-

Back in '99 I purchased some Jamo floorstanding speakers here in Australia - from a large/reputable retailer called Radio Rentals. They were ex-demo and so I got them half price, paying $550 for the pair, which seemed a good deal.

The speakers I purchased are called 'Jamo Status XL-120' - featuring a 1" Silk dome tweeter, and two 6.5" paper cone woofers in large, nicely finished cabinets. Please see the images at the bottom of the post.

Anyway, to cut to the story, the badge on the front reads 'Status' - the only other marking on them says 'XL-120' with the power ratings and 'made in Denmark', which is located on the rear terminals. The guy in the store said for some reason Jamo didn't put any branding on the 'Status' line of speakers - and even inside them there are no markings whatsoever to suggest they are made by Jamo.

Looking on the net recently I have found no information at all on them - not just searching for 'Jamo Status' but even for xl-120! I am getting suspicious on whether they are genuine Jamos. I am gathering info on whether these are genuine or not - if not they are going straight back for a full refund! I still have the sales receipt luckily.

Any help/knowledge anyone can offer would be very much appreciated! The fact that there is no mention anywhere online of these speakers is frustrating me!

Apologies for having SO many images, but the more info the better - someone may even recognise the drivers in them.

 

[Seth=L]

It doesn't show up in the Blue Book, but that doesn't mean anything anything. I tried to contact Jamo, but they require that you already be in contact with someone to contact them.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I don't know. That whole story sounds suspicious to me. The crossover seems pretty basic, it doesn't look like its very high quality. The whole thing smells of White Van to me, but I could be wrong. I'd talk to the store and tell them you don't believe these to be Jamo and see what they say. I doubt Jamo would make those.


Jack

 

[highfihoney]

If you bought the speakers in 1999 i highly doubt even with a reciept the store will refund your money,never know though so i guess it would be worth a shot.

Take a close look at your reciept,does the reciept specify that its for Jamo status xl-120,you might want to look on the reciept to see if they shot a white van move on ya where they spell Jamo a bit different like Jam0 or Jammo or even just marked the reciept as being for a pair of xl-120 with no manufacturer listed.

IMO,they look nothing like any Jamo's ive seen.

 

[Hi Ho]

Electrolytic capacitors? Not a good sign. Good crossovers don't use electrolytic caps. I have never used Jamo speakers but judging by the pictures you posted and the products they show on their site the ones you have don't look to be in the same league.

 

[audiology]

My thoughts exactly - Jamo's speakers, from what I have seen recently, have higher build quality than these.

Frustratingly - I know if I had bought these now(at a slightly more mature age of 25) I would have picked up on the fact that they weren't genuine.

The receipt thankfully spells out VERY clearly "Make: Jamo", so if the store isn't interested then I'm sure our 'Consumer Affair's' department here in Australia will help out.

A colleague at work alerted me to the fact that the store(actually Australia's largest electrical goods retailer) was selling out their old model Jamo gear(as they aren't carrying any real 'hifi' gear anymore, and they only had a few demonstrators left. Obviously went I turned up at the store and asked them 'do you have any Jamo speakers left over' he took me as a naif, which at 17 years old I probably was.

It's only now when I was considering listing them on Ebay did I actually have another real close look at the speakers - because I was trying to find links for more info on these supposedly 'Jamo' speakers! They would be worth nothing on Ebay.

They do sound pleasant though, however they lack top end 'bite' and sound a little flat, and a tad boomy. Kick bass comes through well, but imaging is a little dissapointing.

The only thing I can think could explain the situation is if Jamo did indeed manufacture these but under the 'Status' brand. They cannot be sold to me as Jamo though - it's like selling a Toyota Camry and saying it's actually a Lexus!

 

[highfihoney]

The only thing I can think could explain the situation is if Jamo did indeed manufacture these but under the 'Status' brand. They cannot be sold to me as Jamo though

I never thought of that,you should call jamo & ask them,i know mcintosh used to make mid fi speakers & recievers under the name (stereotech) & sell the stuff alot cheaper than their top of the line gear.

 

[audiology]

Thanks for all the replies.

Looks like the receipt may save the day - it even has the serial number as written on the back of the speaker, and product code - as written on the speaker, just with the 'Make: Jamo' at the top.

One thing which did make me suspicious right from the beginning was the aweful cheap plastic rings that hold the speaker in, so the speaker is only held into the cabinet by a thin(ie 2mm thick) ring of ABS plastic - they bulge out between each torx screw(these are the only thing holding the mid/bass in and there is only 4 screws in each):

This is where I put my head in hands and wonder how I could have been so stupid!

Great, now I have to search around for some replacement floor standing speakers - time to start researching!

 

[audiology]

Thought I should add this small detail: it appears as though these apparently are genuine after all! Spoke to Jamo twice, first guy just said he didn't think they were made by Jamo(but wouldn't confirm for sure), just spoke to another guy there and he said they ARE genuine.

This surprised me - apparently Jamo made this line of speakers from '95 till about 2000, under the 'Status' name. The models in the line included XL90, XL120, XL150 and XL190' apparently. There is no information anywhere online, and I asked the guy at Jamo if they had any materials on them such as the original sales brochures etc and they don't.

I'd guess these were Jamo's budget end models, so much so that they refused to put their name on them! Yes, the crossover proves how budget they are!