Speakers and amplifiers:
Q:"Is a speaker wire supplied? How much does it cost?"
A: Speaker wire is provided when you buy BSP50 speakers. There is one 3 metre length per speaker. If you need longer wire Homebase and B&Q have inexpensive loudspeaker wire.
Q:"Can I purchase my own speakers for the JB7?"
The JB7 was designed for 8 ohm loudspeakers - like our BSP50s - but JB7 owners have used the JB7 with hundreds of different loudspeakers without problems. The BSP50s are matched to the power and physical size of the JB7. If you are looking for higher quality loudspeakers then you need to think about spending more than £200.
Q:"What are the dimensions of the speakers?"
A:22cm (H) x 14.5cm (W) x 18cm (D)
Q:"What amp does the JB7 use?"
A: The JB7 uses an Analog Devices AD1981 Codec and two Monolithic Power MP7782 Power amplifiers. Refer to Monolothic Power for details.
Q:"Can you feed JB7 into an amplifier?"
Yes - about half our customers use JB7 with an existing amplifier. You can either use the JB7 line-out or the headphone out. (Both use 3.5mm stereo jack connectors.) The advantage with using the headphone out is that JB7 detects the headphone is being used and turns off the internal power amplifier. Also the main control can be used to adjust the volume of the headphone out - the line out has a fixed level.The JB7 power amps are happy to run without any speakers connected.
Customers have connected the JB7 to amplifiers from a huge variety of manufacturers - Bose, Denon, Sonos, Linn, Arcam, Sony - you name it - without any difficulty.
Q: "Can I use my laptop to play website music etc. through the JB7 amp and speakers?"
You can play Website music through the JB7.
First of all you will need a 3.5mm aux cable. One of these can be found here:
Now you will need to go to the JB7 Menu and select Recording.You will need to connect one end of the cable into the laptop's “headphone” socket and the other end of the cable into the “Aux in” at the back of the JB7.
Once you have done this all the music you play on your laptop will be played through your JB7 speakers.
Connecting to Loudspeakers, a HiFi or a radio
If you want to feed the JB7 into a HiFi you will probably need a lead with a 3.5mm stereo jack on one end and twin phono (RCA) plugs on the other. You can plug the jack into the Headphone output or the Line Out but we recommend the headphone because it turns off the internal power amplifier, it allows you to adjust the level and it has a lower impedance so can give better quality. I measured a signal of 2.3V peak to peak on the headphone out.
You can get cables at www.cabling4less.co.uk. You can buy similar at Currys but a bit more expensive.
JB7 owners have used the JB7 with hundreds of different amplifiers and systems and the only difficulty reported so far has been getting the right connector for some ancient B&O equipment that used 7 pin DIN.
Some customers want to use the JB7 in more than one room. One simple solution is to let the JB7 drive the loudspeakers in one room and feed the JB7 line out to an amplifier in the other room.
We are often asked about audio quality. The JB7 was designed as a consumer as opposed to an audiophile product but we have heard from a number of JB7 owners who use it in conjunction with HiFi equipment in the range £14,000-£18,000. What they say is that the JB7 isn't as good (it would be odd if it was) but "it holds its own" in use with high end equipment.
You can feed a Radio tuner into the Aux In connector of the JB7. I like the Sony portable DAB radio model XDR-S55DAB - it is compact and will also run on batteries. You will need a 3.5mm stereo jack to 3.5mm stereo jack lead. Plug one end into the JB7 Aux In and the other into the headphone output of the radio.