Great review! Many professional acoustic players use this type of passive system. It’s the only way to go IMO unless maybe if you play in a loud band and need to cut through the mix with a more electrified acoustic sound.
Please read my other lengthy comment for a very helpful tip. In this audio comparison, the Journey system clearly does a better job of replicating THE SOUND OF THE WOOD...........not just the strings.
That Journey 3-sensor passive pickup that looks near identical to the K&K Pure mini is the best & most natural sounding pickup for acoustic guitar that I've ever heard........even better than the K&K, and costs only 1/3rd of the price for a K&K. Some may disagree, believing the LR Baggs systems that use an additional internal microphone "sound better". That's because they haven't performed on stage enough and/or performed where higher volume was needed. Those systems that include an additional internal microphone are prone to feedback. I've been playing guitar since 1974, and also gigged for decades. I KNOW what a good amplified acoustic sound is supposed to sound like..........and ya just can't beat this Journey 3-sensor passive system..........and how it also happens to be the lowest cost in the industry. People need to understand: when it comes to the natural sound of a good acoustic guitar, if ya really use your ears & pay attention, you should notice that a good acoustic guitar actually has a very slight woody, sweet distortion. And nothing comes closer than this Journey system. TIP: When installing either a Journey or near identical K&K Pure Mini, instead of using the mounting jig provided with each, simply cut a full-sized jig that will enable ALL 3 TRANSDUCERS to be mounted at once. Use something like an old debit or credit card, or anything else with a similar stiffness & thickness. Using scissors, carefully cut the card so that it fits the bridge plate, yet still clears any bracing. Once ya have it cut to the correct size & dimensions, carefully drill or punch holes that line up perfectly with the bridge pin hole for both E strings ( the outer string on each side of the bridge ). Then make marks/dots for the exact location of the remaining bridge pin holes. ( These don't need to be holes, because you only need the 2 outer holes for the locating pins. ) These 4 marked dots along with the 2 outer holes will allows you to use the putty & position all 3 transducers perfectly. You use the exact same procedure from there, using 3 little balls of putty, and make sure all 3 pickup transducers are in the perfect position. Now you can mount all 3 transducers at once, instead of doing the same procedure 3 times using the much smaller jig that is provided. This improved method also ensures that none of the transducers touch or overlap each other. I don't know why Journey and K&K haven't came up with this improved jig yet..........because it works much easier and much better..........in 1/3rd the time.
I've been demoing a ton of acoustics the last few weeks and this is one of two systems I've found that people love to brag on, but are plagued by noise. The other is the Yamaha SRT2. SRT2 sounds lovely, but has so much noise that I can't justify buying a guitar with it installed.
The whole "burn in" concept makes me really sceptical. I asked about this directly to one of the chief speaker designers at a *major* woofer manufacturer. I used to work together with him in a different capcity formerly. No one knows audio better. Seriously. They deliver their stuff to a lot of high end speaker-manufacturers. He said each woofer got a few seconds of loud burst at their resonant frequency at the factory to settle it. There was a measurable difference before and after that. No amount of "burn in" after that made any measurable difference whatsoever. So there you go.
TBH I do think it makes some difference I have tested alot of speakers through the years and have always noticed a better sound after running them for several days
Focal engineer their own speakers. From what I’ve read, they are slightly more rigid hence required breaking in. I suspect Focal know what they’re on about. Can’t see why they’d advise this if there wasn’t a benefit. How much benefit, is another thing.
