20 Speakers over $100,000

[KevinJS]

Alright. That's fair. I'm just thinking that I could make do with any of those 200K or above speakers. My tastes and ears aren't that specific..

Neither are mine. I suppose I have developed a certain brand loyalty. I like electrostatic speakers and the Neolith is certainly the poster child for that type. They would be placed in my listening room and have a system built around them, with large doses of Bryston involved, I'm sure.

If cost were no object, I'd have a hell of a lot of fun putting a system together, but it wouldn't be far from my roots. I'm quite satisfied with what I have now, so I'd just build a more up-range system.

 

[4-2-7]

 

[4-2-7]

I honestly feel people who buy these are chased by the people who write reviews and want to rub elbows with said rich people

 

[stevo137]

Now there's a guy that truly loves great sound!

 

[stevo137]

Tannoy Royals.

 

[Jeffery]

Best bet is to use the one that has the closest TS paramaters to the 1500AL.

And the 1500AL got passed by rather quickly in the evolution of the driver load. There came the 1501AL, 1501AL-1, and 1501AL-2. The 1501AL-2 is what the DD67000 uses, and it has an accordion surround versus the rubber surround of the previous iterations. Pretty far removed from the 2234/35, I guess cleaning out the store room didn't quite make the grade.

 

[Wildcat]

I'm saying that the Neolith is the limit to which I aspire, having heard several examples of the company's products.

I suppose I have developed a certain brand loyalty. I like electrostatic speakers and the Neolith is certainly the poster child for that type. They would be placed in my listening room and have a system built around them, with large doses of Bryston involved, I'm sure.

That is my viewpoint also. I aspire to that type of sound, so I would just be getting a more elevated version of it, rather than spend more and make a sideways move back into cone/dome primary drivers. (I only have older Sequel IIs which I've been refurbishing on and off for a couple of years now.) I have not yet heard the Neolith, but did hear the Renaissance 15a last year at AXPONA and aside from the amplification I did not care for, I could have lived with the 15a if the ML rep had kindly donated them and stuck them in my car for the ride home. I would likely do the Neoliths up with a pair of factory-refreshed Conrad Johnson Premier 8s, which are 275 watt monoblocks, or a pair of the top Pass Labs monoblocks.

 

[TomReceiver]

I think this story applies. I was buying a set of ADC 303ax at this guy's house. He's a very big C/L in Central Jersey and usually has very nice stuff.With that said since this is the type of gear you sell what do you listen to. He says I usually don't do tours but since I wasn't a kid he shows me his room. Well the set of speakers of I almost bumped into were the 2nd to TOTL Albert Von Shweikerts. I had to hear these things and he says I couldn't because his gigantic tubed mono blocks were not on and would take to long to get to peak performance. These

https://cnj.craigslist.org/ele/6045742402.html

https://www.vonschweikert.com/vr-9se-mkii

 

[sqlsavior]

In the words of Pauly Shore:

"Nice cones!"

 

[sqlsavior]

This is really gonna bring out the "no major advancements in the last x-amount of years" crowd.

Yup.

How much difference would there be between these and a brand new set of Klipsch Horns? Would there be much difference outside of preference? Just asking for a friend

Not as much as your friend might hope.

 

[twiiii]

For that kind of money I would want what ever built in out of site. There were all terribly ugly. Wonder why Steinway Lyngdorf wasn't on the list? I have to agree I would want to consider the JBL's. Plus I'd like to see Magico build a line array system. With their technology and brain power they should be able to design a full range line array with out crossovers.

 

[Wildcat]

In the 70s a lot of my rocker buddies, if they had the money, would have simply bought $100k worth of Large Advents and filled an entire basement with them.

Now, let's roll up the sleeves and do some creative math. The $116 cost for a single Advent in 1971 (the year it was first released) is worth $703 today. That means we could buy 142 of those today if they were still available new at that price. That is 71 per side.

Now, let's stack those up. They are 26 inches high, by 14 inches wide. In my dad's basement, the long wall was 50 feet long. The basement would have been right around 78 to 84 inches tall, so they could be stacked three high. Across the long wall, then, we could fit a total of 126 speakers. That leaves eight per side unaccounted for. I would just stack the remaining eight along the side walls, two rows of four.

Amplification? Hmmm...that might...be...a...problem.

 

[4-2-7]

Amplification? Hmmm...that might...be...a...problem.

15 year olds don't think about that. that's why they blow speakers.

 

[Wildcat]

15 year olds don't think about that. that's why they blow speakers.

True dat.

I, personally, would not allow 142 Advents into the house unless they were accompanied by an equal number of powerful monoblocks...and a separate utility meter.

 

[sunrayjack12]

That's a pretty nice project - make sure you keep us in the loop if you take this one on.

Here is some info to get you started, though these are DD6600 links:
Owner's Manual: http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Owner's Manual/Owners Manual - Project Everest DD66000 (English).pdf
Overview: http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Product Information/Specification Sheet - Project Everest DD66000.pdf
Brochure: http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Product Information/Brochure_Everest_Eng.pdf
Spec sheet: http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Technical Sheet/Everest DD66000 ts.pdf

For woofers consider the 2235H, since the woofer used in the DD series is the likely final evolution of that driver.
Take care in the selection of the midrange and high frequency compression drivers
JBL will NOT sell any of the parts unless you can give them the serial number from your speaker.

EDIT: looking at the schematic, the two woofers cover different frequencies, so perhaps a 2234H as used in the 4430 may be a better choice. The difference between the 2235 and 2234 is a mass ring. Best bet is to use the one that has the closest TS paramaters to the 1500AL.

Thank you for all the info, it will help immensely.
The over all design of the cabinet looks straight forward and no more complicated than what many DIY speaker builders are doing today with their high end creations and clones.
The horns are what I had the most concern with, wondering how they were built and are they solid and what material did they use.
Sometimes all the hype can give pause and self doubt but after seeing they went the cheap route with some hollow cast pieces makes me think this is a very doable project.
I already have 2235's in a double driver cabinet now with a pair of Khorn drivers, the combination gives a great smooth sound with detail from the Altec horns.
Seeing that they used leather to cover the Baffle takes a lot of work out of the project also, all you need is a smooth surface and some nice leather to hide it, kinda like when they started covering speakers with simulated wood vinyl sticky plastic stuff.
No doubt they have some high end drivers and crossovers in them, but I think I can build something that will end up very pleasing to listen too and after all that's what I do .
When playing big band music on my bedroom speakers I built with the double drivers, it is so detailed you feel like you are sitting in front and center on a live performance.
I really didn't mean to sound so cocky on my earlier posts, I guess it was one of those old age moments.
But I think this will be a fun project and I have just the place for them, Thanks again Uncle Paul.

 

[stevo137]

Thank you for all the info, it will help immensely.
The over all design of the cabinet looks straight forward and no more complicated than what many DIY speaker builders are doing today with their high end creations and clones.
The horns are what I had the most concern with, wondering how they were built and are they solid and what material did they use.
Sometimes all the hype can give pause and self doubt but after seeing they went the cheap route with some hollow cast pieces makes me think this is a very doable project.
I already have 2235's in a double driver cabinet now with a pair of Khorn drivers, the combination gives a great smooth sound with detail from the Altec horns.
Seeing that they used leather to cover the Baffle takes a lot of work out of the project also, all you need is a smooth surface and some nice leather to hide it, kinda like when they started covering speakers with simulated wood vinyl sticky plastic stuff.
No doubt they have some high end drivers and crossovers in them, but I think I can build something that will end up very pleasing to listen too and after all that's what I do .
When playing big band music on my bedroom speakers I built with the double drivers, it is so detailed you feel like you are sitting in front and center on a live performance.
I really didn't mean to sound so cocky on my earlier posts, I guess it was one of those old age moments.
But I think this will be a fun project and I have just the place for them, Thanks again Uncle Paul.

I'm sure they will sound great!

I think it's awesome that you are building these.

 

[kaplang]

I seriously doubt any of them are 25000 times better then my $400 speakers

 

[Jeffery]

Thank you for all the info, it will help immensely.
The over all design of the cabinet looks straight forward and no more complicated than what many DIY speaker builders are doing today with their high end creations and clones.

Yep, straight forward design

The horns are what I had the most concern with, wondering how they were built and are they solid and what material did they use.
Sometimes all the hype can give pause and self doubt but after seeing they went the cheap route with some hollow cast pieces makes me think this is a very doable project.

They are solid. A friend bought a pair of the cabinets in the first pic, no horns - just the wood. He has advanced CNC capabilities to make the horn throats, but made the horn flares on a Bridgeport mill. He was able to borrow one half of one horn flare to map the contour on a FARO machine.

Here are some similar, yet less complex, horn throats he made.

Here's a fellow in Germany that owns a large JBL service center, only took him a little over 2 years. Quite a bit about the critical nature of the horn throat.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?32446-DIY-Everest-DD66000-finally


I'm sure yours will turn out fine.

 

[sunrayjack12]

Yep, straight forward design

They are solid. A friend bought a pair of the cabinets in the first pic, no horns - just the wood. He has advanced CNC capabilities to make the horn throats, but made the horn flares on a Bridgeport mill. He was able to borrow one half of one horn flare to map the contour on a FARO machine.

Here are some similar, yet less complex, horn throats he made.

Here's a fellow in Germany that owns a large JBL service center, only took him a little over 2 years. Quite a bit about the critical nature of the horn throat.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?32446-DIY-Everest-DD66000-finally


I'm sure yours will turn out fine.

Thank you for the info, I have a mill and a lathe but not with cnc capability, I believe my son in-law could make the throats for me, I'm a beginner on the machine shop side.

 

[hdewees]

I listened to NTT 101's at the home of the owner of higherfi.com and I can tell you I have never heard a better speaker in my life. I was in awe. He told me the NTT people were flying in to tweak them which floored me. We listened to several songs (and drank a couple of beers with him) . Then I was driving home and was asking myself how I was ever going to enjoy my speakers again. Well, I got home and put on some tunes and still enjoyed the MUSIC. So whatever speakers you have, just sit back and enjoy the beauty of music!