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Anybody own a JBL Paragon?

swechsler said:
Maybe in a Don Draper, mid-century-modern sort of way, but there have been many cool designs since. I humbly submit the MBL Reference:


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Maybe in a Robby the Robot, mid century modern sort of way.
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Ibemiked said:
This stuff is cool but you pretty much have to be Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates rich to afford it!
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That was pretty much the case for the Paragon when it was first released. No, even adjusted for inflation it's not as expensive, but it was still out of reach for most people (and at the time, it was the most expensive consumer loudspeaker system available).
 
swechsler said:
That was pretty much the case for the Paragon when it was first released. No, even adjusted for inflation it's not as expensive, but it was still out of reach for most people (and at the time, it was the most expensive consumer loudspeaker system available).
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It’s one of those “if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it” type things.. much like the MBL products of today. The interconnects of a system pictured above probably cost more than my entire collection of Hifi equipment (and some).. It’s definitely an extremely niche market.. But someone has to be the most expensive..
 
I have a Paragon (powered version, but can also be run passively) and a Metregon. Both will soon be restored and all wired up to listen to. Should have a Minigon coming in soon as well.

Should be interesting to compare them all with different amps and preamps.
 
Old_Man said:
I'll never be able to afford one, but I'd sure like to read about yours. Anybody getting heavenly audio from a Paragon? I can tell you, Live at Leeds, with a KA 2000, roared like nothing else. Entwistle was SO clear.

The friend sold it and got some Klipsch Heresy, to which I replied: "HERESY, is HERESY." Did not sound as good as the Paragon. Nothing does.
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Watching YouTube videos is as close as I'll ever get. ;)

 
I'm curious, for those who have heard a Paragon and weren't impressed, were those units in original condition, or had they been reconditioned (woofer surrounds, crossover capacitors, and the like) to like-new?
 
The bullet shaped ring radiator had a horrible frequency response of over +/- 10 and closer to 15 db. It also rolled off just above 14 KHZ. The bass of a Hersey model IV is better and the channels had a habit of reversing them selves if you were in the wrong listening position. The only way the paragon was tolerable was if you drove them with a pair of MC-30's or 60's to calm the highs a bit and warm up the bass. Everything else JBL made at the time sounded better. I think it was 1965 when I heard the first one. It really was terrible compared to a pair of EV model 6 in the same room. The T-35 was much smoother than the ring radiator of the JBL for sure. So was the paper 18 inch woofer of the EV compared to the bass from the Paragon. The wood work on the Paragon was pure perfection.
 
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