I have been lusting over the Aida II for a few years. The ability to produce a lush sound that fills the room, plus the amazing craftsmanship and available finishes, I could find nothing wrong with them except the price. So, I waited and watched for a used pair.
My dealer however also kept tempting me with the much more affordable JBL 4365s, which in comparison were not at all impressive looking, but so very honest and with a solid pedigree. Being discontinued by JBL they were also discounted.
The hesitation with the Aida II was a little coloration (my opinion), the size/weight, the complexity of the crossover (phase-distortion) and of course justifying the price. The 4365s were a 3-way and I was really looking for a very simple and honest 2-way at this point in my journey, something extremely honest.j
Well, the used Aida IIs never did come up, but my dealer (S-F and also JBL) demoed the new 4367s (the replacement for the 4365), which list for 1/4 of the Aida IIs.
Solid pedigree based on one of the most respected TOTL Master Monitors in the industry, a 2-way as I was seeking, all of the specs I wanted and more, at a price I didn’t need to justify. Rather pedestrian looking in comparison to the six-figure speakers out there, and JBL clearly doesn’t have the cache’ that Sonus-Faber has in the high-end audio circles, but I absolutely couldn’t find anything about their performance that wasn’t at least as good, and in some cases more honest and better than the S-F, ... again of course in my opinion. Listening with my eyes closed, I felt that the JBLs put me in the music, nothing added / nothing missing, just complete realism with the dynamics to cause pain while not flattening the music at all, really couldn’t justify the additional price at that point.
I know it’s not a comparison to the Wilsons, I’ve heard only the Watt-Puppy and felt they were quite good, nor to the smaller Sonettos, which I probably auditioned at the dealer on the way up tp the Aida IIs but can’t specifically remember what I didn’t like, but this is where I landed with my McIntosh system.
It sometimes seems like a waste of power capacity, the 462 will seldom see over 4.5w and the few times the meters have gotten well past 45W (but still shy of 450W) it truly was painful, only fun for a short period, I still feel that the MC462 is an excellent choice.
The speakers? They look a little boring in comparison to some of the higher-end B&Ws Sonus-Faber et al in their basic rectangular box with a single horn/waveguide HF and mundane walnut veneer, but I’ve stopped trying to impress others with what I spent and just buy what sounds right to me. Yes, I’d prefer to open my eyes and look up at the imposing and gorgeous woodwork of the Aida IIs reminiscent of a mahogany speedboat, maybe some day I’ll make another change, but when my eyes are closed I regret nothing.
I hope that your new system is as satisfying and as enjoyable as it should be, you’re certainly making some really solid choices in equipment.
