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jbl 2600 vs infinity sm122

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spidermite

New Member
I am putting together a sound system. I have Jbl Towers for the front and a polk psw505 subwoofer. I am looking for bookshelf size speakers for the rear. I see on craigslist a pair of jbl 2600 for $70, jbl LX22 for $75, and a pair of Infinity sm122's for $75.
Any opinions on these?
 
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I had a pair of 2600's. Not a bad sounding speaker. The titanium tweeter is quite bright. Not a bad low end for a 6.5" woofer but should not be an issue since you are using a sub. You should be able to set your sub crossover at 80Hz or lower and they will handle it just fine. For music, they a little too bright for me, but for surrounds they would probably work quite well. If your front JBL's have the same or similar tweeter, it might be best to stay in the JBL family for timbre match.
 
spidermite said:
I am putting together a sound system. I have Jbl Towers for the front and a polk psw505 subwoofer. I am looking for bookshelf size speakers for the rear. I see on craigslist a pair of jbl 2600 for $70, jbl LX22 for $75, and a pair of Infinity sm122's for $75.
Any opinions on these?
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I would have to say the JBL LX22 would be better than the JBL 2600. The LX22 has a better tweeter and much a better crossover than the 2600.

Try to select the best match for what you have now. What model are the JBL towers you have?
 
That price is too high for the 2600's... they should be worth about $50, but were a nice (but, bright) speaker when I sold them new twenty years ago.
 
The towers are model AS 1230. This is not a JBL #. These were sold in kit form by the heath kit company. I got these speakers from a friend that was the project engineer, they were his project sample speakers made in 1988. They say "Heath crafted by JBL" on them. Guess that does not tell you much about them.
They sound awesome to me, but I am new at this audio thing. I bought my first big screen TV last winter so I had to get a surround system to go with it. I got the Denon AVR 1913 and am now getting the speakers.
Staying with the same maker for front and rear speakers does sound logical.
As these will be rear speakers, and the wife does not want to see them, the smaller the better. The LX22's are a tad bit smaller.
Both JBL's are from the same phone number on craigslist. I have seen a bunch of stuff posted by this guy. There is always a ton of audio equipment in the back grounds. I believe he must have a used audio/electronics store about an hour drive from me on the south side of Grand Rapids. I will drive up this week and check it out, just looking for some heads up info before I go. After looking at several forums Audiokarma patrons sound the most knowledgeable.
The Infinity sm122's are 3 way but larger. After searching on line I have seen that they have been trying to sell them for a couple of months. They started out asking $250 and have been dropping the price every couple of weeks.
 
Stick with the JBL's. Infinity made some fine speakers, but the SM series was not their finest hour. Besides, they are way to big for what you want. The 2600's were from 1988, so the tweeters may be the same as yours. Post a picture of yours and we can see what it contains.
 
Just took the grill off of the tower. The tweeter looks identical to the LX22 tweeter.
My wife is sleeping next to speaker, will take a pic when she wakes up.
 
chef free said:
The SM (Studio Monitor) series from Infinity has never had a good reputation. Avoid them!
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OK, they are not in the same league as the bigger better Infinities. But they make good party speakers, patio speakers, maybe rear channel speakers...

The issues are numerous, but mainly that the cabs need work. They need a front back brace above the woofer cutout as the front baffle is known to "pump" cancelling the bass signal somewhat. And they need some stuffing to help cancel the ringing.

But, you are not depending on these as your main speaker, so take the above warning with a grain of salt. Maybe they would fit into your scenario? An audition will tell you more than we can :smoke:
 
The Infinities are really just a party speaker. I was given a beautiful like new pair. They lasted in my system for three days then went back into their boxes. It took me about six years to sell them and I got about $50. Not the worst speakers I have owned but not a speaker to build a system around.

cubdog
 
spidermite said:
Just took the grill off of the tower. The tweeter looks identical to the LX22 tweeter.
My wife is sleeping next to speaker, will take a pic when she wakes up.
Click to expand...

There is your answer. Get the LX22's. They will probably be the best match for your fronts. Are you using a center channel? Try to match that also.

chef free said:
The SM (Studio Monitor) series from Infinity has never had a good reputation. Avoid them!
Click to expand...

They were the Infinity answer to Cerwin Vega. As was mentioned, good party speakers but not for your system.
 
Looks like they will be best friends with the LX22. :thmbsp:

The LX22 crossover uses bypass caps and a film, Mylar, cap for the tweeter and pretty good inductors.

PICT9828.JPG
 
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How'd it go?
Buy anything?
I see that seller posting quite a bit on CL.
Not sure it's a shop/business as much as it's just run out of his basement or garage? Just based on photos in his ads.
There's a guy in Sparta who seems to have a good source of gear, priced about the going rate, maybe a bit cheaper than ebay due to not having to ship.
An AK'er here says he's dealt with the Sparta seller before with good results. The Sparta seller would be another 30-40 (approx.) minutes or so for you from the guy you were checking out SE of GR.
 
Went up to Grand Rapids yesterday morning and picked up the LX22's.
Have the new speakers hooked up and am listening to them now, they sound great. This system just keeps getting better.
That guy has got a ton of stuff in his basement. I wish that I had more time to hang out and listen to all of his gear. He was really into showing what he has and was not "sale pushy" at all.
I got a chance to compare the 2600's to the LX's. On there own the 2600's sounded better, thier base was a lot better, but I think that the LX's meet my needs better.
I think I over paid though. When I pulled out my money he seamed supprised that I didn't haglle. Looking back at it I should have made him a low offer on both sets, I could have used the 2600's in my exercise room. I did not have a lot of time and had to get back to go to work.
That sparta guy would be to far of a drive. I am in constantine down by the state line. 1 hour 20 min to this guys house, probably over 2 hours to sparta.
Thanks again all for the input on the speakers.
 
The made for Circuit City Studio Monitors were sub-par except for the Infinity SM-255 European export.
The 255s used relatively high quality vertically aligned cast aluminum drivers in fairly hefty 69lb. cabinets
Here's a nice YouTube video of some European refoaming a very nice cast aluminum 15" 255 woofer:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YGbAdxYZro
 
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Take those guys' advice and stay away from the SM series. I have the SM 112 s and got them on C/L for $40 as my 1st foray into seperates. They are as my Polk forum homies put it dorm room frat house type of speaker w/ no bass.I do like the look w/ the bullnosed front and small riser but it just doesn't measure up.Great for a teenager or bsmt party room.I also have JBL 2060 bookenders in my bdrm and again C/L $15 and just are ok for that job.
 
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