JBL Summit Speakers Online Auction in Las Vegas

[BMWCCA]

I get where your coming from but just because someone had a pair of speakers that they liked for a long time in my mind doesn't make them holy grail material. In my mind holy grail is something that is out of reach for almost everyone. L300's are not that uncommon, I see them for sale quite often and quite often for less than 3 or 4 thousand dollars, which really is not that much money in todays economy. Most people if they really wanted a pair of them could write a check for that amount and buy them, or they are not very well off might have to put a stash together for a while. Holy grail material to me is something out of reach of most all but the most well, speakers like one can see when going to higherFi 's webpage.

Well, then you should write your own dictionary!
Webster's defines Holy Grail as a common noun as "something that you want very much but that is very hard to get or achieve."

When the L300 came out I was in college. At roughly $1000 each, they were out of reach of many people. They certainly were for me. My UVA tuition wasn't that much, and I was paying that myself by working and taking out loans. By 1977 they had gone up to $1700 each. It's amazing to me that you enter a discussion on the L300 and you argue semantics? I suspect the majority of members here wouldn't spend that much money on speakers even today. But then some spend that on cables alone!

I wouldn't hesitate to say that for many my age the L300 was a holy grail. I always referred to it as a brass ring! My prize I was going to give myself when we built our first house to replace the JBL 030 C37 system I'd grown up with. But the 4345s showed up!

So does the Magico Ultimate at over a half-million dollars satisfy your criteria? Or the JBL Everest-II at over $60k? Where do you draw the line? On an Internet automobile-based group I frequent we have a short-hand for comments like yours: YMBR—"You Must Be Rich!"

 

[tarior]

Sheesh, BMWCCA, around these parts, people fall out of their chair if you spend more than $200 on a whole system. For $300, they expect to be able to inflict permanent hearing damage on people in the back row at the Memorial Coliseum.

 

[Ken Boyd]

Sure the Everest, and the Magico Ultimate would satisfy my criteria, as I guess my idea of holy grail is something basically almost un-obtainable. As you can see it just a matter of time before members would think of something found any day for less than a couple of hundred as meeting the definition. I guess I didn't realize how common something can be to meet the criteria, excuse my error.

 

[Alobar]

Well definitions aside, the 300 is one my many holy grails, but probably not the last word for the era, even among JBL. . I sometimes think about doing the extensive work and money it would take to convert my existing L200's to make them essentially l300's but after doing all that, how much would it be an improvement?

 

[Francis55]

If it takes one Google search to find them with eleven-days left on the auction, then there's not much hope for keeping this under your hat. Already seven bids on each, so that's enough to make a horse race.
What kind of stupidity has these set up as two separate lots?

If this is considered an "upscale" auction, they do their clients no service with some of the worst photography I've ever seen.
Shot from a flip-phone with a dirty lens?

http://bid.nellisauction.com/auction/252-in-home-estate-auction-plaza-del-paz-252/page/1

Yes, Nellis is a little on the slipshod side of things, you should see some of the spellings they come up with. I've thought of offering my services as an editor for their copy if they want their product to be a little more professional.

 

[tubed]

Sure the Everest, and the Magico Ultimate would satisfy my criteria, as I guess my idea of holy grail is something basically almost un-obtainable. As you can see it just a matter of time before members would think of something found any day for less than a couple of hundred as meeting the definition. I guess I didn't realize how common something can be to meet the criteria, excuse my error.

In this hobby, I see something to be deemed Holy Grail to be an item rare, revered, almost mythical not something that can be purchased any old day of the week.

 

[Whaddup]

In this hobby, I see something to be deemed Holy Grail to be an item rare, revered, almost mythical not something that can be purchased any old day of the week.

Yeah when I think of holy grail I think of 2 chains and the worlds most expensivist ****. I am however a massive believer that most holy grail stuff has a much lesser expensive option out there that is near or just as good in all the measurable categories for said items. Just takes some digging like with these speakers that OP found. They may not be Everest's but I bet they still sound mighty good and for most people's room (even on an audiophile site like this) probably the best they are going to get.

You think $60k for speakers is bad I know I have seen some $20k carts, I think $100k coconut power cables?, and now there are 3 headphone systems recently over $40k.

To me if you want to live in Holy Grail land and it makes you happy go for it, but yeah $3-4k on speakers is just a drop in a very large bucket. I just dropped that amount on some Sony APM-4's and while I expect them to blow my hair back I would not consider them holy grail even remotely. Even amongst vintage Sony the SS-R10's are on a whole other level than what I bought.

 

[miscrms00]

Just bear in mind this is a hobby that draws folks from all walks of life, and taste is not always (often?) correlated with resources. For some folks the chance to buy an iconic speaker from a make with a huge following at auction, and possibly at a price they might be able to afford/justify could very well be a once in a lifetime opportunity. $3-4k might be a small price to pay for some. For others its a car needed to keep ones job.

 

[Whaddup]

Just bear in mind this is a hobby that draws folks from all walks of life, and taste is not always (often?) correlated with resources. For some folks the chance to buy an iconic speaker from a make with a huge following at auction, and possibly at a price they might be able to afford/justify could very well be a once in a lifetime opportunity. $3-4k might be a small price to pay for some. For others its a car needed to keep ones job.

Very true. My daily driver probably is not worth more than $6k. Still you have to pay homage to those above you. If you want to call the Summits mid level or even upper mid level I do not have a problem with that but holy grail is a big stretch for me as far as what holy grail means to me. I have a feeling the guys who have the holy grail stuff have it much worse than mid-level guys. Just me but I would rather admit I'm mid level than put up with all the giant killer stories that run rampant at every audio forum.

Hey I just bought this 5-6 figure thinga ma gigy and this really well respected reviewer said a $200 thinga ma gigy mk2 is 20 times better the next day. Yeah no thank you and god bless the guys that do take it to the next level. To me I feel like I'm insulting the guys and gals, even if they are silver spooned, that did buy and did make the SS-R10's if I say the APM-4's are holy grail cause they do put up with allot of that crap.

 

[donprice]

Getting a nice pair of L300 for under $1000 would qualify, in my opinion, as worthy of Holy Grail status. At $5k...not so much.

One man's Holy Grail is another man's mid-level crap...or over-priced money pit.

 

[tarior]

The only way you're getting L300s for under $1K is to run an ad on CL offering to flimflam little ol' ladies out of those "old, heavy speakers".

 

[Mister Pig]

I always thought the L300 was a fine speaker, and I remembered the first time I heard them. They made a very positive impression when driven by a small tube amp.

But these are holy grail JBL, like the 67000

Or these Everest

Or even the M2

These are Holy Grail and Statement JBL. They make my 4365 look like ghetto toys, and they aint bad speakers at all.

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[Jeffery]

And the L300s in question are mounted in a wall, no telling what shape the cabs are in. Might be pristine from being protected, might be banged up and need hiding.

 

[Uncle Paul]

One man's Holy Grail is another man's waste of time. It's a personal definition, except, of course, when you talking about the actual Holy Grail...

L-300's are worthy of pursuit.They aren't perfect and suffer from a too low crossover point for the horn, which by it's length also introduces some serious group delay. Fortunately nobody told them they have such serious flaws so somehow they sound as good as they look, which is like a fine musical instrument.

The brochure cover got it right

 

[Whaddup]

Getting a nice pair of L300 for under $1000 would qualify, in my opinion, as worthy of Holy Grail status. At $5k...not so much.

One man's Holy Grail is another man's mid-level crap...or over-priced money pit.

Yes but that is subjective and does not change the objective fact that holy grail, SOTA, unobtanium speakers starts out at $50k. If you want a less expensive audio route I would say headphones but even the holy grail there is getting well into 5 figures anymore.

Djing is actually still pretty inexpensive and has gone to pot the last 10 years so the need for them has never been more desperate. Sl-1200gld. pair from yahoo japan is $3k and the best of the best dj mixer's are around the same price. Holy grail dj carts and headphones are really cheap as well. Speakers, room (booth), and records are probably where you will pay out the nose though.

 

[Tom Brennan]

Yes but that is subjective and does not change the objective fact that holy grail, SOTA, unobtanium speakers starts out at $50k.

What is objective about preference? Every person picks their own grail, just like they pick their own religion (or lack of it). There are people out there, and experienced and well informed people mind you, whose grail costs much less than 50k--a set of Altec A5s for example. Or Harbeth Monitor 40s if you want a conventional example.

 

[Zonker92]

Even though this debate seems to me a bit silly (and, as noted above, subjective), just for the fun of it, I will continue to play:

The OP referred to the Summit as the "Holy Grail of vintage speakers," so I am thinking of only vintage speakers. And, for me (again, subjectively), "vintage" means equipment that was around when I first started lusting after audio gear (as Peter Egan once wrote about vintage cars, people tend to lust after the top cars of their youth, and ignore earlier models).

Also, to limit my personal field further, I have been thinking of vintage home speakers, because I wasn't aware of the top professional models back then.

So now we have my own subjective filter to define the "Holy Grail of vintage speakers:" The top home speakers of the 1970s. And for me, that includes only a few models: There are the L300 Summits, the B&W 801s and the KEF 105s. And of those, I lust after only the L300s. (I've lost my lust for the other two for various irrelevant reasons.)

And one might counter that my subjective opinion is inconsequential, but as with so many other things, I find I am not as special and unique as I might wish; My lusts are often mirrored in thousands of other men in my age group, whether it be for a Ferrari Dino, classic midcentury modern furniture, or vintage JBL speakers.

And the L300 certainly fits that model, as they tend to sell on eBay for $4,500-5,500/pair and get a lot of attention at every auction. So while my interest in them may be subjective, it is far from unusual. And they may not be unobtanium or even particularly unaffordable, but they are far from cheap, they are not an everyday find, and they were the top of the home line for their time. They cost as much as several mortgage payments (for some), and cleans ones are sought around the world.

Does that make the L300 "a," if not "the" vintage Holy Grail speaker? In my eyes it does. But obviously, someone else may have other criteria.

 

[hjames]

Been there and done that. I tend to think of my "poor woman's L300"

Back in the early "aughts" I won a pair of 4320s on eBay ... in Phiily ... and I am below DC.
We did a Valentine's day weekend trip up there, grabbed them, and had a great time. I was a newbie at owning Horn drivers, and it was a cheap intro in ... but once I got to know them, I wanted upscale, and that was the big 4 ways ... or at least the 3 ways like the L-300s.
So I grabbed a pair of L-200 cabinets, moved my pieces in, got a slot tweeter, and built a giskard crossover and upgraded to a 3 way design.
I later upgraded to a walnut smith horn and a larger pro horn driver .... it may have been better than an L-300, I tend to think so, but I have few budget constraints.
All that occured over an 8 year span - I sold them about a year ago ...

You should hear a good pair once -

So far, I am very happy with my Christmas L212s ... but I'll look forward to an Everest in the future ...

Even though this debate seems to me a bit silly (and, as noted above, subjective), just for the fun of it, I will continue to play:

And the L300 certainly fits that model, as they tend to sell on eBay for $4,500-5,500/pair and get a lot of attention at every auction. So while my interest in them may be subjective, it is far from unusual. And they may not be unobtanium or even particularly unaffordable, but they are far from cheap, they are not an everyday find, and they were the top of the home line for their time. They cost as much as several mortgage payments (for some), and cleans ones are sought around the world.

Does that make the L300 "a," if not "the" vintage Holy Grail speaker? In my eyes it does. But obviously, someone else may have other criteria.

 

[toddalin]

The holy grail is not some exotic multi-zero "speaker of a king" but the "cup of a carpenter" that just happens to have magical powers in that it will endure forever. The JBL fills this position.

 

[Jeffery]

Does that make the L300 "a," if not "the" vintage Holy Grail speaker? In my eyes it does. But obviously, someone else may have other criteria.

Everybody has their own Holy Grail. Whether the OP's and mine are the same, I can't say. If the L300 is the Holy Grail for the OP, then I say let him have his opinion. If the Holy Grail speaker was the same for everybody, then there would be just one example to be universally yearned for - but anybody who has been here for any amount of time knows that consensus over speakers of any price point is non-existent. We all have opinions of what we like at various levels, why should our opinion of top of the heap have to be universally accepted?