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What Is The Secret To The JBL Sound?

No matter if its the efficient horn loaded systems or the point source more in-efficient speakers they all have a tilted frequency response to ward the high end. Its that West coast in your face forward sound. At least Altec tried to be more neutral trying to straddle the line between the east and west coast sound signatures. It also has to do with directivity. The horn loaded systems of old with the acoustic lens and ring radiators were oh so much more in your face than todays JBLs. If fact I found the two way 4400 series with the Bi-radial horn could be very pleasant when the horn was backed down a bit. The ring radiators could be just gross.
 
Mister Pig said:
For a company with such a long history there are different eras of JBL. Various designers and engineer teams, different parent companies, technology advancements, different engineering and lab resources, and so on and so forth. Saying JBL has a house sound is a misnomer, especially for a company that has opted to serve a very large market segment. Everything from sound reinforcement, commercial studios, home theater, car audio, and personal listening devices. People like to simplify things and say a company is this or that, but with JBL the product line and time in business is too vast to do that.

My JBL are a pair of 4365 that come from the Synthesis line. These were designed by Greg Timbers, and from the time period of Harmon International being the parent company. relatively speaking these are accurate and uncolored speakers within their range of operation, although they only extend down to the mid 30 hertz range in room, which seems a bit limited for their size and cost. But what they do cover is refined, detailed, spacious, and textured. I have heard panel speakers I like less than these, but then my system has been built around them and you could argue that associated component selections optimize this pairing, and other speakers may not present their full potential in this system.

JBL from this era and line are a quality product, and don't have a "West Coast" presentation, that was from an earlier era of JBL.
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I'm envious, saving still for L200's, L300s, or a new pair of 4376s.
 
SterlingOne said:
I'm envious, saving still for L200's, L300s, or a new pair of 4376s.
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For what used L300 go for I would just shop for a pair of used Synthesis line speakers. They would cost a little bit more, but you get improved performance. Now if you can find a set of the ARRAY series speakers, those would probably be less expensive than the L300, but not everyone can appreciate the unusual look of that series of speaker.
 
I had a pair of L100s for a couple of decades that I eventually modified for bi-amping. At the time, the woofers were on my Marantz 240 and the tweeter/mids were on the Dynaco Stereo 70. Those were the years. But I sold them in the 90s.

A couple of years ago, I saw a picture of the Studio 580s and 590s. I became fascinated with the design from a physics point of view. They were at the time, part of the Synthesis line designed by Greg Timbers. So about 2 years ago, I picked up a new pair of 580s. They are currently paired with my Sunfire II amplifier with the speakers rated at 6 ohms, would put the power per channel to around 500wrms. I am currently watching the Battelstar Galactica series on DVD (the 2004 series) and the 580s are simply breathtaking. Power, dynamics, speed and presence all paint an awesome 3D soundstage. Nim. (inside joke). I now have 2 pairs of 530s in my vinyl room, one set for FM listening, one set for vinyl (in a 5 speaker stereo set-up (530s front, JBL S109 Aquarius IV on the sides of my listening spot and an REL sub. 2 power amps in that set-up.

I also have the Studio 520c center channel as part of a 3 speaker stereo system built around the Marantz 3300, 240 amp Marantz MA500U mono amp, Marantz 115B FM tuner and a pair of side mounted Empire Grenadier 6000 speakers all pointed towards my listening spot. The center blends so well, it becomes invisible (audio wise) and the 3 speaker stereo here is a Sunday treat, listening to pipe organ music mostly.

I am also a big AR fan (AR-4x, AR-2ax) and surprisingly, my vinyl listening 530s are right next to my AR-4x and they almost sound identical. Think about that one.
 
It's worth nothing that there is another path to this sound - Revel. The modern offerings from them have shared JBL (inverted titanium composite dome) driver technology, but designed and tuned by an "East Coast" speaker master, Kevin Voecks. I wouldn't lump them in either East or West camps, but if I had to choose they are more Colorado than Carolina.

Like our esteemed barnyard audiophile I too was looking very closely at the modern JBL horn offerings like the Array 1400, M2, 4365/67, etc. If I had a larger room I might have gone with them, but I had an amazing audition with the Salon 2's, and well...I had to have them. It's really a personal preference here - imaging (Revel) versus dynamics (JBL). We are lucky to have so many choices now in loudspeakers.

jblnut
 
jobimdream said:
Accuracy. That's it. Think about a speaker reproducing the sound of a kick drum. The only way to make that sound is with tension. My C36's replicate the sound exactly. The punch of the padded strike and volume of the sound. Accuracy is the true art of speaker production. To make a speaker sound like a piano that is sitting right over there (and you point to the spot in your living room).
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As good as you may think your C36's sound, a pair of these would make them sound so much better. But you may not have enough room on the baffleboard.

The D130/075 were probably some of the biggest "small" speakers made. Lots of dynamics and a nice clear lower midrange, but no real bass extension.


Each "movement" represents 5 degrees.


BTW, I have one pair left. :naughty:
 
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Basically there isn't and couldn't be a JBL house sound in my opinion ..

There have been a huge array of JBL designs and driver types over the years..
They have built speakers for way too many uses.. Studios, ..Musical instruments, .PA,. and home uses ..
Used about every driver type that exists here or there ..
They've built multiple lines for each of those multiple uses for fifty years ..

The real question is what makes a JBL, a JBL ??

My answer is Quality drivers with a capital Q..
JBL drivers are good, really good, arguably the best when you consider the range of drivers that they've produced ..

Like a lot of people I've owned a few over the years ..
I know I'm glad they're out there ..and JBL drivers ..Kick ..
 
hopeless said:
I've owned L1s and XPL90s with big power and have always been pleased. Not "high end" to be sure, but solid players... when properly placed and fed. Built quality was off the charts at the price points.
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As the owner of pairs of L1, L3, L5, and L7s, I'm assuming you meant to say L7 here?
:dunno:
 
hopeless said:
The L7 was a real pig in the power department. I don't imagine more than a handful got the amplifier they needed to sing, nor the room size. All responded well to a well built amplifier. Not the mainstream JBL sound, but more true to the higher end JBL of the past. I've owned L1s and XPL90s with big power and have always been pleased. Not "high end" to be sure, but solid players... when properly placed and fed. Built quality was off the charts at the price points.
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They have what they need ..
There's an Aragon 4004 hung on the bottom that can pump 800 watts into a 2 ohm load and a tube amp on top ..
It's quite literally that the windows rattle, and my ears give up, before they begin to distort .... I don't know where that occurs.
And with a couple of well distributed concrete walls, the bass literally starts to feel like its hitting you in the chest ..
Reminds me of the old Memorex ad with the guy in the chair with his hair blown back ..
 
I was lucky enough to get 2 pair of L112's and I was sold . When a pair of L250's became available , I jumped . They replaced a brand new pair of Klipsch RF7II .
 
I’ll neither admit or deny that I know the secret. However, if someone were to share the secret here, it wouldn’t be a secret any longer and the terrorists win.
 
hopeless said:
Nope, I'm a bookshelf guy... with big amplifiers.
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What do consider "big power" for an L1? JBL's "recommended range" for the L1 is 35w-to-200w and since they usually tell you to double that for headroom, that means you could go with 400wpc on those little guys! Have you tried them that way? What kind of improvement do you get going from, say 75w to 400w? I'm not talking about how loud you can get them, but just how much of an improvement do you get at normal listening levels by having 400-watts available to those little 6-1/2-inch woofers?
 
BMWCCA said:
What do consider "big power" for an L1? JBL's "recommended range" for the L1 is 35w-to-200w and since they usually tell you to double that for headroom, that means you could go with 400wpc on those little guys! Have you tried them that way? What kind of improvement do you get going from, say 75w to 400w? I'm not talking about how loud you can get them, but just how much of an improvement do you get at normal listening levels by having 400-watts available to those little 6-1/2-inch woofers?
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Here's the rub. You need an amp with some real current capability. The result is a tight and effortless sound. I've run them on h/k amps, Adcom, and Brystons. The speakers I'm running now, some Danish 6.5 bookshelves have been run on everything from SE tubes to a pair of Bryston 7B SST monos rated at 600 wpc. Usually they are on a 4B ST (250 wpc), but due to size constraints, are running on a high current 70 watt amp that has spent years doing backup and bi-amp service.

With any competently designed speaker, you are way more likely to run out of power before you run out of speaker. Or be driven out of the room. More accurately, I guess, being an adult in such a situation. The L series product was designed to be used with these types of amps. My little 70 watt backup amp drove the L1s quite nicely, providing the tight bass I prefer. Fed properly, the line is far better than their reputation, which isn't bad, just not as good as they can be. Built quality is way over the top for the price points they sold at. You just have to feed them.
 
BMWCCA said:
What do consider "big power" for an L1? JBL's "recommended range" for the L1 is 35w-to-200w and since they usually tell you to double that for headroom, that means you could go with 400wpc on those little guys! Have you tried them that way? What kind of improvement do you get going from, say 75w to 400w? I'm not talking about how loud you can get them, but just how much of an improvement do you get at normal listening levels by having 400-watts available to those little 6-1/2-inch woofers?
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At one time I powered my JBL L100t3's with a pair of Sony TA-N55ES amps in bridged mode for about 300 watts into the 20 to 200 watt rated speakers. Later I drove the speakers with a Sony TA-N80ES operating at 200 watts per channel. Now, I power the L100t3's with a Sony TA-N9000ES, which delivers 115 watts to the speakers. From experience with these amps in various configurations, I have concluded 115 watts is still overkill. But, shortly after purchasing the L100t3's, I bought a JBL B380 passive subwoofer. It is rated for 600 watts; yet, initially I thought I could drive it with one of my TA-N55ES amp's putting out 300 watts in bridged mode. That did not work out at all, clipping all the time, big time, whereby, the speaker sounded like someone was driving a steel pylon with a sledge hammer. So, at any rate, I put a TA-N80ES on the sub which puts out 560 watts in bridged mode and this has worked out fine, no more clipping.
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