The OFFICIAL JBL Owners Thread - Page 387

See if you can track down an ES35, the ES25 is pretty weak. LC2 is a fine speaker too if you have room for it. I'd dig up a used S-CenterII before going with the ES25.

THE LC2 is the better of the two, but the ES25 is the perfect match to the rest of the ES series.

Would the LC2 "overpower" or "overshadow" the ES80s if I decided on that center channel?

Depends on how well it's being set up, but it's possible. If you have a decent EQ/setup system it should work out OK.

Check THIS out. And THIS.

Cool. Thank you very much for the links.

You just need to adjust the volume of the center channel to give you a good match across the front.

If you get the LC2 you will then want the L880's or 90's so be careful.

That certainly has been known to happen, upgradeitis.

Hmmm, considering I don't currently have the money for a case of upgradeitis, I'll stick with the ES25. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, guys.

This is the longest dry spell on ebay for Performance Series Speakers & parts I've seen since I started following it in 2008. Any thoughts?

I noticed the same thing! for a spell they were popping up all the time on my auto-alert, but have gone totally dry the past 2 months(?) at least.

The only ones I see are being sold by Elegant Audio-Video for $1195/pr.

Well I don't really own them, but I am in charge of the care and feeding of them.

40 Vertec 4888 DPAN powered, networked line array boxes, 20 Vertec 4882 DPAN powered, networked subs, and 12 Vertec 4887 DPAN compact line array cabinets.

For a product that's been long out of production, it stayed fresh in the marketplace for years. It was the best bargain in JBL-land (and arguably in the hi-fi world) during the past five to seven years.

I suspect that most of those folks who had them that were subject to a bout of upgraditis have moved on to the next system by now, maybe even the one after that. Most of those who were actively seeking them over the past several years got some great deals. While I didn't buy every single one I could have, I bought way more than I needed at fire sale prices, often NIB. Some of the folks who post here benefited from my acquisitions when I woke up with a Performance Series hangover and cleared some of them out.

Even with my wonderful acquisitions post-Performance Series, I will hang on to the ones I've got for a long time, as I suspect will many other current owners. They're just too good to part with.

All I can say is "Wow!" Can I visit next time I'm in Vegas?

Hey guys!!!! I found a pair of clean, clean L-15's, not sure if I should get them or not, they are vintage and he wants like $200--are they worth that much RD?? They match up kinda with the L20's I just sold last winter but these are sweet....I'll try an attach pic

$200? No.

They are roughly comparable to any 2-way 6" JBL but without the newer drivers. They have a crossover point that's too low for the 034 tweeter, so tend to distort when pushed hard. The woofers use a butyl-coated surround that gets loose with age and finally separates, if they haven't had foam surrounds installed they will need that. Adequate as a small bookshelf for low to medium levels, but not a real performer.

Bottom line: you can do a lot better for $200 or even $150. The L46 is a wonderful 2-way with a lot cleaner sound.

Well, nothing JBL has produced since then are as good. I don't know what those people would upgrade too. Not counting the Everest II, K2 9900, Arrays, which most of us could not afford anyway.
The only true upgrade I see (at a reasonable price) would be the Revel Salon2. And the Salon2 beats anything that B&W can produce.

I may be able to acquire a pair locally, but I don't know how much to offer the seller. Assuming they're in good shape & fully functional , how high would you go?

The most recent completed sale on eBay was $2750 with free shipping. Make sure they have the original smoked glass tops and midrange lenses.

My advice is to let the seller suggest a price rather then making an offer.

IME, many people who have upgraditis don't really upgrade as much as they change what they have. Some new ID company or hi-fi mag or Internet forum will say the Phantom Pulsar X-1 is the best new model on the planet. Threads start (often by manufacturer shills) stating that the LaserStar Speaker Company that makes them has better service than all the old school companies, and the bang-for-buck is amazing because they're ID, and that's real wood raped right out of the rainforest on the cabs (even though you've never heard of it), and the drivers are engineering marvels (pulled from the Seas parts bin), and...

They don't stick with JBL or any one brand as much as follow marketing trends, and they move so fast that they can't remember what the last two systems sounded like anyway.

There's also the WAF, which is how I got my first complete Performance Series set for $2k, all NIB except for the PC600. He took it out, she said "No," it went back to the upstate NY Synthesis® dealer, and a week later it was on its way to me. At least two other times I got Performance Series gear from guys whose wives wanted "tiny cubes" instead of those big, black boxes. (Bless you, Bose, for selling tiny speakers.)

Also, a very few went the Revel route, but more like lower level Revel, which is not IMO an upgrade, but if you have upgraditis, it is a change.

WELL, I've never had WAF to contend with, even when I was married, and I won't when I get married again.
And every time I bought new speakers IT WAS an upgrade.
Some bookshelf speakers in the PX ~ EPI ~ L55 ~ L212 ~ biased L212 ~ PT800.
B212 ~ SUB1500. The only time I bought speaker that was less, was a single PB12 sub. It was good for the LFE channel, but crap for music.
AS one can see, since 1969, I have not done very many upgrades. I never figured I really needed too, I went many years between upgrades.

I see some of these ID companies as selling junk. Some are good. And I don't care about "bang for the buck" as much as care about quality. But that puts me in the minority, from what I see most people buy.

I do agree, that going from JBL to Revel is not always an upgrade. I would say the PT800 is better than the Revel M22. Just recently a poster on the Revel thread bought a pair of PT800, at my suggestion, to replace the M22. And after, he mentioned the PT800 was a much better surround speaker than the M22.

Sure, I'll give you the nickle tour.

I was at the Northridge facility in June for a Vertec certification course, and one of the things they did for us was to show us some of the consumer stuff, including the anechoic chamber, (weird if you've ever been in one), and the listening room where they were testing some prototypes against the competition. I don't know which model they were testing but it was a 6.5" based tower, likely in the $1k per pair range, (based on the Kef model they had in the lineup). They have this system of moving planks that they can mount speakers on and when doing double blind tests, the tester can move each pair of speakers into the sweet spot (roughly an isosceles triangle to the listening position), as each speaker is auditioned. There were also some Boston Acoustics, and IIRC a comparable Polk model.

After playing several cuts from various genre's, most of us agreed that the Kef's sounded the most natural, of course we didn't say that to the tester out of courtesy, (they have their own listeners to provide opinions). The JBL's just had a honk in the midrange, and a lack of imaging that two of the other brands did better. Please keep in mind that these were prototypes, so maybe they'll fix that before release.

I had some L-100's (nee 4311) back in the day, but eventually traded them for some Polk 10's, and still have some original Control One's, and of course I'm proud of the system I work with, so I'm no JBL hater by any means.

continued regret for not picking up at least one pair when they were available for a decent price.....

Well, I am sticking with some older model JBL's. Northridge E Series. I bought the E80's back in 2006 from J&R for around $320, but have been using an Infinity center and small Infinity surrounds. Checked craigslist in my area and some guy was selling a pair of E30's for $200 and the EC35 for $225. I worked him down to $325 for the set. Still probably a little too much, but E Series speakers are becoming more difficult to find. They are in immaculate condition for 7 year old speakers. Not a mark on them. This dude really took care of these babies. I also found a guy selling 2 sets of the E10's for $50 a pair. I bought all four speakers for $100. Picked them all up today. The E10's are in very good condition too. Installed the EC35 and am trying a pair of the E10's as surrounds in my 5.1 setup. I would like to be able to use the E30's as my surrounds and a pair of the E10's wall mounted to create a 7.1 system. But how should I install the E10's? On the side walls outside of the E30's? On the back wall in between the E30's? Not real clear on a 7.1 setup. May just stick with 5.1 now using the e10's as my surrounds. The E30's are really too big for my situation to use as surrounds. But at some point I might use them like that. As of now I really have no place to use them. But bought them just to have just in case. I will get some use of of them one way or another!

I love the sound of the E Series. My E80's and EC35 provide a very solid front, with my BIC America V-1020 sub providing the extra ooomph. This 10" sub is plenty big for my room. I guess the E10's are my weak point in the setup. Although I think they will do a pretty good job, until I can work the E30's in.

Anyone else still rocking the Northridge E Series?

I think that speakers 6 and 7 should be mounded on the back wall above the head. You may want to use all 4 e10's for sides and rear if the 30's are too large for the sides.

Use all 4 E10 for surrounds, placing the rears 6~8ft apart on the back wall.

I might get some L830CH bookshelves, they are calling me...and I found some new for $400.....is that good, I love they way they look, I know they will be fine sounding but is 400ish to much or a good price.....$400ish for a pair I should add.....RDgrimes I passed on the little ones for $200, it just didn't feel right...but these are calling me...LOL...aaahhhh
Somebody shoot me email if this is a "Ed buy them the minute your done reading this sentence" kinda thing OK?? eclein-at-gmail