JBL subs come out on top in SF!!

This is a great story for those that enjoy the heritage and pure engineering put into the JBL equipment. The Love Parade in SF is both a legal rave and a chance for many of the local and out of town sound companies to flex their muscles for bragging rights about their systems and sound quality. After all, the playing field is even, everyone must have their system on a flatbed truck and there will be no cheating with fancy processors or coupling to nearby walls for increased perceived loudness.

I happened to do the 94.9/KCRH float that day. I used 6 JBL 4719x dual 18" subs and some yamaha dual 15 tops. While my short throw tops left much to be desired in the midrange region (after all, they had to cut through 100,000 people)-- The 6 JBL subs did not. In fact, much to my pleasant surprise, the sheer impact and clarity of the bass blew every other rig -- even the revered turbosound, funktion-1, and bassmax rigs absolutely out of the water. I was very pleased that day to watch the windows on the many businesses we drove slowly by vibrate from 90 feet away. What really blew my mind is that other sound companies were absolutely railing their systems trying to keep up with the overbearing sub bass from the KCRH float-- I was running 30Kw of crown power, but still had 9db of headroom available.

I have always been loyal to JBL's subwoofers even in the face of naysayers with fancy horn loaded subs. I even strayed from them a few years back and purchased some servodrive BT7's -- but now I'm confident in JBL's long standing devotion to subs that really develop low frequencies. :applaud::applaud::applaud: Bravo JBL!!

Tim Duffin
Owner, SPL sound
Sacramento CA

And thanks for clarifying the loaded horn vs. real direct radiator sub issue. Now, to get rid of those Yamahas...

The 4719's in my opinion are decent but nothing great. There are a lot of subs I use that are much better. The new 728 is killer but still I would take a Martin single 18" or Adamson dual 21" sub. As for the issue of horn loaded verse direct radiators the only thing I have to say is find someone with 8 LAB horns and check them out. They are killer

I love JBL but sometimes they just cant cut it. Although my double 18s have 2258's in them. We have done shoot out with them against 4719s and the 4719 couldnt keep up with it.

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Originally Posted by Titanium Dome

And thanks for clarifying the loaded horn vs. real direct radiator sub issue.

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Got to agree with pelly3s on this one.

In the real world of sound reinforcement, direct radiators can not cut it. A horn loaded compression driver has an over whelming advantage just as a horn loaded compression HF driver does over a front loaded cone.
Direct radiators give you (generally) the most bass for the buck and the lowest tuning, but in terms of shear impact don't come close.
This has nothing to do with the driver; it has everything to do with enclosure design. One of the best bass compression drivers i've heard was a local company called "Buttterfly". They used JBL 2205's in their 15" cabs and a 70watt 12" english speaker (can't remember the name) in their more famous and higher impact 12" cabs...all single loaded. Supertramp were so impressed they bought 80 of them on the spot.

p.s. i do agree with one thing....my front loaded JBL's ("B" system) used to blow the doors off of my horn loaded Turbosound rig. ("A" system)
But...in the working world of tech riders, designer names rule.

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Originally Posted by pelly3s

The 4719's in my opinion are decent but nothing great. There are a lot of subs I use that are much better. The new 728 is killer but still I would take a Martin single 18" or Adamson dual 21" sub. As for the issue of horn loaded verse direct radiators the only thing I have to say is find someone with 8 LAB horns and check them out. They are killer

I love JBL but sometimes they just cant cut it. Although my double 18s have 2258's in them. We have done shoot out with them against 4719s and the 4719 couldnt keep up with it.

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Funny that you mention the labsubs--because there also was a labsub rig there too, but I didn't feel it worth mentioning since I wasn't that impressed, nor surprised that it did not generate impact far away. The servodrive BT7 rig that I have kind of destroys everything else on the planet but still I would prefer the 4719x (not 4719a, those are not even close) to many other subs out there.

I'm actually upgrading my HF to the 4735x long-throw cabinets

T

When it comes to HI MID packs I will stick with my Community SLS960's :D

if you read about LABhorns they need to be used in sets of 4 inorder to reach their full potential. But even at 1 or 2 a side they are amazing. Everyone has there own opinion I just dont feel that the 4719's are that impressive of a box. They do get loud but I just have never heard them perform anywhere near some of the other ones you meantioned

Hi Tim!

Im in Sacramento too! *waves

yeah I was at the LoveParade too and remember that float. Great job! I remember the BassMax' on the Spundae float but to me they didn't live up to my expectations. I was a tad bit inebriated most of the day tho! haha..

Glad to see a fellow Sacramenton on here.
:D

--Robert

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Originally Posted by duffdog

I'm actually upgrading my HF to the 4735x long-throw cabinets

T

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I've got four of those; I think you'll like them.

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Originally Posted by djrobertc

Hi Tim!

Im in Sacramento too! *waves

yeah I was at the LoveParade too and remember that float. Great job! I remember the BassMax' on the Spundae float but to me they didn't live up to my expectations. I was a tad bit inebriated most of the day tho! haha..

Glad to see a fellow Sacramenton on here.
:D

--Robert

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I was actually dissapointed at the performance of the bassmax's too, they had not one but 2 stacks of 4 on each side with crown K2's running them. I think that the coupling to the ground effect has much more impact on horn loaded versus front loaded. And I had a bit of fun there too-- I may have had a drink or two:D since I wasnt driving the float.

Tim