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Thread: Alnico Magnets in the K2's?

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    Senior Member oznob's Avatar
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    Alnico Magnets in the K2's?

    I was browsing the JBL site and looked at the specs of the K2's. To my surprise, it lists the woofers as 15" with Alnico magnets. I thought they quit using Alnico years ago. Is this accurate and, if so, why Alnico and not Ferrite?

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    Smile Dig a little deeper.

    Go back to the JBL site and check out this page:

    http://jbl.com/home/k2_story/default.aspx

    Click on the 1500AL link for info on the AlNiCo.
    Out.

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    Regards

    Don McRitchie

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    Quote Originally Posted by oznob
    I was browsing the JBL site and looked at the specs of the K2's. To my surprise, it lists the woofers as 15" with Alnico magnets. I thought they quit using Alnico years ago. Is this accurate and, if so, why Alnico and not Ferrite?
    Obviously, as anyone with vintage JBL equipment can tell you, Alnico just sounds better, so where cost is no object, may as well use the best!

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    Quote Originally Posted by toddalin
    Obviously, as anyone with vintage JBL equipment can tell you, Alnico just sounds better, so where cost is no object, may as well use the best!
    ...Well, that's one good way to spark a debate!

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    Senior Member edgewound's Avatar
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    Ever notice that the JBL "Statement" systems are named after mountains in Asia?. Why do you think that is ?
    Edgewound...JBL Pro Authorized...since 1988
    Upland Loudspeaker Service, Upland, CA

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    Quote Originally Posted by hapy._.face
    ...Well, that's one good way to spark a debate!
    There is no debate. He's ignorant of the facts. We've been over this ad nauseum. There's always some uninformed soul who has to stand up and yell out that the old alnico V crap from the legacy transducers was better. The 1500AL is AlNiCo done right! Hopefully they will do a 1400AL too, and hopefully it will make the same bass as an LE14H-3.

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    Senior Member oznob's Avatar
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    I think the old D130's are second to none when it comes to guitar amp speakers. For home use, the 2235's are very hard to beat!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Giskard
    There is no debate. He's ignorant of the facts. We've been over this ad nauseum. There's always some uninformed soul who has to stand up and yell out that the old alnico V crap from the legacy transducers was better. The 1500AL is AlNiCo done right! Hopefully they will do a 1400AL too, and hopefully it will make the same bass as an LE14H-3.
    Straight to the guts! That about sums it up. Well said.

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    Quote Originally Posted by toddalin
    Obviously, as anyone with vintage JBL equipment can tell you, Alnico just sounds better, so where cost is no object, may as well use the best!

    There is no debate. He's ignorant of the facts. We've been over this ad nauseum. There's always some uninformed soul who has to stand up and yell out that the old alnico V crap from the legacy transducers was better. The 1500AL is AlNiCo done right! Hopefully they will do a 1400AL too, and hopefully it will make the same bass as an LE14H-3.


    Oh come on , you loved your 4315's and you know it.

    You've come a long ways since then as well.

    Its all relative, they were a shit load better than anything else at the time and besides what they were feeding into them was shit load back then anyways

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    Correct on all counts.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Giskard
    There is no debate. He's ignorant of the facts. We've been over this ad nauseum. There's always some uninformed soul who has to stand up and yell out that the old alnico V crap from the legacy transducers was better. The 1500AL is AlNiCo done right! Hopefully they will do a 1400AL too, and hopefully it will make the same bass as an LE14H-3.
    Some people can't take a joke.

    Still, people claim to be able to hear a difference between different types of wire, different capacitors, different cabinet shapes, etc. Thus, it seems pretty naive to think that the material that the magnet is constructed from has absolutely no effect on the sound. You just need more sensitive or different instruments to measure the difference.

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    Quote Originally Posted by toddalin
    Some people can't take a joke.
    Those bastages!
    Quote Originally Posted by toddalin
    Still, people claim to be able to hear a difference between different types of wire, different capacitors, different cabinet shapes, etc. Thus, it seems pretty naive to think that the material that the magnet is constructed from has absolutely no effect on the sound. You just need more sensitive or different instruments to measure the difference.
    It absolutely does have an effect - read the white paper on it. Measurements in it for all as well. Some people really do like all that distortion those old alnico motors produced. There's nothing any of us can do about that. They were certainly fine at the time when that was all we had. Hence Ian's points. Reducing transducer distortion appears to be a very real goal at JBL.

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    ...people claim to be able to hear a difference between different types of wire, different capacitors, different cabinet shapes, etc
    'Claim'!? Are you indicating you can't!? The differences are very real- and very audible. I'm sure you were just using that to make a point.....right?

    AlniCo (old school) is so sensitive and prone to damage that I (personally) wouldn't use it with a modern day amplifier unless it was all I had. Suffice to say- the reasons JBL picked up AlniCo in current production projects is a direct reflection on the advancement of the material and it's handling. AlniCo in its vintage state leaves a lot to be desired with regard to modern day high performance. These are facts, not opinions.

    It does make for some good guitar cabinet speakers, though- but that is hardly a critical listening application.

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