EVEREST DD66000

[Mr. Widget]

To me an ultimate speaker can do low bass without help.

If VLF is high on your list of criteria for an ultimate speaker and you refuse to use external EQ, you need to look elsewhere... that said, off the top of my head, I can't think of any current mega speaker that will produce extremely loud VLF without a dedicated sub. None of them are designed to reproduce extremely low information at high SPLs. That is typically the domain of HT and pro audio... and in both cases a dedicated sub or several dedicated subs are employed.

I disagree with you on the objective part being ultimate but I'm not the target audience.

What I was talking about was build quality and technology and not performance... at this level performance is purely subjective... there are $100K systems that measure far worse than $10K systems and yet they have loyal followings and get great reviews.

JBL has made an excellent speaker for the asian market.

Yeah... small homes need large speakers? Pardon the sarcasm... but are you basing that statement on the lack of deep bass? Worldwide there are many successful high end speakers that have limited deep bass... despite the Asian market comments... I am sure that JBL traded the deep bass off for a better quality of sound higher up in the frequency range. They could have used heavier cones and achieved very powerful deep bass, but it would sacrifice detail resolution, articulation, and a sense of speed.


Widget

[scott fitlin]

This I agree with, I actually would like to hear the Everest and its deliberately leaner, more articulate bottom. I think too much emphasis is placed on VLF these days, at the expense of definition, clarity, and transient reponse. This description they gave makes me think of speakers I know I do like, and they all have a leaner sounding bottom, but, very clear, very good defintion.

Widget, you know I have said this to you a 1000 times.

[Mr. Widget]

Widget, you know I have said this to you a 1000 times.

Was it only 1000?


Widget

[scott fitlin]

Was it only 1000?


Widget

I dont know, maybe it has been more! I seem to very vocal about what I like, now dont I!

I am booking myself a trip to the 2007 January CES show. I will hear the Everest.

Besides, Vegas is so much fun anyway!

[merlin]

Well I have to say I never really get he time to post over here - sadly hifi has to take a back seat these days.

Having said that I do find some of the sentiments here quite bizarre. OK I'm from England, but I was so happy to see the Everest that all I could think of was sending Greg a big thank you via email.

I'm even planning a trip to Tokyo for the hifi show next month to hear them. I currently live with a Japanese market JBL, the 4338- modified with 1500al. You guys banging on about lack of bottom end and extension are frankly nuts. These things rock big time. Far more than any of the floppy sounding, booming bling fi currently being spat out with increasingly vulgar price tags by the likes of Wilson, Avalon and Vandersteen.

I can only imagine what the bottom end of the Everest is like but currently owning about half of it, I get a smile every time the though pops into my head. And I thank Greg for that. He's delivered a speaker to aspire to. A product that aestetically both breaks new ground and has the aura of a beloved classic all at the same time. And when it comes to style, we Europeans recognise it when we see it.

So long live Greg and the JBL design team - the passion lives on.

[Thom]

Hey, it was really late, I'm pretty new to this and probably haven't exactly figured out exactly where it's appropriate to express what. I didn't mean to knock a new product I haven't even seen. I won't even go into how I got to where I'm at now but if JBL has produced something that sounds more real than real, or maybe just real, I don't care where they market it I think it's awsome, but to tell you the truth I was never nuts for JBL because I'm a cheerleader, I just liked the stuff because it was better. I'd be excited for anyone who had built the best speaker, and was in the pressent. I'm not here to slam any new product that I'm ignorant of, and if you think that this means JBL is on the "right track" I hope your'e right.

[JBLnsince1959]

The opinions formed at that show will be based on whatever JBL has to show.

well, that's more than we can say for a handful of people on this forum who have judged the speakers NOT by listening to them but because....

1. They were designed for a Japanese market ( but then so were the K2's and other models for over 16 years)
2. because they didn't like JBL's marketing of the last 10 to 15 years
3. Believe the price is too high
and other reasons.

Personally, what part of "Statement Speaker" do people not understand? Since when are Statements speakers suppose to be affordable ? If JBL's Statement speakers WERE affordable then wouldn't that be an oxymoron?

you know it seems like JBL can't win here. If they make a Statement top of line speaker, some people are upset because the average joe can't afford them. If JBL makes a great speaker that the average joe can afford ( Studio L's etc) then people put them down as being cheap. If JBL design's the speakers for their most lucrative market and releases them in that country people get upset because it wasn't done where they live.

and what is this about people being upset about very low bass? don't almost all of us have subs for our speakers already? I don't see people putting their own speakers down for this.... Also, I don't see negative posts about the K2's yet they followed the same pattern and were also designed for the Japanese market.

Good Grief Charlie Brown....

[scott fitlin]

I never judged the Everest sound!

[JBLnsince1959]

Scott... I wasn't picking on you...sorry if it came across that way....it was meant to be more tongue in cheek than anything....

Are you serious about booking a flight? I think it would be a great time for the LHF gang to get together. Really, what better place than L.V. to party and a chance to listen to the DD66000?

[DavidF]

I came into reading about the Everest 66000 with mild interest. I anticipated that JBL would design a statement product in the mold of many such statement products outside of JBL in the past. That is, a design or prototype not intended to be produced much less mass-marketed (a la the Detroit Auto Show). A product I could read about but would have very little impact to me, personally. What I was more interested in is the design and technology used that may, over time, be incorporated into the product line and some day trickle down into something I might own and enjoy. This is as-it-is with many “statement” products.

When Don shared with us his invitation to be included on the inside at the company’s world preview in Tokyo, my interest level increased significantly. Not for the product in terms of what it meant to me, but in terms of what it meant to the company. The fact that the initial preview was in Tokyo rather than Northridge did not even come to me as an issue. I was simply pleased, and yes excited, that JBL thought to include you and I as participants in this forum.

As mentioned above, many statement products are purposely limited in production, if produced at all. The aura of exclusivity commands a higher price over all concerns of value in such matters. But there has to be some cache for the brand name to begin. We all recognize this behavior among ourselves. A lot of that cache comes from performance. Some also comes through legacy, both of which JBL continues to balance under pressures to sell product in competitive markets. Perhaps Japan and that region will pay more for exclusivity than in other markets. If JBL intends to actually sell the Project Everest why not show it first in Tokyo? JBL is a business first, not a caretaker of posterity.

When I looked at the Everest 66000 (how did they arrive at that name?) I quickly saw much of the legacy of the Lansing influence. The simplicity of a two-way (OK, augmented 2-way) taken to the ultimate refinement. The priorities of the JBL legacy design still hold forth in this, their latest refinement- dynamics, realism, efficiency, and accuracy.

Glad to know they are still having fun and making wonderful products.

DavidF

[Don McRitchie]

Here's some perspective. In my last post I said that the majority of people posting on this thread reacted positively to Everest and that the thread had been hijacked by a few dissenters. I didn't realize how lopsided it was until I went back and actually counted. Over 30 individuals posted overt compliments or positive reactions in this thread alone. Exactly eight have posted negatively, and continue to do so, to the point that they are dominating the discussion on this thread.

Thus, the assertions of a PR disaster and marketing blunder are the result of exactly eight people being disillusioned. However, these eight disillusioned people are tarring the entire site with the implication that there is a backlash from the readership at large with absolutely no evidence in their favor and the vast majority of documented opinions supporting the opposite view.

Therefore, my advice is to the dissenters is to back off. Your point has been made. I have no intention of trying to change your opinion but I will not stand by while the entire site gets dragged down with divisiveness and rancor from a small minority that wants to shout the loudest.

[edgewound]

On the other hand, it might be worthwhile to try to understand what is energizing all this noise. It seems to be the case that the joy in celebrating the history of the JBL we all love is for many LH members outweighed be the feeling that the icon of that celebration signifies that we, and the rest of the common folk, are left out of consideration. The pragmatic here includes the fact that many of us are buying old JBL stuff we could not afford in the day and we are getting a lot of satisfaction over the idea that if it is not as good as Mr. Wilson's it's damn good anyway. And we are grateful that JBL still makes cones and diaphragms for it. But the new Everest is telling us that history will repeat itself, and there is nothing we can do about it.

This portion of a post by SpeakerDave, I think, has said it best.

Yes...I'm guilty of foisting some negativity on this thread. Yes...I'm guilty of defending Greg Timbers and some of the Corporation's business practices in this thread.

My apologies to Don McRitchie if you've been put off or offended by any of my negative sounding contributions...I've very much appreciated and enjoyed your coverage of the Japan launch. You made me wish I was there, too.

I look forward to hearing Everest at CES. It's a beautiful piece that pictures probably don't do justice. I can less afford these now than I could L300's 25 years ago at $1500.00 ea. In 1986 the Everest DD55000 was priced at $1000.00ea, in 1987 it was $4,950.00ea. The new Everest DD66000 is seemingly priced at $30,000.00ea.

How JBL Consumer conducts itself in the marketplace is their business. I've only stated my opinions that I have with experience of dealing with Harman Consumer and watching what has happened domestically for the last two decades.

Some people will have nothing but praise for this latest design. Others will have less than flattering things to say. This is, after all, a public forum isn't it?

Let's face it. By JBL's pricing strategy demonstrated by the product pricing history above means they have chosen to market primarily to customers that are willing to spend huge sums of money for a pair of speakers that equals roughly a year's worth of US middle class income.
I don't see how the cost of producing an Everest in 1986 increased enough to warrant raising the retail price by a factor of five in 1987. Even the executives at JBL stated their best, must have speakers in 1991 was the 250ti Limited edition at $2,499.00 ea.

Some opinions stated here are merely an expression of frustration that we can't get JBL's best, new...and were clearly, expressly designed for a foreign market. Even trying to find out where Array Series are on display is just too much trouble.

The day that we aren't able to express our collective opinions, positive and negative....and it's all been pretty civil...is a sad day indeed.

[Fred Sanford]

Honestly, the very first thing that I thought of after reading Mr Timbers' post was that funny little button in the top right corner of every page on this forum.

What a resource! So much of what is discussed is outside of my financial range, and outside of my level of understanding as far as the science and technology goes...yet here I am, openly invited to share and grow in the knowledge and discovery. For free, if I want.

A sincere thanks to all involved for their generous contributions, I'll now go and make my own with that funny little button.

je

[Titanium Dome]

Who changed this thread from D66000 to DD66000: THANK YOU!

[Don McRitchie]

The day that we aren't able to express our collective opinions, positive and negative....and it's all been pretty civil...is a sad day indeed.

Whose opinion has gone unexpressed? Whose opinion has been censored? My only point is that we are hearing the same opinions (and the are just that - opinions not fact) from a small vocal minority over and over again. As should be obvious, no one's opposing views have been changed by this constant repetition to the point that it has just devolved into noise. For now, I would just like to see the noise stop of its own accord.