No high end JBL in audio stores here

[scarpi]

I am a long time audiophile. I go back to direct to disc LPs and turntables. In the 80s I had a great pair of L150A speakers. As technology advanced I sold them in about 2003 after having them for about 22 years and since I could not find any "high end" new JBL speakers to replace them at the time I purchased a pair of Paradigm Studio 100 V2 speakers. They are terrific. But I thought I would now see if any new JBL models are in the audio stores. But nobody in my area (Phoenix) carries the K2 series or any JBL product that actually is as good as my Paradigms. The only stuff is the JBLs at Best Buy and they are not what I consider JBL speakers like the old ones (audiophile grade). The question is what the heck are they doing and it is too bad that JBL doesn't care to sell their high end speakers in the USA. It seems that I have fond memories of my beautiful L150A speakers and JBL sells nothing in the $2000 to $4000 per pair price in the USA that is excellent. This is my first post on this forum and I guess I'm just wondering why JBL cheapened its name in it's home country. When I bought my L150A speakers, the JBL name was considered high end and the audio store I bought them from was a high end shop. I want to see high end JBLs in the audio stores today!

[jim campbell]

what the heck indeed.............it appears that for the time being that if you wist to recapture the jb sound that you remember you will have to go vintage or vintage diy.the parent company does not appear inclined to market what you and a lot of other folks here desire,at least not for less than a german luxury sedan would cost.and i found myself recently looking at thirty year old monitors that may or may not need expensive and hard to obtain parts and service trading for anywhere up to 6000 dollars us,plus the usual taxes,shipping etc.if you have the disposable income ,time and inclination to invest then vintage jb will appeal to you,but if you are not i would suggest other manufacturers.ask yourself if you can afford to wait months for spare parts,or if you have the space and time to keep extras on hand,or even a second system.its like my old harley,it was great fun and everyone admired it but i do remember spending more than a few weekends at home for want of a hard to find part while the guys with the new stuff pushed their electric starts and went.

[brutal]

If you check JBL's website, they have listings for the dealers.

That said, I think others have had difficulty getting said dealers to work with them on something as "insignificant' as a $10,000 speaker sale.

[sourceoneaudio]

I have a list of a couple of dealers here in Phoenix that can get the Array gear. I found them after going through a contact on the website, they have none in stock, and non to listen too, but can order. Like that helps? Also There is a dealer in Sedona AZ. that has a pair of K2's up and running.


Jeff
J/S-S1A

[Storm]

Welcome fellow Phoenician!

Glad to know there is another Phoenician out there!

Not many of us around...



-Storm.

[Ed Kreamer]

There are many places to find blame here, audio snobism, intellectual dishonesty among reviewers, * but chief among them has to be JBL itself. We all know the quality of the product, and the sound. But the marketing geniuses and upper
mgt.at JBL continually shoot themselves in the foot, or so it seems. They should be aggressively promoting their stuff with ads and buying their way in to the high end salons. Surely they could find a way to market the K2 and M2, in a
place like Definitive Audio in Seattle, which hosts Music Matters every year. A fun event. (The only way I was able to hear the LSR 6332 was at a guitar store, it should have a twin all dressed up to stay home, and marketed elsewhere.) And as long as I'm ranting, why are they getting rid of their top talent? I
I know markets change, and companies have to change with them, but I hate to watch Mr. Paliwal destroy Harman and JBL, because I don't think he has too just to chase the auto and headphone market.


* Floyed Toole was once called by Sidney Harman after C.U. gave a JBL speaker a bad review and wanted to know to know why. Dr. Toole went to CU and found that CU was testing them in a manner that made the JBL sound bad. I found this
on You Tube sometime ago. If I remember, C.U. owned up to the error.

Another test involved the band Phish A,B ing JBL 890,s and some other brand in a blind test, and were astounded to find that they prefered the JBL this was in the old Stereo Review Mag. The Editor at the time disliked JBL's and made no effort to conceal it.

Oh well, I think I'm done for now.

Ed

[santashooter]

I also think there is a factor of electronic consumables - in the 60-70's a home livingroom housed of a good stereo.
Today, a household buys computers, tv's, consoles, tablets and mobile phones. The stereo needs to find a room within that same budget, and therefore a more budget-oriented market arises. The average person today, would rarely buy anything the size of a pair of L-16 decades, let alone L-100's or 43XX speakers.
So the market for new speakers that are not "Audiophile high-end no-compromize speakers", but bigger and more serious than tiny bluetooth speakers are a very small market, I Think.

Add to that the development of listening practices: most of todays music listening happens on the go with earphones on - it is "while you do something else".
And if it is just a background thing anyway, why spend big amounts of money on that?

[SEAWOLF97]

I also think there is a factor of electronic consumables - in the 60-70's a home livingroom housed of a good stereo.
Today, a household buys computers, tv's, consoles, tablets and mobile phones. The stereo needs to find a room within that same budget, and therefore a more budget-oriented market arises. The average person today, would rarely buy anything the size of a pair of L-16 decades, let alone L-100's or 43XX speakers.
So the market for new speakers that are not "Audiophile high-end no-compromize speakers", but bigger and more serious than tiny bluetooth speakers are a very small market, I Think.

Add to that the development of listening practices: most of todays music listening happens on the go with earphones on - it is "while you do something else".
And if it is just a background thing anyway, why spend big amounts of money on that?

I agree with most of your post.

Another part of the equation is that more and more of the population is more mobile that in the past. With the prices of houses, many are not able to purchase homes, thus becoming permanent renters. They need to be able to relocate with a minimum of fuss/work.
Moving 4345's or 250ti's every couple of years or whenever the job peters out or the landlord wants his place back , would get tiring quickly. From the posts I've read here, many LHF members are able to do room treatments , speaker positioning , able to play high volumes ... which all point to more stable living situations.

It ain't the 70's/80's/90's anymore.

Was funny the other day remembering waaay back to the year 2000, the cool news was that some guy was able to mount a laptop in his car and could now be mobile with his MP3's.

[Valentin]

There is also a pair of JBL ti10K and Ti6K at Harman direct site for a very reasonable price and are better than the Paradigm acoustically and beautifully sculptured

http://www.harmanaudio.com/search_br...10KBE-Z&status=

[scarpi]

Thanks to all for the welcome. I loved my L150A speakers. I bought them in 1981 for about $1400/pair here in Phoenix at Jerry's Audio. Now you go to these stores and all you see is televisions connected to home theater systems. Don't get me wrong I love to watch movies too but it seems high end audio has taken a hit because of the popularity of home theater, ipods, and downloading. I may be older (60) but there was nothing like walking into a hifi dealer and hearing demos of great Audio systems and seeing large JBLs with beautiful cabinets pumping out the sound.

[Mr. Widget]

I may be older (60) but there was nothing like walking into a hifi dealer and hearing demos of great Audio systems and seeing large JBLs with beautiful cabinets pumping out the sound.

Well you are in good company here... but the fact is, if the remaining shops weren't selling plasmas, projectors, and large LCDs they wouldn't exist at all.

I remember what a thrill it used to be to go to those high end audio shops to see and hear the latest gear... Unfortunately too few people really care much about it these days. Most of my friends would toss out any of these large speakers that we love in a heartbeat. They want invisible sound that is acceptable... remarkable sound just doesn't matter to them. It's no wonder that there are so few high quality hi-fi shops in general and along with that none carrying the larger JBls that we covet.


Widget

[hjames]

I remember what a thrill it used to be to go to those high end audio shops to see and hear the latest gear... Unfortunately too few people really care much about it these days. Most of my friends would toss out any of these large speakers that we love in a heartbeat. They want invisible sound that is acceptable... remarkable sound just doesn't matter to them. It's no wonder that there are so few high quality hi-fi shops in general and along with that none carrying the larger JBls that we covet.

Widget

Of course, if it wasn't for the fact that so few cared for big speakers, if they were coveted like other vintage items, we couldn't afford them either.
Their prices would have risen to match market values and ... you'd be having these discussions with other folks!

[fotodan]

I always tell myself, if I ever win the lottery, I would buy all the vintage gear I could get my hands on, open a store the size of Walmarts, and let the public have at it. Of course I would not have much in sales, but, God I would love going to work everyday..

[1audiohack]

While reading an article on advanced distortion measurments by Dan Foley of Audio Precision I encountered this in an article titled Audio Finds its Voice.

[Robh3606]

Well that isn't really a shocker although it is nice to see things going up overall. Those Blue Tooth speakers are quite a bit of fun to bring along I brought one to England and San Diego and it was much appreciated!

Rob