JBL Everest's in stock for audition in Iowa

[jpw]

For anyone who wishes to actually see and hear a pair of JBL Everest DD66000's in the flesh, Audio Video Logic in Des Moines has a brand new pair on display in rosewood. They are a new authorized JBL dealer and plan to only stock the high end models that are two channel oriented. JBL has recently discontinued the cherry finish on the Everest and has special pricing available that will make buying a pair of Everest's rather dramatically more affordable, at least while quantities of cherry last. Call if you are interested.
Their phone number is 515-727-2279 and website is www.audiovideologic.com

[BMWCCA]

For anyone who wishes to actually see and hear a pair of JBL Everest DD66000's in the flesh, Audio Video Logic in Des Moines has a brand new pair on display in rosewood. They are a new authorized JBL dealer and plan to only stock the high end models that are two channel oriented. JBL has recently discontinued the cherry finish on the Everest and has special pricing available that will make buying a pair of Everest's rather dramatically more affordable, at least while quantities of cherry last. Call if you are interested.
Their phone number is 515-727-2279 and website is www.audiovideologic.com

JPW wouldn't happen to stand for John Weires would it?

[JBLAddict]

plug or not, I think this is AWESOME!!

to see:

1) JBL high end as the top billing at a domestic AV shop
2) Side by side with the ubiquitous, AV shop obligatory, B&W Diamond series
3) With Krell, PSAudio, Grado and the other stalwarts
4) In the middle of corn country!

I can't name a shop here in SoCal, miles from Northridge, where I can walk in with a stack of CDs and demo these. No, I had to be lucky enough to have a biz trip to Japan for that experience

[jpw]

You got me there. It's nice to be recognized, unless it's the police!

[jpw]

plug or not, I think this is AWESOME!!

to see:

1) JBL high end as the top billing at a domestic AV shop
2) Side by side with the ubiquitous, AV shop obligatory, B&W Diamond series
3) With Krell, PSAudio, Grado and the other stalwarts
4) In the middle of corn country!

I can't name a shop here in SoCal, miles from Northridge, where I can walk in with a stack of CDs and demo these. No, I had to be lucky enough to have a biz trip to Japan for that experience

Thanks for your enthusiasm. The Everest's are great and have no need to cower compared to the likes of more bona fide audiophile speakers.

[BMWCCA]

You got me there. It's nice to be recognized, unless it's the police!

Nothing wrong with self-promotion when we're always complaining about no dealers stocking our favorite products. You just need to say so!

Thanks for your enthusiasm. The Everest's are great and have no need to cower compared to the likes of more bona fide audiophile speakers.

I know what you meant but literally, with over six-times the years in business, the JBLs carry far better bona fides (credenitals, evidence of legitimacy) than the Magicos, though I suspect that both are bona fide (genuine) examples of their brand.

[Titanium Dome]

I know what you meant but literally, with over six-times the years in business, the JBLs carry far better bona fides (credenitals, evidence of legitimacy) than the Magicos, though I suspect that both are bona fide (genuine) examples of their brand.

The Magicos I heard at the CAAS apparently were magical to some and not to others. Holding the brochure in my hand at this moment, the "new standard for full-range performance" due to "world-wide acclaim" failed to excite me. They were bona fide disappointments. I was told I needed to hear the really good (and really expensive) ones to get the real feel for Magico.

Fortunately, I also got to hear Everest II and K2 S9900 and 1400 Array (again) and Revel Ultima@ Salon, and they were all bona fide delights.

That's why I'm adoring K2 S9900s in my room right now, bona fide JBLs with perhaps the last of the genuine JBL bona fides.

I hope Audio video Logic can generate some floor traffic and some sales from this commitment to a great brand.

[4313B]

The Everest's are great and have no need to cower compared to the likes of more bona fide audiophile speakers.

The Everest is in a league all its own. One either "gets it" or one doesn't.

[jpw]

I've been spending a lot of time listening to and tinkering with the Everest's at my store after store hours (Audio Video Logic, Des Moines, Ia area). The listening room is very large, actually an entryway, at 25 feet wide x 38 feet long x 9.5 feet high to the false ceiling (actual height about 14 feet). There is 25 feet of glass window facing the speakers baffle boards. The room is huge and evacuates lots of bass. Nearly all speakers I have tried in this room sound thin and underpowered.

My RTA showed a pretty flat response curve for the Everest's with the exception of a rather serious 8db resonance centered around 110-125hz that effected frequencies as low as 100hz, and to a lesser degree, as high as 160hz. The speakers were too heavy for me to try in a different room so I chose to trust JBL's data which does not show a rise in this range. I could not adequately reduce this intrusive hump despite trying different trying speaker and listening positions. Some digital EQ from a used Z Systems equalizer on hand removed this hump quite transparently.

My first surprise from the measurements (EQ only at 110hz) was that the speaker was plus or minus 1 db from 80hz to 30hz and down only 6 db at 25hz. JBL prints an anechoic -6db response at 45hz even though the bass extends nearly an octave lower in room. Anechoic is the most honest way to measure bass response but conservative to the point of anti selling the speakers bass response because most people have no idea what this means.

Comparing listening positions of 12 feet away versus up to 20 feet away, I found that the Everest's lower treble through upper treble response changes little with distance.
The biradial horns exhibit very little roll off at high frequencies with distance compared to direct radiating cones and domes. If you feel the speaker is balanced too bright (I did not on good recordings), it is doubtful you will be able to move far enough away from them to solve the problem in most living rooms. More likely, EQ, room treatment, or a change in electronics will be your solution.

A 3-4db peak at 16hz (probably the break up mode of the mid range compressions driver) did add a slight glint to the treble. After a great deal of listening back and forth, I preferred using the Z Systems to notch this out and was able to do so with out effecting the measurable frequencies above or below. I ended up within plus or minus 2db and a curve that tilted slightly down hill at my final listening distance of about 16 feet. The speakers are about 13 feet apart and toed in so that the sound from each intersects slightly behind my head.

Over the course of the last few weeks I tried the new McIntosh MC-452 450 wpc amp driven by MAC's MCD-500 SACD player directly. Then, ARC REF-40 Anniversary preamp and REF-210 amps with the new KT-120 vacuum tubes. Then the Krell Evo 402e 450 wpc amp and two chassis Evo 202 preamp. Finally the McIntosh MA-6600 200 wpc integrated amp. As great as they all are, you could clearly hear the difference easily between all of these combination's.

The sound was effortless, life like in dynamics and very natural. It was also huge in scale when the recording demanded yet still good focus with out bloating on solo performances. After a short demo, everyday mainstream customers leave with their jaw on the ground. Even audiophile's leave impressed that a horn speaker can sound so natural and free of coloration. They are also shocked by the speakers dynamics, something they aren't used to hearing through their low sensitivity audiophile approved speakers. In short I am really gassed about the Everest's. It's been years since I've stayed after hours at work to do anything but more work.

[jblnut]

I feel like it's 1989 again and I'm reading about the new XPL series - that I will never see or hear in New England until:

1) Someone out west buys a pair
2) Moves to New England
3) Decides to sell them


Damn you guys are lucky! I do have one (and only one) complaint about this speaker though. $60k ? Really? Really!!? I have a very hard time doing the math to figure out how a pair of pretty boxes with 3 drivers in them can somehow justify a cost like that. I know the "high end" JBL is chasing demands a price tag in line with the competetion just to play in that league, but REALLY ? I'd be shocked if there is $10k cost in a pair, and a normal markup would put these at about $25k retail with most going out the door at $20k or thereabouts.

At this price (and distribution scheme) it'll be a good 10 or 15 years before this JBL Nut even has a prayer of getting some in the house (and there will be much rejoicing I can assure you ).

Welcome to the High End JBL....you've been here before in actual performance (if not widespread reputation). Now you've followed all the other greedy d-bag audiophool companes ($5k power cables....REALLY???) in their quest to fleece the one percenters of their disposable income. Best of luck with that. You sure haven't done very well in the past 10 years selling to the other 99% of us.

That being said, they might still be the best "bargain" in the high end world even at this price from what all of you have said so far. Now hurry up and move out here, win the lottery and sell your gear so you can upgrade again . LOL....

jblnut

[timc]

Damn you guys are lucky! I do have one (and only one) complaint about this speaker though. $60k ? Really? Really!!? I have a very hard time doing the math to figure out how a pair of pretty boxes with 3 drivers in them can somehow justify a cost like that. I know the "high end" JBL is chasing demands a price tag in line with the competetion just to play in that league, but REALLY ? I'd be shocked if there is $10k cost in a pair, and a normal markup would put these at about $25k retail with most going out the door at $20k or thereabouts.



jblnut

Actually i think you're missing the mark.

If i were to buy the components/crossovers and cabinet for the K2 S9800 over desk in Norway, it would equal about $11000. The Everst components would be lots more. Ofc JBL don't pay retail, but still. WAAAAAY more costly components then most of the competitors.......

[Titanium Dome]

From the cheap seats, I settled for the K2 S9900s, and of course paid far below the MSRP, whatever that might be. $44k or thereabouts?

Everything about them has the feel of first rate design and build quality. It's easy for me to see where the money goes. Even better, it's easy to hear where the money goes.

Overpriced, probably. Scandalously overpriced, no way, especially compared to more pricey competition.

The cabinets, drivers, networks, and design are world class, so yes, there will be some bleeding-edge pain involved.

The best deal in high end is the Revel Ultima@ Salon at $22k retail and more like $15k (or less) on the street. Yet, it's in many ways a very conventional piece, in an extra-nice package. The Everest and K2 OTOH are two of the few three-way, horn-based, 15" driver, curved-cabinet, charge-coupled units that exist that actually sound not just good but great, far exceeding all relevant competition. IMO.

Okay, now I'm way off thread, but I feel like JBL gave me the K2s for what I got in return for my $$$. We sat down last night and I played some jazz--real, swingin' jazz--and I hazarded to ask if Huiky liked it. She answered, "Yes, it's really catchy. It sounds like they're playing right there. I never heard this before."

Well, actually she did, but she told me to turn it down or off the last time I played it. She's never asked me to turn anything down or off since the K2s were set up.

That's worth a few $$$ right there.

[jpw]

With a terrible economy and many high end audio products priced indefensibly high and still rising, it is easy to try to add up the cost of the parts it takes to build a particular speaker and then make a judgment about whether it is fairly priced.

Unfortunately this method does not remotely reflect the real cost of bring a product to market. On top of the cost of state of the art parts, imagine paying a team of engineers salaries for years to research and develop the project. How about the cost of the manufacturing facility and other necessary employees to build and market the speaker? Once the speaker design comes to fruition, it is pointless if no one knows about it, so the product has to be nationally advertised. It has to be marketed through stores who have to make a profit or they understandably can't afford to display the product. Believe it or not, freight, handling and credit fees add up to 5% or more of the retail price. This is all before JBL or any other manufacturer makes a dime.

Therefore the most accurate way to establish a products value in an open competitive market place is by comparing it with other like products which are priced similarly.

I've represented many high end speaker brands in my career over the last 37 years including Magnepan, Wilson Audio, Avalon, B&W, ProAc, Genesis, Infinity, Acoustat,
Martin Logan, Klipsch, KEF, to name just a few. While all of these companies make worthy product and from time to time have even had a hit, value isn't generally the first adjective that comes to mind when describing their top of the line models price to performance ratio. I think current high end JBL product compares favorably with these other brands.

The audio hobby is highly subjective so general agreement about what the best speaker is won't be achieved. However for my money the Everest's deliver more performance for the dollar than any other I have heard at or near it's price. A close competitor is the TAD Reference One (also $60,000pr) and probably the Everest's closest competition.

[Mr. Widget]

I do have one (and only one) complaint about this speaker though. $60k ? Really? Really!!? I have a very hard time doing the math to figure out how a pair of pretty boxes with 3 drivers in them can somehow justify a cost like that. I know the "high end" JBL is chasing demands a price tag in line with the competetion just to play in that league, but REALLY ? I'd be shocked if there is $10k cost in a pair, and a normal markup would put these at about $25k retail with most going out the door at $20k or thereabouts.

A number of years ago the typical US manufacturer's cost to retail ratio was 5X... I have no idea what formula JBL uses, but at 5X, the actual cost to JBL would have to be $12K for a $60K product... I can easily imagine that these speakers cost JBL $12K. The engineering and manufacturing of the packaging alone isn't trivial.


Widget

[timc]

Funny you should mention package cost. I'm currently involved in purchasing some hydrophone arrays at work. Packaging and shipment cost ALONE is quoted at £675 EACH. And that is alot smaler then an Everest.