K2 S5800 and K2 S9800SE on sale

[Mr. Widget]

Believe it or not, having to peel and replace those badges every time the system got moved was what caused me to pause back when I had the opportunity to buy the $3900 pair of Array 1400s two-years ago.

I just wouldn't keep admitting that you missed such an opportunity... it's like admitting you're the guy who refused to sign the Beatles.

As for the badges, demand that Harman send you some, they are not the same ones as the ones used on the much larger 1400 Array horn, but I am sure that the right person at customer service should be able to get you a pair for free... it's the least they can do for you!


Widget

[BMWCCA]

I just wouldn't keep admitting that you missed such an opportunity... it's like admitting you're the guy who refused to sign the Beatles.

I don't place that much importance on it. But I'm happy if you derive some pleasure in using it this way. If you read the thread, at that time no one was moving on them. Not you, not anyone. The deal was presented on this forum and sat for nearly a week before one forum member pulled the trigger. They never got a bid on Ebay at $3999. One suggestion was made that perhaps a Synthesis dealer should buy them for demos. None did. Today, after more discussion on this system, they'd not last a day . . . maybe. My how times change. All it takes is a little fire sale to move this stuff. Does anyone buy them at list price? Did they ever?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a pair of 1400s. Even at that low price they turned out to be over 35% more than what I did buy less than two-months later. It's always those with money who can take advantage of the financial hardship of others (Harman), not us schlemiels.

So, as a JBL dealer, what do you think of the manufacturer dumping their flagship systems for quarters on the dollar? Give you a warm-and-fuzzy about the future of your investment? Or is the markup so much that even a dealer would do well dumping these as Harman has? Maybe that's part of the problem: They're asking too much. When a luxury car carries only 7% profit at list and the public demands most of that, why is it surprising that JBL cuts prices in half and, for a while, sells some dated production? Time was when a Mercedes held 20% and a BMW about 15%. The manufacturers got tired of the dealers giving it away and halved the markup. Maybe that's just Harman's way of telling its dealers they're not getting the job done. Regardless, they're likely done now and won't even enter that market again. Sad, but had they priced them like this from the start and bypassed their dealers, maybe they'd not be a dead shell of a company today.

And I'm happy with what I have now. Something about seeing all that broken SonoGlass or whatever those horns are made of reminds me of an Autobahn crash involving a Trabant. All so much paper-maché if you ask me. In the future it won't be surrounds that need repair, but the entire horn as it biodegrades!

[Mr. Widget]

The deal was presented on this forum and sat for nearly a week before one forum member pulled the trigger. They never got a bid on Ebay at $3999.

Oh, did a forum member get them... that's great. I don't remember the details, and wouldn't be poking fun at you except that you have brought them up several times and I think it's great you are cool with it. I'd still be kicking myself.

You are absolutely right about what an unknown quantity they were. Between being unknown and rather odd looking, I doubt I would have bought them... though I might have risked it. At the time I wasn't in the market for new speakers though and never gave it a thought.

Now about car dealers' mark up vs. the audio industry... I doubt car dealers could stay in business if they didn't have a lock on the new car repair market. In the audio biz, there is no comparable revenue stream... having a pair of $60K, (Lexus prices) Everests sitting in your showroom and only having 7% markup would certainly not make business sense.

So, as a JBL dealer, what do you think of the manufacturer dumping their flagship systems for quarters on the dollar?

I think it is the same short sighted thinking they use to outsource and shut down their domestic manufacturing.



Widget

[hwirt]

So, as a JBL dealer, what do you think of the manufacturer dumping their flagship systems for quarters on the dollar?

I'm OK with it, but not a dealer.

[4313B]

Maybe that's just Harman's way of telling its dealers they're not getting the job done.

I highly doubt that Harman thinks even that deep dude. Someone decided to dump stock in a warehouse and they didn't even think about dealers. Hell, they didn't even think about how they were going to properly ship product once they sold it. There isn't a whole lot of deep thought going on here. I think all their attention is rivited on stocks and shareholders.

Its kind of like when they decide to dump tons of service parts into the garbage bins without checking whether or not anyone else on the planet might want or need said parts...

[JeffW]

I also bought a pair of the 4312DBKs for a shop system. They shipped from southern California instead of Atlanta and had a tag on them saying they were designed and engineered by JBL and made in Mexico. So maybe they were clearing out their warehouses of stuff they just built, I don't know. And these also arrived in great shape. Haven't hooked them up yet.

Something about seeing all that broken SonoGlass or whatever those horns are made of reminds me of an Autobahn crash involving a Trabant. All so much paper-maché if you ask me. In the future it won't be surrounds that need repair, but the entire horn as it biodegrades!

Looks to me like it's the cabinets that are busted, not the horns. The cabinets are not made from sonoglass.

[hwirt]

Looks to me like it's the cabinets that are busted, not the horns. The cabinets are not made from sonoglass.

If the cabinets were made of sonoglass they probably would have survived.

[BMWCCA]

OBTW: I passed up a MB GullWing 300SL for $5K in the 70's .....

Yeah, me, too, in St. Louis. The dealer had three of them. I bought my 2-year-old BMW for $1295 instead. It was on the showroom floor right next to a brand new Dino with a sticker price of an unobtainable $12,000. I also passed on a BMW 507 for $12,000 while I was in college around 1974. Check out those prices today!

One of my favorite flea-market finds is an NADA Blue Book of car values dated 1962. Amazing what some of that stuff was valued then. I think the BMW Isetta was listed for $25.

[SEAWOLF97]

Yeah, me, too, in St. Louis. The dealer had three of them.

yeah, I said "$5K for a used coupe ?? .....I can get a new Jag XKE for $6K" ....'couse I was making abt $6k/yr.

[Mr. Widget]

yeah, I said "$5K for a used coupe ?? .....I can get a new Jag XKE for $6K" ....'couse I was making abt $6k/yr.

Well sure... and my old multi-millionaire boss bought up a couple of office towers in Phoenix for pennies on the dollar from the Federal Government after the S&L bailout fiasco... I couldn't even afford a starter home at that point.

I think those "missed opportunities" are a very different thing.


Widget

[HCSGuy]

Array 800 Bobbleheads

If you tap the woofer, sawdust puffs out through the hole, so the threaded insert goes all the way through to the woofer cabinet - I will pull the woofer this weekend and see what I can put together - I have some ideas but no time.

Dude... I'm confused... Why these when you have what you have?

These are the first pair of new JBL's I've purchased since L7's for my father in '93 - thought I'd see what a modern, packaged JBL sounds like - next to these the newest JBL's I have are Ti2K's. Besides, with a subwoofer, don't they seem like the perfect office speaker? I'm hoping they image well - I was so preoccupied with the damage I didn't listen to them and proceeded straight to disassembly.

Plus, I got jealous - everybody else is buying new speakers, why can't I?

Lastly, I just don't have the time to finish the builds that several of you have been helping me with - I realize it's a shame to let awesome drivers lay around, but keeping our employees working is all consuming right now - they tend to get a little testy when they don't get hours, but I'm having fun playing with speakers.

[hwirt]

Going Going Gone

You have searched for: S5800.
Sorry, this product is currently unavailable.
Please use the pulldown menus on the left to find other products by brand or category.

Webmaster was notified

[youngho]

I believe the emblems are available. Believe it or not, having to peel and replace those badges every time the system got moved was what caused me to pause back when I had the opportunity to buy the $3900 pair of Array 1400s two-years ago. I believe at that time the badges were available at about $35 each. The whole thread is interesting, including comments from two forum members who have since passed, but here's a link to the post with the part number for the 1400 as quoted by JBL: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...l=1#post232392

I actually never put the badges or the gasket on my 1400s.

Regarding the inadequate shipping/packaging of the 800s, my guess is that they were meant to be pallet-shipped to Synthesis dealers, not UPS shipped to individual users.

[4313B]

Lastly, I just don't have the time to finish the builds that several of you have been helping me with - I realize it's a shame to let awesome drivers lay around, but keeping our employees working is all consuming right now - they tend to get a little testy when they don't get hours, but I'm having fun playing with speakers.

I totally empathize. My drivers have been sitting idle for years. Maybe this summer!

Regarding the inadequate shipping/packaging of the 800s, my guess is that they were meant to be pallet-shipped to Synthesis dealers, not UPS shipped to individual users.

True.

Still... it's pretty aggravating to receive busted up product in response to the adrenaline rush of pushing the buy button. You know, like pushing the FOOD button in the maze and getting the electric shock instead.

[Mr. Widget]

You know, like pushing the FOOD button in the maze and getting the electric shock instead.

Now that takes me back... the good old days in the maze.


Widget