K2 S5800 and K2 S9800SE on sale

[vettedrummer]

Hey JBL addict, I too used to own a set of Klipsch Forte II's and these are nothing like those! These are like a beautiful woman whispering into your ear. You just want it to go on forever! I'm just sayin....... Cheers, Frank

[JeffW]

Just be nice and stop telling me how much better they are than 250's, OK ? I'm only human and it's only credit card debt .

jblnut

I hooked the 250tis back up since the 800 Arrays were sitting on chairs in the living room. Not a very aesthetically pleasing presentation. Well, long story short...the 800 Arrays are still sitting on chairs in the living room while I debate what to do with the 250tis.

To be fair, I know the 250tis are 30 years old and haven't had a lick of work done on the crossover or anything. Refoamed the woofers maybe 10 years ago. So it's not really a fair fight, but there's still going to be a winner even in an unfair fight.

[Titanium Dome]

'Tis true, 'tis true, the 250s do not fare so well in comparison. I've a friend who has 250Tis, and I felt like I was being tortured by listening to them last week. I've always loved the L250 and the 250Ti, both sonically and visually. Now, I can honestly say I still love them visually.

Of course, I've got two pairs of L250s, one of which is in my midtown office. I can hardly listen to them anymore. They're dead to me now. (JBLAddict, do you get the "sample"?)

The other pair is still waiting for the evolution of a slow rebirth by Grumpy and me with new Performance Series drivers and active quad-amplification. This gives me hope the 250 can live on in some visually and aurally pleasing form, since I have the K2s and the Performance Series in the same space and I don't feel the PS is boring or dead in any way.

All you bargain-grabbing dudes are getting the deal of the Century on these great products, and now you know what JBL and Greg Timbers and let's not forget Jerry Moro have been doing the past twenty years while everyone was assuming JBL was dormant or dead.

Congratulations to all the new owners, and for the rest of you, there's one thing I know: if you don't grab an opportunity when it's in front of you, you'll never run fast enough to catch it again.

(Of course, if you can't afford it, it's not an opportunity; it's a mistake. Opportunity requires capability as well, or it does not make sense.)

[vettedrummer]

OK all my good buddies here on the forum now the fun begins. I was having dinner with my daughter (wife at dentist) and she says, "OK Dad what are you getting now" It seems the UPS truck was backing into my driveway. I could not think of any reason he'd be there today. I had nothing on order from anyone that couldn't come by mail. OK, so the driver is a friend of mine. He's here so much with all the ebay buying and selling I do that we've gotten to know each other pretty well. He opens up the back of the truck and is getting the dolly out. I ask him what he's doing and he says he's here to pick up a return. Mind you Harman has yet to send me out a shipping label for the 5800 that is going back to be replaced. Yeah I have the RA number but no label. I tell him to leave the hand dolly and come on in to see just what he thinks he's picking up. His paperwork says he's picking up a 150# box for return to Alt., Ga.. I show him the 5800's and just how big the box is that it goes in. He asks about their weight and I tell him out of the box they are 185# so an easy 200+ packed. It seems who ever set this up at Harman has no idea of what these speakers look like or just how heavy they are. Or they are trying to get around using the frieght divison. The UPS guy says, " I can't take them, 150# is my limit and never nothing that big." He says I need to get in touch with UPS frieght division and get them out here to pick it up. I mean you can already see the problems this is going to be getting them back to Atlanta with no damage. The info that came with my RA number says I'm responsible for having them arrive in good condition in Atlanta. Yeah right with UPS shipping them. Looks like another email to Harman to get this straightened out. I have to admit they did act fast. they jusy didn't let me know when I should expect to see the shipper. I still have the speakers set up in the living room listening to them and lovin the sound! OK, I'll let ya know what happens next. Cheers, Frank

[Titanium Dome]

Are you sure it wouldn't be better to ask Harman to pay for a professional finisher to simply fix the finish? That would be cheaper than the shipping for them.

Right now you have two beautiful speakers, perfect in every way except for a a cosmetic flaw. IME, it's a flaw that's easier to fix right than it is to box it up, send it back, hope that it doesn't get damaged on the way there and muck up your exchange process, hope that they still have the "set aside" speaker when it gets there, hope the set aside speaker isn't some demo unit, hope it doesn't have some other defect when it arrives, AND hope it survives the transit back to you.

I imagine when Harman gets it back they'll have it refinished anyway, OR set it side for the next return. So why not see if they'll pay for a pro to refinish the section in question instead of all that?

[SEAWOLF97]

'Tis true, 'tis true, the 250s do not fare so well in comparison. I've a friend who has 250Tis, and I felt like I was being tortured by listening to them last week. I've always loved the L250 and the 250Ti, both sonically and visually. Now, I can honestly say I still love them visually.

Of course, I've got two pairs of L250s, one of which is in my midtown office. I can hardly listen to them anymore. They're dead to me now.

Yeah man ....kick ALL that old shit out to the curb ...NOTHING is as good as what you've got.

[Titanium Dome]

Yeah man ....kick ALL that old shit out to the curb ...NOTHING is as good as what you've got.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant to write. Thanks for so graciously putting it into such honest terminology. You're the best!

[KCM]

Are you sure it wouldn't be better to ask Harman to pay for a professional finisher to simply fix the finish? That would be cheaper than the shipping for them.

Right now you have two beautiful speakers, perfect in every way except for a a cosmetic flaw. IME, it's a flaw that's easier to fix right than it is to box it up, send it back, hope that it doesn't get damaged on the way there and muck up your exchange process, hope that they still have the "set aside" speaker when it gets there, hope the set aside speaker isn't some demo unit, hope it doesn't have some other defect when it arrives, AND hope it survives the transit back to you.

I imagine when Harman gets it back they'll have it refinished anyway, OR set it side for the next return. So why not see if they'll pay for a pro to refinish the section in question instead of all that?

I tried that with my damaged 800's. They wouldn't go for it, something to do with them not supporting these any longer and not wanting to drag HPAV group into a warranty obligation on damaged goods. Might be different in his case since it's just a finish issue, not a hole in the cabinet


BTW, I am listening to them while I await resolution. JEEZ, do these little buggers sound great !

[vettedrummer]

Ti Dome, I've thought about all sorts of ways to do this. The big problem is not being able to talk to someone here in the USA. Emails just don't give you any way to bargain with them. While the written word is much clearer it just doesn't give you the, "Yeah but" ability. I have thought that they might just send something really bad back to me. Or.. that, yes the speaker they are holding somehow got taken and shipped someplace else and I'll end up getting this one back after a round trip to Atlanta in UPS hell. I liked the old JBL where you could call up and talk to someone that knew the product line and they could really understand what was wrong and how you wanted to have it fixed. It's still that way with McIntosh. You call Chuck Hinton and you talk to him. You don't send emails back and forth. He knows their whole product line current and vintage and why something may or may not work. If you need to speak to the engineer that built your product he's there too and he will talk to you or at least tell Check what the answer is to any questions you might have. Yeah, the old ways are best. Modern technology is good for some things like building the current line of great JBL products, but not for customer service or puting a knowlegable human voice to a problem. All these companies that move there ops to India or someplace where the English language gets murdered makes no sense. I packed up the speaker this morning, but still not sure what to do. I'll tell ya packing it up is way harder than un-packing it! Should I just overlook the cloudy top finish on the speaker and just enjoy what it does best or will it keep bugging me that it's not perfect? Having a pro refinish the top also has no guarantee it will look better or that it won't even be more noticeable. I thought about having thick glass tops made for these to protect them and also to hide the clouds, but I'd still know it was under there. It's hard when you seek perfection. Cheers, Frank

[KCM]

I've been talking to them. Just tell the person in India that you need to speak with tech support in New York and they'll transfer you. Use the 800 number as you will be on hold for a while.

I've got a RA# for my damaged Array's, just waiting on a upcharge quote to ship the last two in existance via motor freight to "hopefully" avoid damaging them in transit.

[vettedrummer]

Seawolf,
so sorry.
OK, I have a new idea that seems to make sense to me. I'll try it on them if you think it would be better.
I would have them send me the new speaker first. Which I would pay for by credit card. Once it gets here I get to inspect it and if it was the mint one I'm seeking and has no issues, then I would return the cloudy one back to them.
(This way I know what I'm getting up front.) If the new one from them is even worse then, I'd send that one right back, keep what I have and persue the refinishing method.
They are paid so they are not sending out another speaker for free and my mind would rest easier! Once it gets back to them then have them issue a credit to my credit card.
Problem, what if the one I send back gets messed up on the way back. (This could happen in either situation.) Does their Insurance cover this since they are the ones footing the bill for a poor quality product sent out in the first place??? They are picking the shipper to use so I'm the inocent party, Right? Will I have a problem getting them to issue a credit once said speaker gets back there? (I can always have the credit card company put a stop on the transaction and that plus the RA number should put me in the clear.) Any comments are welcomed! Cheers, Frank

[vettedrummer]

OK, I did what KCM said to do and got a gentleman in New York City.

I told him what's been going on with the regular UPS guy coming to pick up my return. He said that should of never have happened and he will have frieght pick it up.

I spoke of my lack of faith in UPS getting something this large to Atlanta safely and I didn't want to be responsible for their messing this all up.

I asked if it was possible for the replacement speaker be sent to me before I return the cloudy one to them. I offered to even pay for it first and he said it would not be necessary. He will refer this to the right people and the one that is on hold (it really is on hold or so he said) will be shipped to me first so I can do the inspection and be satisfied with what is happening prior to my sending my S5800 to them. That way I wouldn't get stuck with a bad speaker and my good one (except for the cloudy top)already in Atlanta and who knows where after that. He said that the one on hold is the last single S5800 they have and it really is marked for shipment to Michigan and I could expect a call from Atlanta later to set up the exchange. Sounds good in theory let's see if it all comes together like I see it happening. Cause I love it when a plan comes together! So can I trust all of this to happen? I'll wait and see. Cheers, Frank

[Titanium Dome]

Good luck! Let's hope it all comes together.

[hwirt]

(it really is on hold or so he said) will be shipped to me first so I can do the inspection and be satisfied with what is happening prior to my sending my S5800 to them.

Sounds like a good plan Frank, hope it gets delivered promptly and in good condition. Seems like Harman is trying to make things right. Keep us informed...

[Slare]

Vette, I assume you have/had a Vette and it seems you are in Michigan. So I think you should know your paint care.

Have you thought about trying a very light polish on a small area to see if you can clear it up? I know it isn't right, but as others have pointed out it may be the easiest/safest path overall to end up with a solid pair.

I just went through a shipping/exchange nightmare on simple $200 sub enclosures. I would jump through a lot of hoops to minimize transit of 200lb, $4k a pop speakers.