Can't wall mount at the moment as it's not my wall. Otherwise, of course that would be the easy way out.
Although part of me is always a little nervous about wall mounting. I seem to change setups or layouts fairly often. If I can get a PS setup pulled together and make the switch, I might give this a try and just make up a U base for it. Closest thing I can find to what I have in mind.
http://www.amazon.com/Techcraft-Solu...4210899&sr=8-1
Would be pretty cool to have one made up, though. Annoying part of it is that there's probably hundreds of the Circuit City things I have in mind sitting unused in people's garages...
JBL doesn't want to sell you Performance Series speakers.
Yeah, there's probably one in my garage. Too bad I don't live in MI anymore.
Out.
Picked up the PS1400/PT800 stacks today from the local seller and am "rebreaking" them in right now. I am not sure the L7's are all that far behind in some areas (especially given prices), but these are so much nicer in the upper midrange. Wonderful, just wonderful.
As an added bonus it finally gave me something to compare my original PS1400 to and I've found it is actually working just fine. My normal powered sub testing methods (t-amp for high ins / ipod for LFE in) were not effective at all. The PS1400 high level inputs need well over 100 watts to create full output, and the low level LFE input is either attenuated somehow or requires a very high level signal preamp signal.
My final set of PT800's should arrive late this week. All said and done I will have assembled a 7.3 setup possibly under the forum record, but I certainly took a few gambles getting there.
I will be sad to see the L7's go.
JBL doesn't want to sell you Performance Series speakers.
I think they really shine when pushed HARD with lots of power. (About what good JBL can that not be said?) Anyway they excel with acoustic music played loud, small groups, guitar - bass and drums especially. Less so with orchestras and large bands. And they grow on you, a lot.
I am still using the Carver M1.5t I bought to drive the L7's. I really thought that I could get away from that amp and go back to just using my AVR (Denon 987 110/ch) but doing some setup testing it is clear that the PS1400 high level inputs need a lot more than 100 watts to deliver full output. Only with the Carver near full tilt was there enough signal to drive the PS1400's into max output / distortion.
With the Carver, I have the PS1400 gains set flat, but clearly a lesser amp would not take full advantage of the PS1400 nor allow the PT800's to keep up. So, it makes a lot of sense that others have found much better sound using separate amplifiers putting out 200/ch or more. It is actually required to drive the speakers to their potential.
Tonight I may try a direct LFE hookup as well. Based upon my collective testing I have a suspicion that my AVR won't deliver a high enough LFE output to drive the PS1400s into clipping, either. This may explain why so many have found the PS1400 to be utterly disappointing hooked up as a conventional LFE sub.
I've also done some more extended testing and found my original PS1400 to be 100% good to go. I think I will keep it just in case my setup ever allows for a large center (projector or higher wall mount). I assume the PC600 would work just as well in "docked" configuration so long as the PS1400 can be placed almost directly underneath it?
JBL doesn't want to sell you Performance Series speakers.
The Performance Series AVA-7 that I'm using is rated at 125W/ch. It has more than sufficient power to drive all channels of my current Performance Series 5.1 system to 100dB+ with no audible distortion or measurable clipping.
Admittedly, I'm only using five of the seven channels in the amp, so it's loafing. Additionally, its 125W/ch are probably more honest that the typical AVR would be. It's a rebadged Lexicon amp, which is likely either a rebadged Crown or ATI.
I do not find it to provide any less oomph than the 212W/ch supplied by the Soundcraftsmen PCR800 amps I used in the original iteration. The PCR800s had to fill a space of about 3,000 cu. ft (room volume) while the AVA-7 is filling over 9,000 cu. ft., triple the room volume.
Curiously, I've also discovered the PS1400 to function better in the larger space.
Out.
Before I installed the Synthesis® system, I had a PC600 sitting on a PS1400 in my downstairs HT, just below the screen. I put insulating rubber pads between the two and ran the PC600 direct to the amp while the PS1400 was fed line level.
The PS1400 was one of four subs in that setup, which were placed at the midpoints of the four walls as in the Harman International white paper on multisubs. This is described earlier in this thread, but who has the time to look it up?
Out.
The Denon I have is a AVR-987 rated at 110w/ch. From what I know it is an honest rating though the headroom isn't in the same league as a separate.
The Carver is 350w/ch with headroom for 600w peaks.
For my testing, I had just the PS1400's hooked up (no docked PT800's), turned the gain all the way up on the PS1400, and then turned up the Carver (using the Denon as a pre) until the PS1400's started to produce audible distortion with bass-heavy music. This didn't happen until the Carver was running at near full tilt, occasionally hitting the clip lights - and that was with the PS1400 gain all the way up (+5db or whatever).
The PS1400's sound balanced at zero gain with docked PT800's. So with a 100 watt amp input, the PS1400's are leaving something on the table. Now in reality, I would never listen to the system that loud unless it was in a much larger room. I'm just pointing out that there is untapped overhead in the PS1400 using a 100w high level input. Whether you need it is a different discussion, but to me it clearly explains why using a 200w amp allows for more dynamic sound, as you are only at that point fully opening up the PS1400's amplifier.
I suppose there are probably proper specs in the tech manual?
JBL doesn't want to sell you Performance Series speakers.
For the record, the Performance Series brochure:
http://www.jbl.com/resources/Brands/...20Brochure.pdf
I don't think I've linked this before.
Out.
Yesterday I checked with JBL and both the PT800s and the PS1400s are still available from JBL, though only while current supplies last. The woofers have been available through dealers at special close out prices... I have not heard anything about the pricing of the PT800s.
I also complained about the dreadful JBL.com website and was told that it is being revamped... don't know how long that will take. Maybe they need to hire some grateful people to work for minimum wage... sorry wrong thread.
I don't think the Performance Series was ever properly marketed and has long languished because of that and probably not helped by the price/performance/apparent value equation... i.e. it looks cheaper than it's retail price and it's performance level.
Widget
When I was looking I did eventually get one dealer to quote PS1400's as being available at $18xx. There was no mention of closeout pricing. I has expressed interest in buying several PT800's with a pair of PS1400's if they were available at some discounted price.
I will admit that I would likely have better luck visiting a Synthesis dealer in person and haggling from there. But high end product or not I don't think it should be so painful to get pricing information, especially on an end of life product in this environment.
And as good as the PS1400 may be you'd have to be nutty to pay that much for one. Quoting $1800 for one is almost comical, imho.
JBL doesn't want to sell you Performance Series speakers.
When HarmanAudio had the PS1400 available on their web site, the refurb units were around $1200 as I recall. A "closeout" price should be lower you'd think. I still kick myself for not grabbing some PS gear when Tweeters had all sorts of floor stock available in different stores.
Well, my last two PT800's should arrive tomorrow so I am out of the market unless another eBay gamble pops up. Barring any UPS soccer damages, I will have then completed my 7.3 setup. Possibly in record time, and for right around $2.5k. But that includes the benefit of the epic risky eBay gamble, and little to no warranty to fall back on. Once I finish moving the L7/L1/EC35's I should be be well under $2k out of pocket, which was my original goal for a 5.2 kit.
I must admit that I am still nervous about the amps... and the replacement PT800/PS1400 grilles Harmon sent me are missing the little gold logos (wtf!). But I suppose I can live with that for some 80% off.
I have smiled every time I walk into my living room now and see the glowing PS1400 LED's enticing me. How long will that last?
JBL doesn't want to sell you Performance Series speakers.
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