- Here's a bit of G.T.s "closing message" from the brochure .
- In particular, I appreciated that the drivers' relative polarities have been maintained ( for at least the bottom 2 transducers ), as opposed to those polarities being flipped/compromised ( to maintain uniform phasing around the crossover point(s) ) .
Point them out, please....Originally Posted by hapy._.face
[Thinkin' about the rationale for the vertical horn. See D'Appolito Testing Loudspeakers pp. 58 - 60....]
I am sure they sound great. I may be alone in my overall opinion of them. I am sorry to say this. But to me, most of the K2 and Array series look like waste baskets at a fastfood restaurant
.
Hey Zilch-Point them out, please....
I hear ya. They look contemporary enough, but who can deny that smile of the horn? Looks like a smith take. And the caps on the back- look familiar? The cabinets look like seventies furniture: sliced angular edges. (Think Star Wars). They don't exactly fit in with today's trend when it comes to decor; and I think that was the intent (Since the 70's were arguably JBL's heyday in hifi). The proof is in the presentation. Why do you think you get a nostalgic feeling when looking at the brochure? That's because even the graphic design layout looks 70's. That's not to say there aren't contemporary elements in the overall design- but this was an obvious throw back/homage. I think they look cool!!! Then again- I like the look of the L212's...
Probably hard to market a statement piece like this for the modern day American market; Perfect for the Japanese (who's aesthetic goals are to "be more westernized.") Have you noticed how the Japanese are buying everything 70's JBL these days?? Google it up and see the many sites that offer vintage JBL at high end resale. I think they hit a homerun on this line.
'We feel the new Array series exemplifies the best of JBL's tradition and heritage...' Greg Timbers
it is too much for me
To all those that have horns free-standing atop the LF cabinet, make note of what some top acoustic engineers found...
(from Greg Timbers report in the brochure)
bo
"Indeed, not!!"
NO, NO, NO.....I am sure they sound great. I may be alone in my overall opinion of them. I am sorry to say this. But to me, most of the K2 and Array series look like waste baskets at a fastfood restaurant
You just don't get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not about "Looking" like the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's or anything else....It's not about looking like anything you've seen before.., It's not about being "one of boys", "Me Too" or contemporary, or stylist..or anything else....it's outside the box thinking....
IT"S ABOUT ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY.......The Music....and letting the numbers and the sound dictate how the speakers look....
It's the same mind that perfected 4 way crossovers
It's the same mind that gave us the 4315
It's the same mind that created one of the most unusual looking, beautiful and advanced speaker of it's day..the 250
It's the same minds that gave us the 4430 and 4435
It's the same minds that gave us the Everest
It's the same mind that gave us the "Imaginary Equivalent Tuning" (IET).
It's the same mind that gave us Charged-couple crossovers..
It's the same minds that gave us the K2
It's the same minds that gave us the Performance Series
Each of these speakers pushed the envelope of conventional thinking and speaker design to get as close to perfection as possible.... and God I love it........
It is thinking that takes us from where we are... to where we should be....it is imagination...genius.....creativity and BALLs..... it's JBL at it's core...
10-4
Thanks, Bo. But now I'm confused. I visited Dave (norealtalent) and his westlakes. He has a (second) pair of smiths on top and the 3D sweet spot was about the size of his entire freakin room! In fact- I've never heard a bigger depth of stage. HUGE! Perhaps the findings in GT's report were related to the speakers in question and the ability of the horn (placed/mounted properly) to bring the other drivers into the pocket with it. I'm not an engineer but the logistics of horn mounting seem inconsequential to me (in most cases). Most compression drivers have a density and heft to them that seem more than adequate at solidifying any UHF. And as for horns- they rarely have dimensionality issues (in themselves). Seems like all a decent horn needs (with regard to mounting) is a bit of isolation. Proper placement- of course. But to actually mount it to the cabinet- I don't know. Am I missing something??
I went downstairs last night & turned my 2397 smith horns vertically on top of my bass cabinets & lo and behold I created the Array style without spending a dime. The wide diffraction principle was apparient no matter where i moved in the room. Ill make a metal adapter to hold the tweeter at the top edge. This could be the start of a whole new Smith style DIY project. For every body on this forum.Let me be the first to all Smith horn owners to continue this trend & come up with our own variations.
I'll go along with that. To me they look like engineering got ALL their own way, for a change.NO, NO, NO.....
You just don't get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not about "Looking" like the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's or anything else....It's not about looking like anything you've seen before.., It's not about being "one of boys", "Me Too" or contemporary, or stylist..or anything else....it's outside the box thinking....
IT"S ABOUT ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY.......The Music....and letting the numbers and the sound dictate how the speakers look....
...
Consider the L212 compared to the L250/250Ti, everything that engineering had to compromise in the L212 was given to them in the 250's, mirror image, angled baffles, sloped baffles, etc. With the Arrays, they got even more of their own way.
I've never been one to hide my speakers(read in-wall), I'd set those babes up around my 65" screen, if I could afford them. Come to think of it I don't remember seeing any prices since the Arrays were first shown at the '04 CES. At that time, if I remember right, the system was $22k, plus the cost of the subs.
Install a language pack and surf the Japanese hifi market. I hate to say it- but the K2/Array line looks like many other modern Japanese speakers. And coming from someone with an architecture education (me)- they are definitely 70's influenced. Whether it was on purpose or not is debatable- perhaps the senior engineers themselves allowed a bit of nostalgia to creep in.
‘form follows function’ is a phrase coined by the famous Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The irony of that statement (when he made it) was that he himself was the most stylized designer in all of architecture. Truth is- form rarely follows function 100%. Here is a quote: “I have had no single element that has inspired me more than the common paperclip. This is truly a masterpiece of ‘form follows function’ and perhaps the only item in the world that lives up to that mantra”. Jorgen Rasmussen.
Ultimately- who gives a sh!t?!? If they sound good they sound good!
Cold hard fact!
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote