JBL Everest @ IFA 2007 Germany

[Fangio]

Today the IFA 2007 (Internationale Funk-Ausstellung (http://www1.messe-berlin.de/vip8_1/website/MesseBerlin/htdocs/www.ifa-berlin/index_flash/index.jsp)) ended in Berlin. I had the chance to take the day off and visit that annual exibition. It is an event mainly focussed on TV, broadcasting, consumer home theater and telecom stuff, but there are also several huge halls reserved for HiFi / HighEnd manufacturers and exibitors. Of course the JBL Everest was presented there, and me and two buddies wanted to see and hear the DD66000 finally in person.

Thought I could share some pics. Lets start with H/K, and some members of the current product lines of JBL, among a pair of white TL 260 next to a K2.

[Fangio]

A lot of silver in the consumer lines..

[Fangio]

The DD66000 system was shown twice: at first, a stereo pair in a separated room at the official Harman Kardon stand.

Harman Kardon had an own hall, and a separate room of approximately 6x7 meters with two Everests driven by some Mark Levinson amps. The played solely Jazz for the 30 minutes when we were there. The first impression was already exceptional - mostly because of the dynamics and the effortless performance of the system.

[Fangio]

a. front, covered with leather
b. the craftsmanship in the beautiful wood finish. Note the bend in the curve of the cabinets side

[Fangio]

Then we moved on and visited a special show presented by the german HiFi magazine AUDIO. They had assembled and built a rig into a listening room that was humbly labeled "THE MOST EXPENSIVE RIG IN THE WORLD". The total value exceeded 600.000 euro, that would be 820.000 US$. There was some queueing neccessary to get in, accompanied by solo jazz artists.

The following presentation was special, because it was opened by a four micro recording of life music (they had an OB van next to the hall), and immediately followed by a playback of the recording through the rig, for comparison.

The room, maybe 8x8 meters had five Everests, two in front, two in the back corners, and one behind the screen. The naturalness of that playback through the horns was nothing short than breathtaking.

[Fangio]

The speaker stands in the back btw were introduced as 'tradeshow-concrete' - which is just particle board and color.

The beamer was carried by the same stuff - people in the last row were politely asked to catch it, in case.. ;)

[Fangio]

The show went on with a 60ies recording of 'Guatanamera' on vinyl, both moderators (quite humorous guys which were also editors of the magazine) had a strong affinity to vinyl.

Followed by Eric Clapton and Cream (or parts of them) on dvd. Something on that stage looked familiar.

[Fangio]

For amplification, several TOTL Krell power amps were used. Bi-amping was mandatory.

[Fangio]

Of course there were subs in the mix. Four Velodyne 18"s.

[Fangio]

See which manufacturers/models you can find out yourself guys. :)

I'll check their site later, and hope to come up with an exact listing then.

[Fangio]

a 100.000 euro TT.

[Fangio]

To see the Everests been elected for such a rig..

I went with a big grin in my face. :)

So much for now, enjoy.

[Titanium Dome]

Thanks for sharing your experience.








N.B., there were no Ti Domes to be seen, I'm afraid. :p

[mcds]

a 100.000 euro Garrard, supervised by Loricraft direct.

Oh well..... give me a break. ;)

I love Garrard and my old 401, but 100k for a turntable??

That's not a Garrard turntable, it's the Clearaudio Statement.

[Fangio]

Thats correct, mixed that TT up with the one in another rig they had assembled (using Khorns as speakers). Sorry.

Here's their own description of the components that can be copied into a translator of your choice.

--
Bei der Zusammenstellung der "Teuersten Anlage der Welt" ist die "AUDIO"-Redaktion keine Kompromisse eingegangen. Zu den technischen Highlights zählen fünf monumentale Lautsprecher vom Typ JBL Everest (Paarpreis 50.000 Euro), die in einer klassischen 5.1-Anordnung als Surround-System betrieben werden. Flankierend stehen den JBL-Boliden vier 18-Zoll-Subwoofer von Velodyne zur Seite, deren Gesamtwert 38.000 Euro beträgt.

Für ausreichend Leistungsreserven zeichnen insgesamt fünf Mono-Endstufen aus dem Hause Krell (2x Krell Evolution One / 3x Krell Evolution 900) für mehr als 120.000 Euro verantwortlich. Auch der Stereo-Vorverstärker stammt von Krell (Evolution Two / 38.000 Euro), während als Surround-Prozessor-Vorstufe die bewährte Mark Levinson No.40 dient (40.000 Euro).

Als Blu-ray-Player kommt der BDP-LX 70 von Pioneer (1.300 Euro) zum Einsatz, für die SACD-/DVD-Audio-Wiedergabe der Unidisk von Linn (10.000 Euro). Zum Abspielen von HD-DVDs tritt das Top-Modell von Toshiba, der HD-XE1 (900 Euro) an. Die CD-Wiedergabe übernimmt ein spezielles Laufwerk/Wandler-Gespann, das aus dem Accuphase C-2810 (19.000 Euro inklusive Phonomodul) und dem GTE Trinity DAC (48.000 Euro) besteht.

Selbstverständlich darf bei der "Teuersten Anlage der Welt" ein Plattenspieler nicht fehlen. In diesem Jahr kommt ein Clearaudio Statement zum Einsatz, der für einen Preis von 100.000 Euro inklusive Tonarm klangliche Maßstäbe setzt. Die Videobilder setzt der Dreichip-DLP-Projektor HAT-5000 von SIM2 (50.000 Euro) perfekt in Szene, der eine akustisch transparente 4-Meter-Leinwand von Stewart (10.000 Euro) in voller HD-Auflösung beleuchtet.

[Hoerninger]

Fangio,

vielen Dank für Deinen Bericht.
"translator of your choice" - ging auch ohne. ;)
____________
Peter

[Rolf]

Thanks for posting this. Excellent. Did you have a look at the cables?

[Fangio]

My pleasure.

Rolf, sure. Just proper confectioned branded goods, no exotic cables in both presentations.