Expert Advice needed

[jblfreeek]

Hello all,

I own a JBL S38 Studio Series monitor speakers.
(http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=S38CH)

Recently, I upgraded my amplifier and got a vintage Technics SE-A5mk2.
http://www.adrian-kingston.com/SEA5.htm
http://www.vintagetechnics.com/controlpower/sea5mk2.htm

I am utmost happy with this amp aesthetic-performance-power wise. And I simply love the JBL sound! I mainly listen to rock and hiphop in which both speakers and amp rocks :D


I would like to upgrade my speakers to a bigger and possibly floorstand JBL. I have a 250TI in mind but they do cost quite a bit (for me at least :p) for trial/error thing. I've been hearing/reading very very good comments about 250TI series in general. Not really sure about which one to get though: Regular TI, Limited, Classic, Jubilee?

If you are familiar with this amplifier and/or guide me in choosing a JBL to match this amp, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!! :)

[boputnam]

If you haven't, you might use the SEARCH function ad nauseum. There's tons of stuff out here, but not very organized... :spin: But, that doesn't mean it's unavailable, only requiring exotic and interesting search strings! :)

[Zilch]

If the amp sucks, are you thinking other speakers will "fix" it?

Or, are the two parts of your post unrelated?

[boputnam]

Or, are the two parts of your post unrelated?Thanks, Zilch. That saves me the question...

[morbo!]

http://www.allaudio.org/detail-7171042.html


an extract

A friend of mine has a Technics SE-A5 hooked up to his Century L-100's
and it sounds awesome...this amp seems to match very well with the
sometimes overly bright sound of the centuries. There is some info on
this amp on line but not too much. Basically my questions are...

[jblfreeek]

If the amp sucks, are you thinking other speakers will "fix" it?

Or, are the two parts of your post unrelated?

On the contrary, the amp rocks. It is just the S38's i'm currently using are not good enough for that amp. That is why I said I was thinking on moving to floorstands.

At the first part, I tried to give clues on my amp, speakers, music taste, etc. Second part was the question about a better match for this amp.

Maybe I should have been more clear.

Cheers,

[jblfreeek]

If you haven't, you might use the SEARCH function ad nauseum. There's tons of stuff out here, but not very organized... :spin: But, that doesn't mean it's unavailable, only requiring exotic and interesting search strings! :)

Did use the SEARCH function indeed. Nothing on Technics SE-A5 and plenty on 250TI (which I had read most).

[morbo!]

im a technics fan too
i would gladly place that amp into my collection of technics gear
2 recivers
2 turntables
1 amp
and growing lol

but i love nad amps

[boputnam]

Did use the SEARCH function indeed. Nothing on Technics SE-A5 and plenty on 250TI.Yea, 250TI was what I was thinking - guess I shoulda been more clear... :o:

[Titanium Dome]

You may not find a lot of respect for Technics (and more recently Panasonic) hardware on most electronics forums, but among the 16 amps and receivers I have, several are Technics and a couple are new Panasonic receivers with digital amps.

The Technics SE-A5 is a super amp and will do justice to many quality speakers, including JBLs. The link you included to adrian kingston actually shows a recommendation I'd give you for improving your speakers within the JBL family: move up to some SVA Series speakers.

That Technics amp will mate up nicely with many of the JBL two-ways and three-ways with relatively high sensitivity. However, I've driven my L250s with both New Class A, Class AB, and Class H++ Technics amps, and they didn't mix all that well. I also tried these amps with L7 and L5 four-ways and was disappointed in the result.

So my recommendation is to look at big two-way or three-way systems and hook 'em up to that Technics.

BTW, the Panasonic digitals do wonders with everything I've hooked 'em to.

[jpb_dk]

Hi freak
I have had several JBL's fromL65, 100Century, L96, 4410, Infinity, B&W and others in between. They all seems to work better with a amplifire that reminds me of a well-designed powersupply.. I have had very good experience with Nakamichi PA5 E-II, Gryphon S100, Gryphon DM100, Threshold S/300, Threshold SA/3 and today i use a Gryphon integrated Cetury100.
I used my first pair of JBL250 with a Threshold S/300, AND THAT ROCKS !
The only thng that made it better was Bi-Amping with a Threshold SA/3 for the top.

And to be honest there are not that big diffrences between a good power-amp and a "frequency regulated power-supply".. (well there are ofcource some delicate features here and there.

But take a look on google and ebay and see what the amps look like to have an idea.. If you can go for a JBL250 you can also afford a Nakamichi 5, and you have a good amp for many years. There are some of the 250 that was made for the european market, specially the one for Germany has a lift of 2-3 db in the top, and is far to "sharp" for me. There was also some other diffrences i can not get any documentation about. But i would like to se it becuse i also go for a 250 again (but the old one in wallnut like i had before)

Good luck
Jens

[morbo!]

yeah
I kinda took it to heart when i found out technics was just high end panaphonics gear.
But i thought atleast i settled for high end gear.lol
Maybe not enough power in alot of their gear for jbl speakers but a good sound atleast in the older stuff!:D

as always

morbo!

[JuniorJBL]

About the amp but as TI dome says the 4way models may not be the right choice.
I love my L250's and as far as rock and hip hop (and many others) go the 250's ROCK.
A friend of mine has some as well that we changed to 250 Ti's and they are a world of difference compared to the L250's.
If you do get 250's try to find the latest model as you will get a better crossover;)

[jblfreeek]

You may not find a lot of respect for Technics (and more recently Panasonic) hardware on most electronics forums, but among the 16 amps and receivers I have, several are Technics and a couple are new Panasonic receivers with digital amps.

The Technics SE-A5 is a super amp and will do justice to many quality speakers, including JBLs. The link you included to adrian kingston actually shows a recommendation I'd give you for improving your speakers within the JBL family: move up to some SVA Series speakers.

That Technics amp will mate up nicely with many of the JBL two-ways and three-ways with relatively high sensitivity. However, I've driven my L250s with both New Class A, Class AB, and Class H++ Technics amps, and they didn't mix all that well. I also tried these amps with L7 and L5 four-ways and was disappointed in the result.

So my recommendation is to look at big two-way or three-way systems and hook 'em up to that Technics.

BTW, the Panasonic digitals do wonders with everything I've hooked 'em to.

Thanks for the reply Titanium Dome :)
Adrian uses SVA's in his home theater setup. And as he also stated in his site that SVA's are just "...somewhat brash sounding for CD music". Adrian uses Quad ESL-63's for stereo listening I think.

I will keep in mind the big two-way or big three-way advice in mind though!! :)

Thank you.

[jblfreeek]

About the amp but as TI dome says the 4way models may not be the right choice.
I love my L250's and as far as rock and hip hop (and many others) go the 250's ROCK.
A friend of mine has some as well that we changed to 250 Ti's and they are a world of difference compared to the L250's.
If you do get 250's try to find the latest model as you will get a better crossover;)

I was lucky that I saw today a post about a 250TI on this board. :p

One thing I am still not clear is what is the meaning of "higher sensitivity" in speaker as Titanium Dome has put it. And how does it relate to SE-A5? :blink:

Cheers.

[jblfreeek]

Hi freak
I have had several JBL's fromL65, 100Century, L96, 4410, Infinity, B&W and others in between. They all seems to work better with a amplifire that reminds me of a well-designed powersupply.. I have had very good experience with Nakamichi PA5 E-II, Gryphon S100, Gryphon DM100, Threshold S/300, Threshold SA/3 and today i use a Gryphon integrated Cetury100.
I used my first pair of JBL250 with a Threshold S/300, AND THAT ROCKS !
The only thng that made it better was Bi-Amping with a Threshold SA/3 for the top.

And to be honest there are not that big diffrences between a good power-amp and a "frequency regulated power-supply".. (well there are ofcource some delicate features here and there.

But take a look on google and ebay and see what the amps look like to have an idea.. If you can go for a JBL250 you can also afford a Nakamichi 5, and you have a good amp for many years. There are some of the 250 that was made for the european market, specially the one for Germany has a lift of 2-3 db in the top, and is far to "sharp" for me. There was also some other diffrences i can not get any documentation about. But i would like to se it becuse i also go for a 250 again (but the old one in wallnut like i had before)

Good luck
Jens

That is exactly what I'm looking for as you put it: " I used my first pair of JBL250 with a Threshold S/300, AND THAT ROCKS !"

I think SE-A5mk2 is almost same as that Threshold. I will also look at that Nak. Thanks for reply :)

[jpb_dk]

Hi Freak,
The Nakamichi 5, is actually a "Nelson Pass" design. The guy who also designed Threshold "Stasis" series. (like s/300 ext.) Maby the Nakamichi is a bit more "round" and warm in the high-freq, ... It all depends on what sound you like. I would say just get a Nak-5 they are not that expencive. And if you dont like it, you can always sell it again. Its one of those amps.....The Threshold is a bit more expensive and "hard" but with JBL's(and the right cables) it really "kick ass" *lool*
250's, Nak and Threshold is worth trying out with diffrent cables.. One thing for sure is to wire the woofer with minimum 2,5 best 6mm single core cobber cable for electric-installations, from the amp to the woofer. For the top i use Audionote silver. Cables are not just cables.
Lets hear what You find out... (i have network schematics for 250 if You need it)
Jens

[Titanium Dome]

Thanks for the reply Titanium Dome :)
Adrian uses SVA's in his home theater setup. And as he also stated in his site that SVA's are just "...somewhat brash sounding for CD music". Adrian uses Quad ESL-63's for stereo listening I think.

I will keep in mind the big two-way or big three-way advice in mind though!! :)

Thank you.

If I listened to a lot of rock and hip hop, the SVAs would be high, high, high on the list of candidates to rock the house. :yes: If I were listening to Brahms quartets, then probably not. :no:

I've got one of my pairs of SVA1800s hooked to a Technics SA-GX910 and used the P.Eq. to tame them just a hair. They sound phenomenal as a two-channel pair.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Hi Freak,
The Nakamichi 5, is actually a "Nelson Pass" design. The guy who also designed Threshold "Stasis" series. (like s/300 ext.) Maby the Nakamichi is a bit more "round" and warm in the high-freq, ... It all depends on what sound you like. I would say just get a Nak-5 they are not that expencive. And if you dont like it, you can always sell it again. Its one of those amps.....The Threshold is a bit more expensive and "hard" but with JBL's(and the right cables) it really "kick ass" *lool*
250's, Nak and Threshold is worth trying out with diffrent cables.. One thing for sure is to wire the woofer with minimum 2,5 best 6mm single core cobber cable for electric-installations, from the amp to the woofer. For the top i use Audionote silver. Cables are not just cables.
Lets hear what You find out... (i have network schematics for 250 if You need it)
Jens

If you like that its time to step up the the plate for a X150.5

http://www.passlabs.com/amplifiers/x150.5.htm

Or consider the previous X series

http://www.marksammut.com/List.html