Speakers with crazy complex crossovers.

[Classicrock]

These sound good even on YouTube. External adjustable crossovers with high end components and cables for restored vintage JBL.

[BBvideo=560,315]http://youtu.be/f36esdymj0w[/BBvideo]

I know this is polar opposite of Cubes. Stellar restoration on these by Kendrick Sound which must be very costly. It's such a pity these big JBLs were kept from UK audiophiles in preference for Bricks and the like.

[_D_S_J_R_]

Practically nobody who's ever heard Isobariks has ever heard them with a properly powerful pro amp able to dump hundreds of Watts into them and they usually sound scrappy and dirty a lot of the time in my experience. We had a QMI (Quattre) Gain Cell for a while and compared to Naim and so on, the passive 'Briks came to life in a way I've never heard before or since - a reported 600WPC into three ohms. The KEF 105 and B&W 801 which we also had did similar, the sound closing up badly into a grey kind of blandness with 'normal' domestic amps in comparison. Sadly, the Gain Cells didn't last long it seems and few survive now - and may well not be as good as I remembered looking back. Driving 'Briks hard with an amp like this could well have caused long term damage though, as the crossovers wouldn't have been able to safely take the power.

As for JBL pro models. Don't blame Linn and Naim for this one. I believe Harman had them by the late 70's? and if Tannoy are anything to go by, they didn't have an effin' clue what to do with them and I'm sure that the larger pro models could have sold in top end London dealers and so on. The L200's we had to try in the mid 70's sounded great - oh yes indeedy but were humungous lumps for a domestic situation and the models which replaced them were a bit more conventionally sized I note 4343's don't look quite as deep, although they'd obviously make a huge statement in a large domestic room.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

These sound good even on YouTube. External adjustable crossovers with high end components and cables for restored vintage JBL.

[BBvideo=560,315]http://youtu.be/f36esdymj0w[/BBvideo]

I know this is polar opposite of Cubes. Stellar restoration on these by Kendrick Sound which must be very costly. It's such a pity these big JBLs were kept from UK audiophiles in preference for Bricks and the like.

Pianos and horn tweeters not a usually very subtle combination.

[Lindsayt]

Typical plinky-plonky-show-off-my-system jazz in that video.
Nice speakers those JBL's.

Yes, I think it's quite possible to have good sounding speakers with complex crossovers - if you have a good set of drivers and good cabinets.

I've heard my passive Briks with a Urei 6290 amp (300 watts into 8 ohms, 600 watts into 4). Compared to my actively bi-amped Bozaks in the same room the main issue I had with the Briks was the tonal balance / bass quality. With the Briks out into my room the tonal balance was too lean. Put them near the wall and the tonal balance was better but the bass quality was worse, becoming echoey / less clear and tight. The stereo imaging of the Briks was never the sharpest - to put it mildly. And they lack the midrange bite / clarity / wide open dynamics of my EV speakers.

All in all I think the Briks were a bloody stupid design in some key areas. Heavy (moving mass) for the size bass drivers. Willfully awkward load for the amplifiers. Upward firing drivers causing phase issues / loss of focus with the front firing ones. Relatively heavy moving parts on the midrange drivers - compared to compression drivers.


Having said that, I have one Brik doing a fine job as the centre speaker in my 5.0.2 AV system. My Briks know their place in my home.


And if Hardon Karman didn't know what to do with JBL in the late 70's in the UK, then the same could be said of the owners of Bozak, Altec, EV, Vitavox, Klipsch etc. Maybe they just didn't have anyone at the top of their UK divisions with the marketing genius - and questionable integrity - of Ivor T?

[Classicrock]

The Japanese like to cram these large speakers into smallish apartments.

[BBvideo=560,315]http://youtu.be/mZCHrpRAntM[/BBvideo]

.......and play wanky jazz through them!

[Lindsayt]

[BBvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/Jv6hY2UD5l8[/BBvideo]
Health and Safety going completely out the window as two men carry 110 kg JBL 4350's.
With obligatory jazz in the final few minutes.




Health and safety max lifting weight guidelines.