Many of the older speakers didn't have bass, they had boom. Nothing wrong with boom - people love that stuff. Juke boxes are all boom and people love the sound. The better new speakers are meant to have pitch-accurate bass in that you can actually hear the notes the bass player is playing, as opposed to just hearing a rumble of something going on down there. Home theatre subs carry on the boom tradition and you can always add one to augment the sound of a modern high-end speaker as necessary.
Of course, bass is hugely dependent on the room-speaker interaction which can be controlled when building a listening room from scratch, but is often unpredictable in the normal domestic situation. If you still have the JBLs, I think you need to bring them to the dealer to compare side by side with your new choice to see if what you're hearing is due to the speaker or the room.
You should also check out the Cerwin Vega CLS-215 speakers REG reviewed in the March Absolute sound. 2 15" woofers and some horns. They have "some extra energy" below 300hz, which sounds like what you're looking for. And a grand to boot! Have fun.
Of course, bass is hugely dependent on the room-speaker interaction which can be controlled when building a listening room from scratch, but is often unpredictable in the normal domestic situation. If you still have the JBLs, I think you need to bring them to the dealer to compare side by side with your new choice to see if what you're hearing is due to the speaker or the room.
You should also check out the Cerwin Vega CLS-215 speakers REG reviewed in the March Absolute sound. 2 15" woofers and some horns. They have "some extra energy" below 300hz, which sounds like what you're looking for. And a grand to boot! Have fun.