@ohlala
I’ve heard mixtures of all-horns that I believe could be rightly categorized as DIY, as well as "turnkey" iterations that are very worthwhile. The JBL’s (i.e.: K2 and Everest’s in particular) had my quite impressed for a while, until I became more familiar with other horn speakers, including my own all-horns (that is, except the sub octaves which are augmented with a direct radiating subwoofer, but I have planned two upcoming DIY horn subs) which I’ve had now for over 2 years. Listening to the K2 S9900’s last fall it struck me how much their sonic imprinting had changed to my ears given that my own frame of reference has changed these last years. My main gripe with the JBL’s, be it both the Everest’s (haven’t heard the DD65000 and DD67000, I must add) and K2’s, is that they lack relative refinement and overall coherency. While the bass and lower mids is indeed very dynamic, agile and with a fine tonality in its upper range, it has a general warmth or roundness (some would call this coloration) that draws too much attention to itself. Moving up through the midrange I find there’s a "splashy," grey-ish and slightly hollow signature that lacks organic presence. This may sound like harsh criticism, but I actually still like the JBL’s quite a lot, with the proviso just mentioned and that I find they’re too expensive. That being said it’s not fair to single out the JBL’s as too expensive in light of most of the direct radiating competition, where I find they have much to offer by comparison.
I’m not that familiar with Romy’s sonic preferences or views in general, but have noticed he’s quite open about his dislikes here and there.
phusis - are you talking about turnkey all-horn alternatives or DIY? Goodsoundclub patrons would certainly agree that better and cheeper are available than retail brands, like Avantgarde. Sounds great to me.
I’ve heard mixtures of all-horns that I believe could be rightly categorized as DIY, as well as "turnkey" iterations that are very worthwhile. The JBL’s (i.e.: K2 and Everest’s in particular) had my quite impressed for a while, until I became more familiar with other horn speakers, including my own all-horns (that is, except the sub octaves which are augmented with a direct radiating subwoofer, but I have planned two upcoming DIY horn subs) which I’ve had now for over 2 years. Listening to the K2 S9900’s last fall it struck me how much their sonic imprinting had changed to my ears given that my own frame of reference has changed these last years. My main gripe with the JBL’s, be it both the Everest’s (haven’t heard the DD65000 and DD67000, I must add) and K2’s, is that they lack relative refinement and overall coherency. While the bass and lower mids is indeed very dynamic, agile and with a fine tonality in its upper range, it has a general warmth or roundness (some would call this coloration) that draws too much attention to itself. Moving up through the midrange I find there’s a "splashy," grey-ish and slightly hollow signature that lacks organic presence. This may sound like harsh criticism, but I actually still like the JBL’s quite a lot, with the proviso just mentioned and that I find they’re too expensive. That being said it’s not fair to single out the JBL’s as too expensive in light of most of the direct radiating competition, where I find they have much to offer by comparison.
I’m not that familiar with Romy’s sonic preferences or views in general, but have noticed he’s quite open about his dislikes here and there.