JBL K2 S9900 vs Klipsch Heritage Jubilee Horn Speakers.


I recently had the opportunity the have extensive listening sessions both these two wonderful speakers. And, as great as the JBLs sounded (I believe that all horn type speakers are an acquired taste), I much preferred the Klipsch Jubilee speakers over the JBL speakers, and it wasn’t even close!!!. Also, the Jubilees are significantly cheaper than the JBLs. Are you kidding me??? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a horn speaker lover, per se, although, years ago, I did own a pair of Avantgarde Duo horn speakers for a while, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. But, it didn’t last. However, my goodness gracious, the Jubilee speakers just swept me off my feet!!! At the dealership, they used SS amplification for the bottom end and tubes on top to drive the Jubilee’s, and it was absolutely breathtaking!!! I found the Jubilee speakers so impressive that, I swear, if I had enough space in my listening room, it would’ve been extremely difficult for me to resist purchasing a pair of them right there on the spot. IMHO, the Jubilee’s are one of the greatest sounding, and also one of the greatest values in high end, cost-no-object speakers in the world, regardless of price. I believe that the Jubilee’s can complete with any speaker on the planet. And, I’ve heard just about all the greatest speakers in the world, either locally or at audio shows. The Jubilee speakers incredibly, just poured out a wide, open, huge soundstage, lush, greatly emotional, greatly involving, detailed, transparent, hugely dynamic, smooth, airy, bass to die for, holographic, 3D musical presentation like an ocean or a waterfall of musical delight. The Klipsch Jubilee speakers have got the one of the greatest best kept secrets in high end audio. Yes, you get the idea, I was supremely impressed with the Klipsch Jubilee speakers.  If I only had the proper space for the Jubilee's, I would buy in an instance and never look back.  Happy listening.

kennymacc

K2 is on my list to audition. I heard some JBL boxes 40 years ago that I cannot forget ...i would love the Jubilees if I could find something in a smaller form factor ... been thinking about getting a horn from Ali Baba and a 2" compression driver and putting together some sort of horn bass .... any ideas?

Post removed 

The Jubilee has always looked interesting. The active crossover in the Jubilee allows for manual balance adjustment between the bass drivers and horn which is needed to use different amps. It also corrects the time domain. the 340hz crossover is impressively low too and It acts like a point source for much of the frequency.

how was the bass on the Jubilee (Klispch specs are worthless). I have not heard the S9900 but the extension looks severely limited. I have found bass extension to have a profound effect on soundstage. Even with the JBL 4367 that has better bass extension than the S9900 I still use subs.

 

If I remember correctly you are using Salon 2s. Did horns tempt you from the Revels?

@james633 My beloved Revel Salon 2 speakers are just one of a plethora of absolutely wonderful speakers out there all over the place that I could be very happy with for a very long time and the Klipsch Jubilee is just one of them. Also, the bass response of the Klipsch Jubilee was "Tremendous!!!"  No subs needed.

Kennymacc,

 

high praise for sure. I would like to hear/own them sometime.

I wonder if they are using celestion Axi2050 compression drivers. The specs seem to match up.