JBL K2 S9900 vs Klipsch Heritage Jubilee Horn Speakers.

@deep_333 wrote:

Yeah, I am a pro-ish guy...I also do know that it costs a whole lot more (different ball game) to develop drivers from scratch (r&d, tooling, facilities, recuperation timelines, tc) and i can justify higher prices for that. If an entity is just buying drivers from someone else for pennies on the dollar, i expect pricing to be lower.

But what’s your product and segment reference here? Klipsch is a pro manufacturer, yes, but they also have a hi-fi division - incl. the Heritage series under which the Jubilee’s are found (apart from their (then?) pro equivalent) - and relative to the pricings of, say, JBL and anything approaching the same physical wallop of the Jubilee’s, the Everest’s come at about twice the price. Maybe not an apples to apples comparison, difficult to assess really (also depending on who you’re asking, not least the fanboys), but I’d say JBL more than have themselves paid for the R&D and what not developing and manufacturing (in Mexico) their own drivers.

Klipsch on the other hand have the balls to let the design dictate size, shape and all horn-loading, whereas JBL is focussing more on aesthetics and building their design around that - not to diminish their engineering capabilities. The Everest’s are a more exclusive looking package (and you certainly pay for it), great sounding as well, whereas the Jubilee’s can come across more "crudely" but also larger and physically more all-out, and meant for active configuration only - again, at about half the price. I don’t see how the Jubilee’s are outrageously priced compared to the competition, all things considered.

Klipsch is not a small company with limited resources. It is either a lack of aptitude or taking the easy route/making an easy buck that I am not all that fond of.

Would JBL, Yamaha, TAD/Pioneer, etc not make their own drivers? It would be a freaking joke and downright shameful if they didn’t....

At the end of the day, what’s the sound that meets the buyer? From my chair Klipsch made a smart decision going with the Celestion driver, because it gives them the opportunity to cross over to the bass horn just above 300Hz (where it’s needed, because crossing higher would have the bass horn at difficulties here), and that takes a special driver and fittingly large horn to come to fruition, not least controlling directivity that low. Mind you, they have a point source from ~340Hz on up. The only equivalent by JBL to reach that low was the 2490H 3" exit compression driver, but that was a pure midrange driver and had to be crossed not much higher than 2.5 to 3kHz, and so would necessitate and separate tweeter. BMS and B&C have coaxial driver offerings that on paper extends low, but no doubt at higher distortion levels at elevated SPL’s all the way down to 300Hz compared to the Celestion driver.

So, as a necessity from a design point-of-view Klipsch made a good decision choosing a rather unique driver offering in the world today, indeed the only one really available to them. Going about that on their own would have been a mammoth undertaking, if they would ever meet such a design goal.

Now choosing speakers from the actual pro sector is likely to see price drops, unless we’re speaking Meyer Sound and such.

Thanks you all for your comments and also your very high tech input on the contrasting differences between the drivers, crossovers and design philosophies of the two speakers. I’m not very well versed in all of the technical aspects of the Klipsch Jubilee and the JBL K2 s99000 speakers like so many of you are. But, what I am pretty well versed in is great sounding speakers.  The Klipsch Jubilee is one of those speakers that managed to capture this over 30 year audiophile’s imagination like few others. Happy listening.

I have chance to listen Klispch Jubilee on Montreal Audio show last year.
The sound disappointed me. I think the reason was because the speakers were powered by TEAC amplifiers that are not a good match for these speakers. IMHO when I think about horn speakers, especially with horn bass I mean these speakers should be driven tube amplification SET, or DHT push-pull. But most modern big audio producers built their flagship horn speaker systems for power transistor amplifiers (that I never liked). The DSP crossover also makes me suspicious. I understand that DSP can correct frequency and phase response of the speaker. BUT if I use a digital source it can be OK as DSP ADC and DAC on the same level of source DAC. If I use an analogue source, it is not analogue anymore.

@alexberger  There's a very nice high end audio shop in Sacramento California that has an outstanding Klipsch Jubilee set-up that I get to go listen to whenever I get the urge.  In this set-up, the Jubilees are powered by McIntosh SS amplification on the bottom, and McIntosh tube power on top.  And the sound that this hybrid amp configuration produces powering the Jubilees is nothing short of jaw dropping!!!  

AlexBerger,

I think you are correct I in saying this is a digital system and true analogue is lost. Klispch really does not say how the crossover works but it does not have a digital input. Does it add another digital to analogue conversion or is it done in the analogue domain (active can be analogue) . I am no expert but I always believed time delays really needed done in the digital domain.

From my own experience of using external crossovers (highpassing subs) I have found them to be very clean and it would be hard to tell in a blind A/B if they were in the circuit or not. I would guess making a passive crossover to smoother the drivers would degrade the sound as much as the active. Both muck things up a bit from a purist standpoint.