It’s about the optics, prestige, brand name snobbery and what not (other bizarre stuff)...or they heard 300 dollar plastic trash PA at the bar and made up their minds. Play anything full tilt and all their "prestigious" audiophile goober stuff just falls to dust. But, somehow, these guys are constantly talking about the real thing, live, 3D etc (boggles my mind).
I came to my senses a bit after i heard the Daniel Hertz M1, kills everything high end for my musical tastes...but, literally a Pro speaker with the ’audiophile approved’ pricing, i.e., only a measly 200k. Other seriously engineered core pro stuff is never heard of.
+1
@deep_333 @phusis -- I am curious, what is it about JBL that makes you not a fan?
In some, pro oriented circles in particular I find JBL to be overly hyped. Focusing more on their domestic offerings they have very good engineers (as they do in their pro sector), but I dare say it mostly doesn't translate into the more intricate aspects of sound reproduction - even in their very expensive models where they lack that last bit of refinement, overall coherency and tonal accuracy. That is to say: the basics are very good, but I don't find them to be the complete, and musically satisfying/authentic package the price calls for.
Of their contemporary models I prefer the actively configured M2's and the flagship DD67000 Everest's, both of which are very good (would love to listen to the Everest's actively configured). My personal domestic favorite of theirs may be the now discontinued (maybe not for the Japanese market) K2 S9500 - which entered the market in '89, if I'm not incorrect - with the first neodymium magnet woofers in production, the 1400ND. They may not have been the most refined speakers around, but what they did other areas was remarkable, and those 1400ND woofers are quite staggering, indeed unrivaled today in vital areas.
Their domestic speakers appeal to this segment with all that entails, but why go with a size-limited and expensively finished package when you can have physically more fully realized designs from their pro sector and from other pro brands, many of them older designs with better drivers and much cheaper at that? Give them some good amplification, configure them actively, accept their functional looks and larger size, and prepare to be surprised. Of course, we know most won't do that for a variety of reasons, but who dares...
