An audiophile dilemma


A friend of mine just bought the JBL PRX635 stage speakers and they sound just great!
These are not the typical high end speakers that are in demand among audiophiles and they cost far less than their high end siblings.
Sometimes I wonder if all the money is well spent, because for far less $$ someone can become an owner of a pair of these JBL's and be happy for the rest of his life.
Are those high end (and very expensive) speakers really better than the JBL's?

Chris
dazzdax

Showing 2 responses by dazzdax

Let me give you some additional information: I'm an owner of Soundlab A-1 PX speakers. Prior to the Soundlab I had Dunlavy SC-V's.
So I'm quite familiar with "high end sound".
I know you can't compare apples to pears but I have heard with my own ears how the JBL PA speakers sounded. They sounded unlike the typical PA speakers. Yes, they are capable of sounding loud and dynamic but they also have a natural sounding treble and midrange (although the bass is a bit murky in my ears, but this could be related to room acoustics).
I would like to say that even PA speakers can sound excellent today even when audiophile criteria are being used.
I feel that the gap between this kind of speakers and the real "high end" ones is closing. What do you think?

Chris
To Rfleff: hi, in my opinion the JBL's do nothing seriously wrong. Of course the Soundlab give a sense of height with regard to soundstage because they are quite tall.
In my case, I have tried to mimic some of the characteristics of PA speaker systems, like the JBL's by adding two open baffle woofer towers fitted with three 15 inch woofers/channel.
I use a Marchand crossover to be able to drive the Soundlabs and the woofer towers in full active mode.
And yes, I can now get some of the dynamics of a real PA system, which is obvious when listening to Michael Jackson's Liberian Girl or Smooth Criminal on the Bad CD.
One last remark: nowadays high quality PA systems don't sound aggressive any longer, unlike many of yesteryear's PA systems being used in disco clubs.

Chris