Anyone experienced JBL's K2 S9800?


There is such a dearth of commentary on this speaker anywhere, and yet I have some reason to believe that this may be one of the finest speakers currently in production. I recently was able to audition a pair in a most unusual setting--an art gallery.

The speakers were raised up off the floor on pedestals (perhaps 18 inches) with no walls or corners within 10 feet or more. All the front-end equipment, including amplifiers, were Mark Levinson, but I later learned that in order to hide the speaker cabling, there was approx. 80 feet of speaker cable running up vertical columns and then across the ceiling and down other columns in order to reach the speakers. Now that's gotta hurt.

Nonetheless, during that audition, I was blown away by this speaker's ability to resolve complex orchestral passages, its dynamic capability, and its overall neutrality (though it was distinctly lacking in warmth), but I was also completely non-plussed by a lack of transparency that I heard in two separate piano recordings of the highest quality (the pianos sounded muffled and much low level detail was missing). I found this mix of good and bad to be most unusual.

Is there anyone out there who owns these speakers and could comment on their performance relative to others they have owned or listened to? I have a feeling this one may be a real sleeper that, by virtue of its price tag, has been overlooked by most. If I could resolve the transparency issue, I just might blow my life's savings a buy a pair. Any commentary from anyone with actual experience would be most welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
theloveman

Showing 3 responses by porschecab

Theloveman -
I am the LOVEMAN when it comes to the K2. I have owned 4 pair and currently hold 2 pair. Both of the pair I own at this point are 2 of 4 production of the gloss black K29800SE (Special Edition).
These are absolutely the sleeper speaker, though still quite expensive at $25,000 in non SE gray and $30,000 in SE gray. I have owned Wilson, B&W Signature and Diamond, JM Labs, Revel, as well as many others and this is what resides in my home.

I have run Conrad Johnson 8As with excellent results as well as many Levinson amps, 436's, 33H's, and even the 33's, large Krell amplifiers, 450MCx, 650MC, and 750MCx, Proceed AMP5 (biamp mode) and even many Cello Duet 350's bridged and Cello Performance II monoblocks.

Oddly, the JBL S800 amplifier set in mono mode is as good to me as all of the others above on this particular pair of speakers, in my room, with my equipment, and to my ears. The ONLY better amp combo is the CJ Premier 8A with the ART2 preamp. The drawback to the tube based it volume level and dynamic that tubes have tough times with versus solid state.

Now, the JBL amps are horrible on most any other speaker I have listened to, but with the K2's, awesome!

I will gather some more thoughts on your questions and answer them later this week.

Feel free to contact me or post any other questions you might have.

My gear:
K29800SE (4)
S1000 (K2 center)
Levinson Media Console 40
5 S800 monoblocks
Esoteric DV-50S
2 Velodyne DD-18
All solid Silver Viola IC's and speaker cables.

Dan
http://www.ultraaudio.com/equipment/jbl_k2_s9800.htm

Dean,

I bought the K29800 (standard version) strictly for 2 channel. I needed to learn about them, make sure they were as good as many of my Cello friends indicated.

Indeed they were. I had run many of the speakers above mentioned and had the CJ set up with B&W Sig 800s which I felt were as good as I had heard. When I dropped the K2 in place of the S800s, I was SHOCKED at the dynamics of the speakers and the coherence of the JBL.

The bottom end was strikingly deeper and more 'gutty' than the S800s. I have not heard many speakers that can actually play full range, which is why I am a beliver that most every speaker needs a sub to play true full range at refernece levels.

Like the Quad 989, the K2 is greatly improved when the Velodyne DD-18 is added, as would ANY speaker, imo.

I have not found ANY downside of the K2 and enjoy them so much that I bought two pair of four pair of gloss black SE versions JBL made. For 2 channel, I have yet to hear better. I have friend that run the largest Wilson speakers, with the individual sub towers, which I will heading over to listen to in March.

I did hear a slight tighter/quicker bottom end with the SE and the top end slightly less pronouced. Both benefits to the SE over the non-SE.

Dan
Peterayer -

You should have asked them to fire up one of the Viola amps they carry. I use K2's with Cello Duets (aka, Viola nowadays) with excellent results, both on the top AND bottom end!

The K2s is a US hidden treasure! No other spot in the major audio locations of the world are they so unknown!!

A treat and pleasure indeed.

Did Ears Nova bring them in specifically for you or they just happened to have a pair 'sitting' around?

Thanks,
Dan