Everest dd 66000 speakers

I love this Thread!, everyone is so educated on whats being talked about here!, I enjoy you guys, Dave_72, Kiddmann,,,, I was considering the 66000 because they are around $25,000.00 to $28,000.00 used!, thats a better price then the K2s new!, I am assuming that the 66000 are better than the K2s. cheers!

Audiolabrinth,6600 at $25,000 seems a great investment. A 'few' (we can talk) extra dollars on isolation,conditioning and room treatment will probably give you sound that exceeds whatever anyone with the 6700's is getting. Unless they put in the above effort as well-which I doubt for the most part. ATB. Pete

I agree with you ptss!, I have done that many times, making a great speaker out perform a much more exspensive pair of speakers, You would be supprised to know a whole lot of people do not know how to do this!, yes, If I get the 66000 speakers I would excell the performance of them as I do with most speakers that have a good balanced sound signature!, This is good that you know this!, alot of people laugh at the idea!, they do not believe it is possible!, cheers!

I don't want misinformation out there. To further clarify, 66000 are great and I would not try to dampen enthusiasm over them. However, having had 66000 and 67000 same place, same equipment, A then B, it is a fact 67000 is not one of those small refinement upgrades. Room treatment would not make this difference. Direct sound is direct sound no matter what treatment you do.

One thing to keep in mind is that the 66000 can be forward, and depending on the amp, can be VERY forward and prominent in the highs. Some solid state amps will drive you out of the room. I found tubes worked much better.

The 67000 are a lot more forgiving, and solid state amps work much better now. And tubes still work great.

So, if you go 66000 be prepared to possibly need to find the amp that pleases you. Luckily, a stiff 50 to 100 watt tube amp can do the trick. As for the highish looking efficiency, don't let that fool you, no 5w or 10w SET is going to get the woofers going to the depths of what the speaker is capable of.

Hi Kiddman,

Thanks for letting me know about the performance in large rooms. I take it the S4700s would probably be better in a medium to smaller size room too, true?

As far as JBLs and amps, I found that Class A solid state like Pass Labs and Accuphase works well too.

Hi Audiolabyrinth,

That's one Hell of a deal on the Everests. And yeah, at that price, you might as well forget the K2s. Are the Everests new, demo, or used? Just curious. Anyway, I would go for it! Good luck!

Dave says "I take it the S4700s would probably be better in a medium to smaller size room too, true?"

Kidd says: Do you mean better than the Everest in small rooms? I doubt anything they make will have the mids, highs, dynamics of Everest.

If you mean that the 4700 would work better in a small and mid room than the 4700 would in a large room, don't know, have not heard them.

Audiolabyrinth. I appreciate Kiddmans comments.Mixing and matching can always be factors. However I find most people use no isolation or conditioning on their solid state pre or amp and so noise becomes a significant contribution to the overbright upper end of the loudspeakers used.
I'm glad you have discovered just what joy comes out of properly set up isolation & conditioning, power cables, speaker cables, i/c's. I know a lot of folks don't have the patience or the ears for it. We are lucky.

Hi Kiddman,

Yeah, I mean working better in a small or medium room than a large room.

No problem if you haven't heard 'em. You might want to just for the Hell of it.

Well, To all you gentlemen here!, I am not really talking about what mods ptss is saying!, I am talking about, state of the art resonance tunning that I specialize in!, thats how I make a world class system be one!, Not isolation, I use the vibrations of resonance to my benefit!, cheers!

@ kiddmann, I am glad you made me aware of the cautions of the 66000 speakers!, I most likly would not be able to fix that!, @ Dave_72, Are the K2s foward sounding with a high current amp like my Krell 700cx?, cheers!

To be honest with you, I haven't heard the K2s with Krell. Just the Mark Levinson that Harman uses at the shows. I don't think it would be forward sounding, but you never know. You know the characteristics of your amp better than I do...Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

People put up with a lot more driving highs with certain speakers, but I want you to be aware that 66000 can be too much for me with the wrong amp. All Avalons with the ceramic or diamond tweeter, for instance, are more aggressive to my ear than the 66000. Kharma with the ceramics throughout. Thiels, which bother a lot of people, not just me.

67000, much easier even with the same amps.

@ Dave_72, The Krell I have is in no way foward at all!, To my ears, the amp has one of the best balanced soundstages that I am aware of, and that is saying alot if you knew how much equipment I have owned, or did crtical listening with thru out the u.s.a., I do know their may be better, most likly 5 times or more the cost of this amp retails for!I am sorry to bother you fellas with all this, I do not have a real high-end store here where I live, so before I take a trip to audition any of the JBLs here under conversation, I would like to know which speakers I would like to hear!, I hope you guys understand that and have patience with me, Thankyou!, cheers!

No problem! Sounds good about your amp. From what you're saying, it should work quite well. When you audition, take your amp with you, or better yet, get a home audition if possible.

I must say I am impressed with the posters of this thread. Nobody has chimed in saying how much horns suck, how bad horns honk, quack, bite, and shout. Nobody saying JBL makes garbage. This, in the face of the high end magazines have mostly black-balled horns in the American market.

I myself have been chastised for using horns, from other manufacturers and customers. So why no negative talk here?

One mention of Magico or Wilson brings out the haters of those saying how bad they are, yet not a nasty word here about horns.

This thread has some good listeners I guess, and open minded people, which is great.

@ Dave_72, Thats a good idea!, bring the amp!, It weighs a whoping 180 pounds!, I am crazy!, I may break the ole back, But for JBLs!, Hell yeah!, Happy listening!

@ Kiddmann, Hi, I know that this thread is stange to you that nobody has said nothing negative!, something you are not aware of with me!, I was a professional musician most of my life!, up an down the east coast and all over Florida!, That said, All musicians know, some of the best sound with live venues was JBLs with Rock, country, etc..., You did not see wilson speakers, Avalon,Revel, etc...The Jbl Horns used on stage out performed literally all the competition!, Now, why in the world would eanybody use something else for the home other than the best horns JBL offers like you have!, I may not can afford what you have!, I will counterplate the next best thing for my amp and system that I can afford in the used market!, with your help and Dave_72s that I believe have alot more exsperience than I do with home use JBLs can help me achieve the realism of being at home on stage again!, Happy listening!

@ kiddmann, I own JBLs L7s now that are not horn speakers that I modified and sound ridiculously great!,I put Taralabs omega jumpers on them and still points ss ultra footers under them, with Taralabs omega gold speaker cables and the Taralabs zero I/c on the Krell 700cx!, I have only been tring to build this system for 13 months!, I should say it may take 3 years to complete!, I want to build a system i can ride off into the sunset with and care less whats better!,but have a world class system!, cheers!

If you want compression driver dynamics but can't spend for some big JBLs some Tannoys can do the trick, or Altec 80x drivers.

You're welcome, Audiolabyrinth. Good luck! And happy listening!

@ kiddmann, I really was looking at the everest 66000 used, what do you think?,, cheers!

I think they are great speakers. Like getting out of the restrained, restricted audiophile box of mostly sleepy speakers. Dynamic, very tonally correct relative to most audiophile speakers, a clear window into the recording, beyond that, into the performers.

Not rough on the highs, but not rolled off at all.....like a studio monitor. So if you have sensitivity to HF you may want to tailor the system to them, especially amp. On the other hand, if Wilsons and Magicos don't hurt your ears you'll likely be fine.

Certainly one of the world's great speakers.

As for used, I would not worry about damage, these are their real pro drivers and nobody's ears I can imagine would put up with what it would take to hurt those drivers. Not kidding, they are essentially limitless in loud playing ability inside a room for anyone except a truly deaf person. I don't play loud, so their appeal to me is not their head banging ability - which they have in spades - but their refinement, ease, flow, dynamics, clarity, beauty of tone.

They are specified in anechoic conditions, and are honest in specs (unlike any auidiophile speaker I can think of) so they have way more bass capability than their specifications would have you believe.

They can be a gentle giant or the most vicious beast you ever dreamed of or anywhere in between. It depends on the source material and how hard you dare to push them.

05-26-13: Kiddman
...

I myself have been chastised for using horns, from other manufacturers and customers. So why no negative talk here?

...

It seems horn speakers in general or (yet) as specialty items are having a more widespread renaissance these latest years or even decade or two, which has brought forth many arguments and clashes with the non-horn "camps." Perhaps as an integral part in the evolution of this clashing-process may have come a new "strategy" from the horn haters, if we will, where silence is the new weapon to, well, mute the horn-loving threads into death, or perhaps even a "let them have their day"-approach reflecting a resignation of sorts to the existence of horn speakers and their growing appeal. The difference may also be rooted in the intertia and, dare I say it, herd behavior where the history of (more or less unreflected) bashing is now slowly dissolving, at least partially, in the face of more people actually hearing a wider range of horn speakers and/or because of said history becoming more overt. There's also the fact that this thread is simply called "Everest dd 66000 speakers" where largely one horn speaker model/type is addressed and not horn speakers in general(see the war-like flaming that has gone on in the "Why not horns?" thread...), which could have a "milding" effect on the reception or lack thereof here. And so on..

That said I'm also very pleased to see one post after the other in this thread with no (as of yet) vicious "horns suck"-remarks following their appearance. I don't own JBL horn speakers myself, but a decade or so ago a series of their (partial-)horn models - in particular the K2 S9800SE, but also S4800 and Array 1400 - caught my interest at hifi shows here in Denmark, where I felt they provided a visceral, effortless and very convincing timbre/tone that went contrary to the dull, too polished and yet strained character, and ultimately unnatural sound that came from most other non-horn alternatives at the shows, as well as outside of the shows. It didn't create an interest in me for JBL speakers in particular, but more on the general field of compressiondriver-driven speakers with larger bass/mid cones. Also I had, and still has(especially with the advent of digitally projected films with lossless 24-bit soundtracks) quite a few, very good audible experiences seeing films at the cinemas, where most if not all larger screens use CD-drivers and larger mid/bass units. I know, these are not speakers made for home use, but still here to be found is an effortless quality with very fine coherency and dynamics that are essential qualities in my ears. Sorry for this last example, hope it didn't throw the credibility of my post all over the wayside...

As is my current speakers use compressiondrivers and 12" bass/mid units, and I wouldn't presume their qualities to be in the same league as the Everest(or K2 S9800/9900's for that matter), but they offer up a sound that gets me past the "sleepy speakers," even very expensive ones, that populate so much of the "hifi" arena. I can neither afford nor house the Everest's, but I'm glad to see their sonic worth being spread on a hifi-forum, and that with a pleasing tone.

Again, I find that the high end JBL horns don't have the typical horn colorations. They're not shouty, spitty, or megaphone-like. It's probably due to that Sonoglass material they use, as well as the overall engineering. When mated with the compression drivers you're hitting a home run.

@ Phusis, I really enjoyed reading your post!, I am sure Kiddmann will have something to say as well!, very interesting all this is to me!, I have owned horn speakers before and loved them!, cheers!

Nicely written Phusus.

Most folks in high end audio listen to equipment to impress themselves with their equipment. Decades in the industry have shown me that must audio guys will spend huge amounts of time trying to educate themselves about equipment but almost no time actually going to concerts or learning about music, its structure, and any other musical details. If they loved music as a first priority I believe they would know more about it, know more about who the greats were, at least know something!

It's really about the equipment and not about real music. The mantra of HP is repeated over and over "...real live unamplified instruments......" but that's lip service.

Most philes who listen to jazz know the sound of a sax from their recordings, and would not know a baritone from a tenor from an alto from a soprano sax....they know what they like coming from their speakers, which has little to do with how close it is to the real thing. And that's OK, if it floats their boats.

But, they have to have strong opinions about what sounds RIGHT, and preach to others,which is where it goes wrong. They don't know much about the sound of music, and don't put much if any effort into learning it. This allows heavily colored equipment to prosper, and dynamically flat equipment to do fine. It allows turntables with horrible speed stability to be declared as reference. Such is the industry.

The 66000 or 67000 is not for everyone, that's fine. Unfortunately, most audiophiles won't notice much of what the JBLs do right, unless a reviewer tells them first. This is what allows the flat, monotonous, strained gear to push better gear to the side. That bothers me because it means that there will be less choice for those of us who really do want the sound of music.

I am glad to see some musicphiles on this thread. Unfortunately, Audiogon is mostly guys who know little preaching to other guys who know little. I'm going to semi-retire from here and go back to music forums. Too frustrating trying to get through to closed minds, this thread and its posters excepted from that comment.

@ kiddmann, Believe me when I say this!, I know what music should sound like, most likly more than most people period!, I spent a couple of decades in live bands!, and went to every kind of genre of music concerts!,I do not go by any reviews period!,LOL!, they are paid to say what the manufacturer says to say!,I have vast exsperience with Pro-JBL Pa speakers!, I have had walls of speakers on both sides of me of JBL speakers!, thousands of watts, pure clear sound!,LOL! Alot better sounding than the most exspensive high-end speakers of the audiophile high-end!,, so yeah, I am open minded!, and know music!, cheers!

Well, there you go, lol. The choice is obvious! :D

Well, I own them, and many others, but I cannot say they are the single best. For me they are one of a small group of best as they have so many very positive traits.

When I go hear direct live music away from any PA my brain spontaneously keeps jumping to thoughts of the Everest. The stick on cymbal, the crack of a snare, the tone, directness, clarity, jump of a sax or trumpet, there are so many things, subtle and not subtle, that the Everest do like live music. And, again, that's live music without PA, so it is not that the PA reminds me of Everest.

Even when I'm in a period of several weeks or months where I'm using another speaker I really enjoy, I have to be honest when I next sit in the listening chair after a concert, and say "I really enjoy this speaker, it's a different flavor, but the Everest is more like what I just heard".

That may not be everyone's goal at home, but I'd say that at the very least it is the mark of a really good speaker.

@ kiddmann, ImHo, Now your talking my language!,LOL! Thats exactly why I want a pair of everest speakers!, you confirmed in your opinion exactly what I wanted to know!you put a very big smile on my face kiddmann!,Thankyou so much!, I have a goal set out for me now!, go audition these speakers!, road trip will be coming soon!, Happy listening!

Big, full range, dynamic sound in a larger room at home generally requires either

1) large full range higher efficiency speakers like the JBL that do not require a lot of power to go deep and loud and clear or

2) smaller less efficient speakers and a high power amp to drive them. High power amps up to the task traditionally large, heavy and expensive, but not longer with newer high efficiency amp technology, like Class D switching amps.

...take your pick.

Smaller rooms at home are less of a challenge, especially if you do not need flat response down to 20 hz. Flat response down to only 50-60 hz or so does not require as much to get the air pressurized as needed, especially in a smaller room.

Luckily, few people have rooms the size of even a small concert venue at home, so that opens up more possibilities in regards to what it takes to sound really good.

Audiolabyrinth, good luck on your trip. And regarding the Everests; if you can afford them why not get them? Life's too short!

I'm in the market. Revel Salon 2s' ,Salk Soundscape 12s or Everest 66s?

Thanks Dave_72, Remember, I will be going for the used 66000 everest speakers that are obtainable in the used market for $25,000.00 to $28,000.00 price range, LOL!, I wished I had stupid money and get the 67000 speakers! We all should envy Kiddmann!, Happy listening!

Audiolabyrinth, I hear ya. What a great value on the used market. Much cheaper than a new pair of K2s! Yeah, I suppose we should envy him. But, you ultimately have to be content with what you have and can't worry about what everyone else has. Otherwise you'd go insane, especially in this hobby. lol. Happy listening to you as well.

@Dentdog: I've only heard the Revel's and JBLs. I'm not familiar with Salk speakers. I've heard of them, but that's about it...

So, between the Revels and JBLs, I prefer the JBLs. Better dynamics and more realism to me.

However, the Revels are a good deal price-wise. Well, in the world of high end audio, that is...

Anyway, those are my thoughts...i would advise you to go out there and hear these speakers in person if you can.

Kiddmann, you out there?, where are you from?, west coast,east, south, north?, I live on the gulf coast!, eanyway, did you own the 66000 speakers before the 67000 speakers?, if so, did you sell your 66000 speakers?, what other JBL speakers do you have exsperience with?, Thankyou!, cheers!

Have been out due to surgery. Soon back on the trail.

Audiolabyrinth, I had 66000 then 67000.

I have absolutely no experience with other JBL speakers.

I have not sold the 66000. I am not going to at this time.

Best of luck in your recovery, Ptss...

@ omsed, What are you talking about?, I have not inquired about any speakers from you,LOL!, I am not ready yet to get my pair of 66000 speakers!, I want to go listen to a pair first!, Thats alot of money even on the used market!I would like to know how the 66000 and 67000 speakers sound against each other and the sound traits each speaker has in your opinion, would be nice to hear from you and your exsperiences with these good speakers, Happy listening!

Thats right! Best of recovery ptss,I enjoy talking to you!,, cheers!

Audiolabyrinth, that's the way to do it; listen and compare, and compare to the competition as well as the other speakers in the JBL Synthesis lineup if possible. And yes, a used pair is a lot of money too. Imo, the list prices on these JBLs are a bit crazy, imo. I feel they're somewhat overpriced for the most part, but a lot of high end audio is like that...and that's another subject for another time!

Omsed = Kiddman or Kiddman = Omsed? LoL

@ Dave_72, You got that shitt right!, out of all high-end, Its the speakers that are over priced, over hyped!, If I did not have to use speakers for sound, LOL!, I would not have them!, Man, I can build better speakers for what they give you for 3 to 4 thousand dollars!My L7s on the used market is'nt high priced at all, cheap as a matter of fact!, However, I would put these speakers up against eany thing out there!, very few would out perform these!,most speakers are toed in to get a sound stage!, what a joke, thats poor imagineing!, my speakers are a measly 5 degrees toed in, nearly none at all, three foot from back walls and side walls, and will kick the crap in performance virtues out of most speakers Iv'e listened to, And man, I have had many years of my fair share of listening to cost no object speakers!, so yep,, over priced and over hyped!Happy listening Dave!

haha yeah, exactly! I believe you 100 percent. A lot of speakers fail to make the grade. No names mentioned!

@ dave_72, I believe we get along just fine!, we agree on alot!,LOL!, Thats the reason I want to hear before I buy when it comes to speakers!, who knows, I might not even like the everest line!, we will see!, however, I know JBL, and the chances of me likeing it would be good!, like you said, Is it worth it though!, how much better than what I have can it be in the money difference?, cheers!

@ Djanggo, Man, I just caught onto your post,LOL!It seems like a possibility that they may be the same person!, Lets find out!, Happy listening!

Audiolabyrinth, that is true! Well, that definitely is the way to go. yeah, you might not. That's why I suggested the K2s or even the S4700s. How much better is really up to you!