JBL K2 5500 anyone?

The reason is that the bass only goes to about 33hz. therefore not overpowering the smaller rooms. At RMAF, the 9900 K2's in the trailer sounded MUCH better than the Everests in the main building. In fact, I almost bought the 9900's, which have yet to make it to the JBL website, for some reason.

I've noticed on Agon that some people are pretty "proud" of their 20 yr-old JBLs trying to get 3 and 4 times what they originally cost- they have remained unsold for quite a while now. Guess they really don't want to sell them....

Antonkk- The story I got from the Harmon Kardon people at RMAF was that if they made the bass go lower, it would lower the speaker "efficiency" and sound disjointed from the rest of the horns. Not sure that I buy it, but that was their story and I'm pretty sure they're sticking to it...

It would seem that with all their research in their facility in Cali, someone would be able to figure it out, just as other manufacturers have. Since they do so much business in Japan, maybe their business model is set the way things are. If would seems like if they want to penetrate the US floorstanding speaker market, hopefully they realize the bass needs to go lower. It seems ridiculous to need a sub with full-range JBLs - I told them that at RMAF and got a shoulder shrug. The lack of bass extension is what kept me from a purchase right then and there.

Despite the above 2 comments, 35hz is not very low for a full-range speaker, especially at that price point, IMO. Its high enough to make me lose interest, at least at this point. And yes, there are many movies and CDs that go below 35hz without blasting, depending upon the quality of your system.

Shadorne - you raise a good point. Not sure about the 5500s. but the K2 9900s I heard at RMAF were pretty impressive.

Antonkk - You won't really know anything until you try them in your system and you may very well love them, if they are in good condition. I would be wary if the seller won't let you try them first. Depending upon the price, maybe you could offer to pay a small amount to be credited towards the purchase price if you decided to buy them, sort of like the Cable Company does? At least them he could see you are serious and that might change his attitude. Good luck.