2. speakers
  3. 1448041380

Soliciting Upgrade Advice

I’ve been reading numerous threads on this forum in an attempt to isolate what would generally be regarded as the “best” pair of speakers in the 5K range. I understand that “best” in this context can be both subjective and objective. I listen to two channel only. While my primary musical preference is Grateful Dead, on occasion I’ve been known to throw on Mozart.

I currently have JBL S412P speakers and recently bought an M6si amp. Now before you guys trash the speakers (because I realize it may be a stretch to even consider them audiophile grade), I can tell you I’ve listened to quite a few speakers in my day, including the relatively new to market Golden Ear Triton One’s, and I still feel the 412s hold their own (if not sound even better). And yes, I know that there are Von Schweikerts to be had at 50K and even JBL makes an Everest model at a 50K price point, unfortunately that’s out of my reach.

Also, I’m told the JBL Array 1400 can annihilate the 412s. While that may be true, spec wise it doesn’t appear that way. I’m not simply looking for speakers to handle more wattage. The Array 1400’s appear to me at face value to be more-of-the-same (with respect to the 412s).

So, my dilemma – although it’s not a bad one to have – is because I’m budget constrained to 5K, do I stay with my JBL S412Ps or should I “upgrade” and if so, to what?
gdhal

Showing 1 response by dhl93449

dhl93449
455 posts
 
Gdhal:

Since you are a JBL guy I'll contribute to your quandary as I myself was a JBL user for many years.

In the late 70's I purchased some L212s, and modded them by time aligning the drivers. While not the most "timbre" accurate they imaged like crazy and had dynamics to die for. But time and smog took their toll and the surrounds disintegrated, forcing me to look for an alternative.

Zd won't like this but I ended up with B&W 804S which retained many of the things I like about the JBLs. They do not image quite as well, but dynamic range is great, and I began hearing things in program material I did not hear with the JBLs. For the money you are talking about, used B&W s might be an option.

And regarding specs, they are basically meaningless. I time aligned the drivers in my L212s and that did not alter the specs 1 dB, but the difference is sound stage depth and imaging was incomparable.
More to discover