Ok, I'm on pair 2 of the vintage JBL species and I'm not really sure why there is such a buzz around these speakers. They sound good, but the jagoffs putting their resale into the roof need to have their ears checked. I'm going to give a quick review here of what I'm listening to.
Set-up:
Musichall MMF5-to-Yamaha C-2-to-Carver TFM 22-to JBL L166 HORIZON
These speakers have a very "open" sound. Like a rubber band thats been stretched a few thousand times. Like an engine with 500,000 miles on it. Just very easy. Like a street corner sweet-heart. Like a hotdog down a hallway.
Now....
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Well, when it comes to sound it is not necessarily a bad thing.
The sound emulated by your stereo should NEVER sound too tight and pressurized. It should sound smooth, affortless and completely guided by the music, right? Like a finely tuned sports car cruising at 70mph on clear pavement.
I think this is what JBL was going for (the sports car analogy). Here's where they F'd up.
They sound like a v6 mustang on ice. Follow? They have almost all the grit, balls, power to get the job done, but when all those are put into action they slide around and sound sloppy.
The highs aren't very crisp.
The mids aren't accurate.
The Lows are booming in the upper octaves and lacking in the lower.
The soundstage is decent when I sit directly between the two with my head cocked at precisely at 13.76 degrees.
Quite a bash,eh?
Not my intent, but based on all the hype these vintage speakers get, I expected more!!
These are all in all decent sounding speakers, but they are by and by not worth their reputation!!