Awesome Deals For JBL And Infinity Speakers!! (Thru June 30th)

[ryanosaur]

The best part is it uses the same compression driver as the rest of the 5 series (altho I saw something recently that contradicted the info I got from Harman/JBL on that point for the Studio 5 series). How big is the HDI center?

HDI-4500 | 2 ½-way Quadruple 5.25-inch (130mm) Center Channel Loudspeaker

Designed and engineered in JBL’s world-famous acoustic engineering facility in Northridge, California, the HDI-4500 is the anchor of a complete HDI Series surround system. This center channel loudspeaker features a 2 ½-way design with patented High-Definition Imaging (HDI™) horn geometry, the...

www.jblsynthesis.com

4 Mid-woofs big.

 

[Mark E. Long]

The best part is it uses the same compression driver as the rest of the 5 series (altho I saw something recently that contradicted the info I got from Harman/JBL on that point for the Studio 5 series). How big is the HDI center?

It’s about the size of the RC263 in appearance I’d say maybe a little bigger with way better drivers than the studio 5 center but it’s a good deal more expensive too . I’d say something is amiss with it for sure I’ve never seen anybody want to run out and add one lol . I’ve seen them go for just over a 100 bucks on eBay always thought wtf is up with that .
Most all the other centers in there lines are very good if not a little to forward sounding to me but that’s easy to tame . I’d like to here the new one I got with your 590’s too .

 

[Mark E. Long]

HDI-4500 | 2 ½-way Quadruple 5.25-inch (130mm) Center Channel Loudspeaker

Designed and engineered in JBL’s world-famous acoustic engineering facility in Northridge, California, the HDI-4500 is the anchor of a complete HDI Series surround system. This center channel loudspeaker features a 2 ½-way design with patented High-Definition Imaging (HDI™) horn geometry, the...

www.jblsynthesis.com

4 Mid-woofs big.

I almost bought that but got a deal on the Array 880 center. I do like the looks of the HDI though. And have no doubt it sound good too .Crutchfield has them for $ 1.750.00 I think .

 

[lovinthehd]

It’s about the size of the RC263 in appearance I’d say maybe a little bigger with way better drivers than the studio 5 center but it’s a good deal more expensive too . I’d say something is amiss with it for sure I’ve never seen anybody want to run out and add one lol . I’ve seen them go for just over a 100 bucks on eBay always thought wtf is up with that .
Most all the other centers in there lines are very good if not a little to forward sounding to me but that’s easy to tame . I’d like to here the new one I got with your 590’s too .

The RC263 is significantly larger than the 520c cabinet as well as the drivers; being a 3-way is a difference as well. I paid $150 on one of those great Harman sales on the RC263; I paid somewhere around $200 initially for a used 520c in comparison. No issues with panning sounds on the front either....

 

[Verdinut]

Times have changed. In the 1660-70's, JBL were building home speakers using 15 inch woofers.

The Olympus S8R system was for several audiophiles and Hi-Fi experts, the best JBL loudspeaker ever built for home use. The 15" cones are nowadays mostly used for subwoofers. Here are photos of the S8R cabinets:

JBL Olympus S8R

:(Please help me find out is JBL Olympus have this look of grills

www.audioheritage.org

 

[ryanosaur]

I almost bought that but got a deal on the Array 880 center. I do like the looks of the HDI though. And have no doubt it sound good too .Crutchfield has them for $ 1.750.00 I think .

Still wish JBL would do a legit 3-way for the US market. Tower and Center. And on the more affordable side rather than at a luxury level.
Affordable to me is Towers (flagship) at $4-5K per pair, max. That is still a lot of money. I get it. But over 10 years, which a Speaker investment should be looked at imo, it's not that big a deal.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Times have changed. In the 1660-70's, JBL were building home speakers using 15 inch woofers.

The Olympus S8R system was for several audiophiles and Hi-Fi experts, the best JBL loudspeaker ever built for home use. The 15" cones are nowadays mostly used for subwoofers. Here are photos of the S8R cabinets:

View attachment 50334View attachment 50335

JBL Olympus S8R

:(Please help me find out is JBL Olympus have this look of grills

www.audioheritage.org

I’ve always wondered what these sounded like that mid range lens and bullet tweeter always caught my eye .

 

[lovinthehd]

Times have changed. In the 1660-70's, JBL were building home speakers using 15 inch woofers.

The Olympus S8R system was for several audiophiles and Hi-Fi experts, the best JBL loudspeaker ever built for home use. The 15" cones are nowadays mostly used for subwoofers. Here are photos of the S8R cabinets:

View attachment 50334View attachment 50335

JBL Olympus S8R

:(Please help me find out is JBL Olympus have this look of grills

www.audioheritage.org

You can still get the larger/capable JBL stuff in the cinema type setups.....and not that badly priced, altho aesthetics for a typical living room wouldn't be an option for many

 

[Verdinut]

I’ve always wondered what these sounded like that mid range lens and bullet tweeter always caught my eye .

I might have listened to them in a store decades ago. My best friend who had managed two specialized audio shops in Montreal, told me that they were JBL's best speakers at the time. They were the only ones that he rated better than the Altec A7 "Voice of the Theater" speaker components.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Still wish JBL would do a legit 3-way for the US market. Tower and Center. And on the more affordable side rather than at a luxury level.
Affordable to me is Towers (flagship) at $4-5K per pair, max. That is still a lot of money. I get it. But over 10 years, which a Speaker investment should be looked at imo, it's not that big a deal.

I agree to that I’ve had my first pair of hp-520’s for twenty years they were originally a 1.200 apiece speaker and out of my range they are 4 ways and use pro grade components so got them on a store going out of business sale for half off so 20 years later there still in spec and I have to say very well built .
Jbl’s older centers the LC-2 and LC-1 are good centers as are the original studio centers the curved front 3 ways seems to be there game except the LC-2 is a 4 way I used it for years it is very bright and forward sounding to me . Yea 4 to 5 grand is end game for me and it definitely should last 10 to 15 years .
With the compression driver tech they have now I guess I kind of understand the 2.5 idea they have now if the HDI’s sound anything like the Array 880 but it is a 3 way too I run sweeps threw it and it seems to have no limit to the top end at all . It’s definitely end Game Center for me .

 

[Mark E. Long]

You can still get the larger/capable JBL stuff in the cinema type setups.....and not that badly priced, altho aesthetics for a typical living room wouldn't be an option for many

Yes I’ve run across a lot of there bigger cinema stuff for sale a lot really but it’s not wife friendly lol but if I had a room I give them a shot .

 

[Mark E. Long]

I might have listened to them in a store decades ago. My best friend who had managed two specialized audio shops in Montreal, told me that they were JBL's best speakers at the time. They were the only ones that he rated better than the Altec A7 "Voice of the Theater" speaker components.

I found a pair of Altec’s on eBay with the bass cabs and huge horn from a theater there very large not really home friendly lol
I always herd good things about all the older jbl and Altec’s from that era hey it’s what built the brand and for good reason.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Times have changed. In the 1660-70's, JBL were building home speakers using 15 inch woofers.

The Olympus S8R system was for several audiophiles and Hi-Fi experts, the best JBL loudspeaker ever built for home use. The 15" cones are nowadays mostly used for subwoofers. Here are photos of the S8R cabinets:

View attachment 50334View attachment 50335

JBL Olympus S8R

:(Please help me find out is JBL Olympus have this look of grills

www.audioheritage.org

This is an interesting read when you click on the link thanks for posting this !

 

[Verdinut]

I found a pair of Altec’s on eBay with the bass cabs and huge horn from a theater there very large not really home friendly lol
I always herd good things about all the older jbl and Altec’s from that era hey it’s what built the brand and for good reason.

I had three Altec A7 VOTT enclosures as front speakers in my HT several years ago. Here is one of them:

I was building speakers then and preparing to replace them with small midbass drivers, a Air Motion Transformer tweeter and a 15" Dayton sub as woofer.

You can see my 7 channel system with the new drivers:

My 7 Channel System

SYSTEM: MARANTZ SR5010, 3 QSC DCA 1222 AMPS. DRIVING THE FRONT CHANNELS IN ACTIVE BI-AMP CONFIG. QSC DCA 1824 (4 CH. AMP.) FOR SURROUND CHANNELS OPPO BDP-95, REVOX B77, TEAC AN-80 (NR), AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-LP1240, SHURE M97XE, HITACHI HCA-8300, PANASONIC TH-50PZ80U, FURMAN PS-8R, APC H15 FRONT...

forums.audioholics.com

 

[Mark E. Long]

I had three Altec A7 VOTT enclosures as front speakers in my HT several years ago. Here is one of them:
View attachment 50337

I was building speakers then and preparing to replace them with small midbass drivers, a Air Motion Transformer tweeter and a 15" Dayton sub as woofer.

You can see my 7 channel system with the new drivers:

My 7 Channel System

SYSTEM: MARANTZ SR5010, 3 QSC DCA 1222 AMPS. DRIVING THE FRONT CHANNELS IN ACTIVE BI-AMP CONFIG. QSC DCA 1824 (4 CH. AMP.) FOR SURROUND CHANNELS OPPO BDP-95, REVOX B77, TEAC AN-80 (NR), AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-LP1240, SHURE M97XE, HITACHI HCA-8300, PANASONIC TH-50PZ80U, FURMAN PS-8R, APC H15 FRONT...

forums.audioholics.com

That’s a very nice system I reall love the big Altec’s how did the sound as a front stage I can only imagine the detail from this . And your thoughts on the newer upgrades I’ve read good things about the Air Motion tweeters. You’ve put your work in that’s not something you put together over night nicely done . I’d love to here it !