H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
I don't think the speaker itself is ugly, but I think everything else about it is vulgar. It actually reminds me of some of the older Kharma speakers which I think were some of the nicest looking speakers ever made. Here are some examples of what I am talking about:


View attachment 43412
Very simple, beautiful cabinets. Nearly perfect industrial speaker design, in my opinion. Kharma would later ruin this aesthetic by making the cabinets a lot busier, but these models from the mid 2010s were really gorgeous in my opinion. I really can't think of any speaker that I think looks nicer.
Huh, I guess I just don't like that look. Never have, I think they are hideous looking.

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pcosmic

pcosmic

Senior Audioholic
While that is an impressive system, don't think that sounds so much better than lower cost stuff. A lot of what you are paying for is aesthetics- it's a beautiful design for sure. Also, a lot of what you are paying for is how things are being done, but not necessarily for the end results. It's similar to a Rolex watch; they aren't very good as pure timepieces, and much of what you are paying for is their intricate mechanical engineering. Any simple Casio Quartz watch is a far more accurate timepiece.

Those Pass Labs amps are nice for sure, but they have no hope of matching the technical performance of a Benchmark AHB2, or a NAD C298, or a Cherry Megaschnino. All of which, although pricey amps, are much less expensive. I have heard Utopias on multiple occasions, and while quite nice, can be matched for sound quality at much lower costs. In fact, the pictured system would be easy to exceed in sound quality at lower costs, for two reasons: the bass drivers are mounted rather high, and that will lead to some ground bounce cancellation. And there are no measures that I see which address room modes, except for that bass trap which probably only addresses issues above 100Hz.

In general, high end gear is just a waste of cash if you don't have a very good room.

I agree that some extremely good sound can be had at a very affordable cost these days. I only say this because of my experience with the Elac Adante. When Elac discontinued that speaker, for instance, the Adante AF-61 floorstanders(5000 MSRP) went for 2500 to 3000/pair!!!! Andrew Jones truly is a bad boy :D and extremely generous for what he offered.

My reference gear is a pair of TAD Evo E1TXK paired with the Luxman C900u+M900u ( never paid full price, got a extraordinary deal on it). The TAD costs magnitudes more than the Adante. But, when i put the Adante on the Luxman stack, holy sht....I know, i know who'd put that luxman stack on a 3000 dollar pair of speakers right.....but, when i did........holy sht....it is a giant killer man.
Anyways, since the Adantes were offered for so cheap, dudes who bought it usually had crappy rooms/crappy electronics and went ...meh.....It's a shame really.

Another affordable stunner that i borrowed/heard recently is the JBL HDI 3800. If it goes on sale, it's a no brainer. But, when it gets discontinued, the lads who are busy buying Klipsch shtboxes would lose another great fkin speaker forever.
 
Old Onkyo

Old Onkyo

Audioholic General
Another affordable stunner that i borrowed/heard recently is the JBL HDI 3800. If it goes on sale, it's a no brainer. But, when it gets discontinued, the lads who are busy buying Klipsch shtboxes would lose another great fkin speaker forever.
Is the sound of the JBL HDI 3800 the same as the 590 series only better, or is it a totally different sound?
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
While that is an impressive system, don't think that sounds so much better than lower cost stuff. A lot of what you are paying for is aesthetics- it's a beautiful design for sure. Also, a lot of what you are paying for is how things are being done, but not necessarily for the end results. It's similar to a Rolex watch; they aren't very good as pure timepieces, and much of what you are paying for is their intricate mechanical engineering. Any simple Casio Quartz watch is a far more accurate timepiece.

Those Pass Labs amps are nice for sure, but they have no hope of matching the technical performance of a Benchmark AHB2, or a NAD C298, or a Cherry Megaschnino. All of which, although pricey amps, are much less expensive. I have heard Utopias on multiple occasions, and while quite nice, can be matched for sound quality at much lower costs. In fact, the pictured system would be easy to exceed in sound quality at lower costs, for two reasons: the bass drivers are mounted rather high, and that will lead to some ground bounce cancellation. And there are no measures that I see which address room modes, except for that bass trap which probably only addresses issues above 100Hz.
I see some nice diffusion pieces including the cloud thing in the ceiling. The first reflection pieces are very interesting too. Agreed that I definitely don’t see any bass traps large enough to be effective down low.
 
Old Onkyo

Old Onkyo

Audioholic General
Did he really just ask this?
yes, I did.

Given your knowledge on the subject you could have answered the question in less keystrokes than it took you to question the veracity of the question. If it’s below your status, I get it. please direct me to the novice page so that I don’t offend your audiophile sensibilities.

Remember, it is through the ignorance of others that your genius is made obvious...
 
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pcosmic

pcosmic

Senior Audioholic
Is the sound of the JBL HDI 3800 the same as the 590 series only better, or is it a totally different sound?
My son has the 590 and my memory is rusty on it now. Unfortunately, i didn't get a chance to haul the 590 into my music room (the good acoustics room) and put it on the luxman stack. So, i am afraid i don't have a fair comparison.

But, i can safely say that speakers like the Adante and HDI 3800 can be end game speakers for many dudes, i.e., they only get better and better when there's a chance to improve room acoustics and electronics. The $$$$ speakers out there didn't seem to do anything much better when the same amount of attention is paid to these relatively affordable speakers. That is my personal definition for giant killers.

When a dealer is trying to sell you a $$$$$ speaker and says you need these $$$$$ electronics to bring out the best in them, you oughta say 'fck off' and put more affordable speakers on the same electronics in a good room. That's when grand truths shall be revealed a.k.a you realize how much bang you're actually getting for your buck on a speaker.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Is the sound of the JBL HDI 3800 the same as the 590 series only better, or is it a totally different sound?
The sound of the HDI speakers is likely to be noticeably better than the Studio series (although that is speculation on my part since I have not heard or measured the Studio series). The reason is that the HDI speakers are using much superior drivers, a lot more is going on with its crossover, and it has a far more sophisticated waveguide. The HDI speaker measure ruler flat in a way that I would guess the Studio series could not match. The HDI speakers will have a lot more dynamic range and I think they would be quite a bit more neutral as well.

By the way, Gene asked that very question in his interview with Jim Garret at Harman. It's a great overview of the HDI series and worth your time if you are interested in that product line.
 
Old Onkyo

Old Onkyo

Audioholic General
The sound of the HDI speakers is likely to be noticeably better than the Studio series (although that is speculation on my part since I have not heard or measured the Studio series). The reason is that the HDI speakers are using much superior drivers, a lot more is going on with its crossover, and it has a far more sophisticated waveguide. The HDI speaker measure ruler flat in a way that I would guess the Studio series could not match. The HDI speakers will have a lot more dynamic range and I think they would be quite a bit more neutral as well.

By the way, Gene asked that very question in his interview with Jim Garret at Harman. It's a great overview of the HDI series and worth your time if you are interested in that product line.
Thanks Shady.
 
M

MTVhike

Audioholic Intern
Well, I remember reading a question in a well-known magazine (High Fidelity?) which was: "How much should I spend for my HiFi system?" The answer was "Somewhere between the price of your car the the price of your house". And that was in the '60s, when the system was a turntable, maybe a RtR tape recorder, a preamp, an amp, and a speaker-system. Oh, maybe also an FM tuner.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
For the low, low price of a quarter million dollars, you can own a pair of 6 foot black penises! You will be the "envy" of all your friends! (and yes, this is a real product)


View attachment 43379
I wonder if rich celebrities even have these speakers?? Who else can afford them just top 10% of worlds richest people .. no one else


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Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Not only are these about the most expensive speakers I've heard of, they look like they've been beat hard with the ugly stick...

1212hart.promo_.jpg


5 million with the gold finish!!

 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Not only are these about the most expensive speakers I've heard of, they look like they've been beat hard with the ugly stick...

View attachment 44256

5 million with the gold finish!!

But those are really good tweeters.

Just sayin'.
 
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