Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Looking around online, the price seems to be $600/pair.

In an age where everyone and their uncle is a 'reviewer', that just talks about how great each product they get sounds, this is what a real review is. I was there listening to them with you and can tell which speakers you mentioned would likely do best with which amp I'd use.

And at the same time it is reviews like this that make me want to go out and listen to more speakers, to experience them in person. I miss the days when audio stores were all over and I could stop by and check them out. I spent a couple hours picking out the first speakers I ever bought and I still have them and use them daily, thirty years later. No online purchase has ever lasted me that long.

That might be the first time Beachy Head was ever used in an audiophile review! I hope you listened to "Hot on the Heels of Love" as well.

... might be the Studio 590 speakers, presently on sale for $1,000/pair.

https://www.jbl.com/loudspeakers/STUDIO+590.html?cgid=loudspeakers&dwvar_STUDIO%20590_color=Black-USA-Support#start=1

Definitely $600 a pair

Your darn Toot'n!

Because:

1.) Loudspeakers are expensive to ship properly, wreaking havoc on their re-sale values. My Oldest Son just purchased a Mint Pair of OHM Walsh 2 Loudspeakers, at a Garage Sale, for $125. Another Son bought a nice pair of 3.3 Magnepans from a Pawn Shop where they collected dust for a few months.

2.) There are closets full of useful Electronics made available on eBay.

3.) High Quality Music Sources are now easily accessible for any Library Member.

4.) A dam nice "Audiophile" Grade Audio System is within reach of anyone that has a stable home and time to listen. ( not having to work 3 jobs )

5.) All for dirt Cheap!!!

I can recall when any decent System would have a Starting Price of $5,000.

6.) Now, an Apple Computer, Schiit Asgard 2, a $100 DAC and a Pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones will reliably achieve $50,000 Big System Sound Quality. ( without the chest thumping bass, of course )

This is the "best time ever" , no doubt about it, especially compared to what we had to go thru from 1950 to 2010.

Now we even have reliable guidance from Stereophile's best writers & reviewers. We NEVAH had that before.

It's a Great Time to be an Audiophile!!!

Tony in Venice

I'm about one hour south of these lads via I75 interstate.

Here in Florida, from now on, I'm bicycle, which confines me to an approx. 20 mile radius, or so.

Of course I still Fly, with two nearby International Airports .

Thank you for pointing out this Musical Event.

However, I'm transportation support for the Bernie Sander's Campaign and things are beginning to get busy for all of us.

Still:

I'm anxious to subscribe to Tampa's Music scene. I'm hunting for a kindred spirit here in Venice. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for taking the time to write.

Tony in Venice

Just remember, here in Florida, you're not a pedestrian or bicylist. You're a target. For cel phones driving around, with human things attached.

Mr. Reichert - Great piece as usual. Really digging the structure and how you showed what was compared to what. You are 110% correct: reviews and measurements are "meaningless abstractions" until confirmed by the listener's own experience. I hope I can hear these (and everything else you review) someday! Will you get a second Schiit Aegir to play in mono style? It could make for an interesting followup!

1

Thank you for another entertaining and informative review. You are truly one of the very best writers on audio ever. The review confirms my contemporary experience that we are in a golden age for high value hi-fi products, particularly speakers. I remember attending a presentation in the 2000s by an elite US based speaker manufacturer (still in business). The representative was advocating spending 75% of a system's cost on speakers. I wonder if he still has the same opinion. My DAC, preamp and power amp in combination are worth more than three times the price of my speakers. After many years in the hobby I've found a system that I have no intention of changing.

The port tuning frequency of this JBL is quite high compared to that of another 2.5way tall-boy (not very tall indeed) speaker reviewed by Stereophile, Spendor D7.

Surprised that JA didn't mention the sawtooth response from 10k to 20kHz. Can't imagine that helps the speaker's tonality.

B&h in NYC sold me a pair for $423.