So JBL sent me a sales email for the 4th and in it were a pair of speakers originally $299 for all of $44 a pair with free shipping...2-ways with 5.5" woofers. How can one go wrong with some brand spanking new JBL's for $44. They should be here on Friday and I am so curious. I mean even if you just wanted to put some tunes in your garage.
Sounds like a nice promotion.....are you able to demo them and return if they're a train wreck? - Buck
Sounds like they are pushing off their duds at cost. No company ever does the consumer any favors, just themselves. Good luck, if nothing else you can sell them at a small profit.
It would be hard to go wrong for $40. All of my headphones cost more than that. I have a pair of ES-20s that my wife and I like as they drive our bedroom TV system and make TV watching much better for only $129 a pair. The larger ES-30s are only $199 and both are 3-ways. We'll see.
I have a small, old, 40 watt/ch Pioneer integrated amp with a built in phono stage and a Sony Carousel Cd player sitting in the corner in need of some speakers. Here they come. For $40 why not? Who knows, I may end up giving it away to someone in need of a stereo.
The sale didn't last long and my Loft 40s came today. For $48 I am very pleased. The speakers are small, just under a foot tall, 6" wide x 8" deep. I hooked them up to my Denon DRA 397 and put on Mary Chapin Carpenter's Songs From The Movie and just closed my eyes. They sound remarkably good for what they are. I would assume that they were meant to be some rear or side speaker in a 7.1 of 9.1 system as they come with integrated wall brackets, except the port is on the back so that won't work. I don't think that the original $299 price was realistic and why they probably were closing them out for $44 and $3+ for GA tax. Shipping was free. For all of $48 I'm satisfied. They are not the quality of the ES line (I have a pair of ES-20s in a bedroom system), but they were $129. I think t6he ES-30s for $199 would be a great buy. Bigger woofer, but the ES are 3-way designs. For use in a little school system they will be fine.
For $44 it sure is. I can now get a sense of how many like the little Harbeth 3s. Not great bass, but very good none the less.
So I listened to them for 2 days and really like them for how ridiculously small they are, just under 1 foot tall by 6" wide and 7.5 deep. Think Harbeth P3ESR size, but just a touch smaller. Close your eyes and it is hard to believe what you are hearing coming from those little cabinets. Once I put back my larger and much heavier old AR-15s (4 times as heavy) it was not so much the presentation, but the sense of scale of the music and the idea of real musicians in a much larger space. The bass was fuller as it should be from a 6.5" woofer, but still a 2-way system. It was easy to come to grips with what Art Dudley of Stereophile always calls that sense of scale his Altec Valencia's have for him. Of course I can always go to my old 3-way AR-58's with their 12" woofer if I really want scale, but that is not really a fair fight, but the little JBLs fought it was pretty well for all of $44. I am glad that before AR went away they made the AR-58's in the early 80's, that last visage of the famed AR-3a and I was smart enough to buy them. They would sell many of them today if they were available I believe. I feel the same way about my Large Advents that I listen to everyday. These little JBL speakers with a 12" sub would be really something and that I might try this year. They are affordable off the JBL website as well.
Nice - that is ridiculously cheap. I just heard a pair of gigantic old school 43XX series in a record store here connected to a ridiculous array of McIntosh gear and it sounded really good - surprised me a bit because of the old JBL reputation but not bright at all and sounded really warm and dynamic - heard a new pair with a really funky looking cabinet and it sounded excellent for the money - BUT I don't know how the looks of them will go over - it was called the 5XX something floorstander. I think these guys may have been a bit underrated over the years. People dropping $2k for dynamically inept 4 inch woofers blathering about soundstage and imaging - probnably because that's the "only" thing going for them. The funny thing is those $44 speakers are probably not THAT far off. I'd really like to try something like this at home - using today's better SET amplifiers - just to see .... hmmmmm
I saw that my sale speakers were back up at $299, so I'm glad I made the move. If I was buy some small bookshelf speakers I would sure look that the ES-30s for $199. I know you would not be disappointed. They sure have a bunch of models at good prices for the budget conscious...like me. I'm still very happy for what my $44 bought me. I really need to find and take the time to go hear the Harbeth P3ERS at some point. It would be nice to see how they sound for $2K.
Jim, If you really want a pair of P3's, haunt Audiogon. They come up in spurts but they usually sell fast for the $1.6k-1.7k range depending on age, finish etc. I had the P3ES for years and loved them and at some point would like to get another pair.
