Over the years, I have been chopping and changing my system every few months. Somethings have stayed over the years like my SP 10 mk2 and Gale speakers . Admittedly, I love vintage Audio stuff. You name it, speakers, amp and even CD players. Moved to a new home recently and I finally got a dedicated music room. All this ( surprisingly ) with the wife's approval. 

I just unloaded my stuff in the room in the beginning and was trying to decide on what to keep and which to sell. The first pic was for the first 3 months or so. I was kind of enjoying the madness. 

Now coming back to the topic,  I have listened to a few pairs JBLs over the years and was never impressed. They were mostly bookshelves and maybe a couple of floorstanders( don't  remember the model number). All I knew was ,they were never going to be in my listening room.

I have mostly owned bookshelves but thought it was time to try some floorstanders instead.  

Then it had to happen. Came across a pair of high end JBLs for sale locally. They were fairly large floorstanders and looked nice. The owner was nearby but  was away for 2 weeks , so had to wait till he got back for an audition. In the interim, I kept telling myself to look at others. With a healthy budget, I looked at  Sonus Faber and the 800 series B&Ws. And also looking at SNA classifieds daily. 

Nothing eventuated and so after 2 weeks, I had a listen to the JBls. 

Now I can say that I OWN a pair of JBL S4700. Wow, simply wow. There is something I have never experienced before amazingly defined midrange with a bass that rattles my gonads. I couldn't have been more happier to be proven wrong about JBLs. New JBL fanboy here!

I currently run them with Consonance Cyber 880 ( KT 150 version ) - 100w a channel and a Sony 502 ES CD player ( my most favourite player), Consonance Cd payer and the Sp 10 via Vincent phono stage. The Squeezebox for streaming. 

All seems fantastic now but feel I would like a modern SS amp in the setup. Anyway, enjoying it till I get the bug to upgrade.. maybe to the another pair  JBLs? 

As a fellow high end JBL user (K2 S9900) I'd say you have great taste. 😄

 

Don't be afraid to toe the 4700s in a bit to dial in the imaging a little.

 

They do sound great, a mate has pair, and don't mind being too close to a wall which is nice.

 

In terms of amplification, although they are efficient, they will take a lot of juice (and will get up and dance) if you can spare it. 

On 07/05/2022 at 2:22 PM, BugPowderDust said:

As a fellow high end JBL user (K2 S9900) I'd say you have great taste. 😄

 

Don't be afraid to toe the 4700s in a bit to dial in the imaging a little.

 

They do sound great, a mate has pair, and don't mind being too close to a wall which is nice.

 

In terms of amplification, although they are efficient, they will take a lot of juice (and will get up and dance) if you can spare it. 

 

The K2s would be next but not for a while. Will need a bigger room for that. I'll try toeing it this  weekend and get back. The consonance puts out 100w a channel and am enjoying it so far. Any suggestions for a SS amp? 

 

Well, the JBLs like lots of power to come alive.

My k2s are rated at 500w but I have them on a pair of mc1201 Mcintosh monoblocks. 1.2kw per side. When I’m giving them the beans I see them approach 800w with some regularity. No chance of clipping there for me though. The amps will do 1.5kw+ into 8 ohm.

 

I’d look for something rated at least at 500w per side and with good current delivery.

1 hour ago, BugPowderDust said:

My k2s ... approach 800w with some regularity.

Holy Cow! Your ears must end up looking much like your avatar! What SPLs do you reckon that gets to?

I don't juice mine, but I can firmly recommend a power amp that would appear to be completely over-the-top power wise.

 

Power increases exponentially (10dB = 10 times = sounds twice as loud, because ears are logarithmic to) , so it's easy to go from 1 to 10 to 100 to 1000 watts on some material.

 

My 900wpc into 4ohm amp barely gets warm even driving my grossly insensitive speakers; it's happy just dawdling along with no stress whatsoever.  An amp is at its sweetest when it is not gasping for air.

On 07/05/2022 at 11:01 AM, hellzigha said:

New JBL fanboy here!

 

Nothing wrong with JBLs.  The company has not been around for this long without knowing something about speakers.  I have used them for a wide range of applications, from guitar through to bluetooth speakers and headphones.

2 hours ago, BugPowderDust said:

My k2s are rated at 500w but I have them on a pair of mc1201 Mcintosh monoblocks. 1.2kw per side. When I’m giving them the beans I see them approach 800w with some regularity. No chance of clipping there for me though. The amps will do 1.5kw+ into 8 ohm.

 

I remember JBL guitar speakers with a warranty that basically said you could not burn out the voice coil, and if you did, they'd fix it.  Of course this was before kilowatt SS amps existed.  

1 hour ago, ICUToo said:

Holy Cow! Your ears must end up looking much like your avatar! What SPLs do you reckon that gets to?

I'd say 110 dB+ isn't unheard of here. It's not sustained for hours at a time, but when you are in the mood, it's nice to be able to stretch their legs.

 

53 minutes ago, aechmea said:

An amp is at its sweetest when it is not gasping for air.

Indeed. Headroom is a wonderful thing.

 

39 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

Nothing wrong with JBLs.  The company has not been around for this long without knowing something about speakers.  I have used them for a wide range of applications, from guitar through to bluetooth speakers and headphones.

There's a hell of a difference from their Synthesis series stuff and what you can buy for a few hundred bucks at JB. That said, it's often hard for people to view, let alone listen to their top end stuff in this country. I find it bananas that it's easier to find a Magico dealer than it is to find a JBL Synthesis dealer in this country. 

.... and then someone posts these for sale today: 

 

I haven't tried the Michi's but they seem ok spec wise. One you should take a look at is the Bryston  7B monos or perhaps the Musical Fidelity M8 700 monos.

 

Both in the used market will be circa the Michi's price but with a lot more going on. The Bryston's have a transferrable 20 year warranty which is magic.

 

The Sanders Magtech gets a good rep by many here too...  Well worth a look.

ah just saw your X5 is an integrated. I never like to mix functional stuff together in the one box, separate preamp, separate dac, separate amplification is my preferred way.

 

Integrateds tend to be a compromise in many cases. Less power than separate power amps, just so they can shove it all in the same box. That said, the specs on the Michi don't seem horrible.

 

Have you taken a look at the Anthem STR Integrated?