Old school hi fi systems

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Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Is JBL still the indestructible commercial grade stuff they used to be,or have they gone department store mass-fi?


JBL like a lot of companies has been acquired and part of an international conglomerate, heck, like a lot of companies now, you never know who owns who.
To me, I think they are much more of a mass market consumer part of the market place as far as in the consumer division. They still make some really good higher end consumer products but there used to be a time when everything was higher end, now its a mix of lower end bluetooth speakers to higher end stuff, in the higher end, the JBL "sound" is still there and we really enjoy that on our center channel speaker of our home theater. One never knows where Harmon is taking JBL, of which, Harmon is part of Samsung!
It looks like more and more lower end consumer goods which I guess makes sense if you want to make money.

With that said, yes, they still have a commercial division.

High end audio used to be a specialty, streaming and MP3s became "the thing" a step down from CD's, Digital tape and even analog turntables. The public in general (not all but most) no longer strives for perfection.

"JBL is an American company that manufactures audio equipment, including loudspeakers and headphones. There are two independent divisions within the company; JBL Consumer produces audio equipment for the consumer home market, while the JBL Professional produces professional equipment for the studio, installed sound, tour sound, portable sound (production and DJ), and cinema markets. JBL is owned by Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of South Korean company Samsung Electronics."

Source and History - Click


I remember when it was the James B Lansing-Alec Lansing Co. it was uber expensive high end equipment. I think the first sign of going cheap mass fi I remember was seeing the Altec name at Walmart.
 
Not the best picture but this is my realistic receiver from the late 70s. I bought it like 6 years ago and it's been great. I use it with a small pair of bookshelf speakers that had great reviews for a cheap set. Much better than an overpriced minisystem.

IMAG0006.jpg
 
Caprice-
Agree and awesome idea, without question I am sure you system beats any mini system on the market, bar none, most likely many larger systems too. (you got me thinking now)

*L* I got a laugh out of "where's the remote" !
 
I have a Carver 6250 receiver and ADC 303AX speakers in my garage. The system still sounds decent.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
[Linked Image]

My early 80's pioneer system. Thing still rocks. Hooked up to JBL 112 studio monitors.


Nice!
 
I FEEL you on that. Kept mine that I bought in Guam back in 83. I've had to re-cone the bass and mids, but other than that, they have been and still are, nothing short of excellence.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
[Linked Image]

My early 80's pioneer system. Thing still rocks. Hooked up to JBL 112 studio monitors.


Nice! I have three of those Pioneer Dynamic Processors hooked up simultaneously to mine
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Originally Posted by Schmoe
I FEEL you on that. Kept mine that I bought in Guam back in 83. I've had to re-cone the bass and mids, but other than that, they have been and still are, nothing short of excellence.

Picked mine up at AFB Kadena, Okinawa about the same year.
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Originally Posted by Schmoe
I FEEL you on that. Kept mine that I bought in Guam back in 83. I've had to re-cone the bass and mids, but other than that, they have been and still are, nothing short of excellence.

Picked mine up at AFB Kadena, Okinawa about the same year.
frown.gif
 
I've always wanted a pair of North American Sound Studio Monitors. Those things are rare as hen's teeth!! They were a Dallas based company who designed and made the cabinets and used Electro Voice drivers (two horns and one 15 inch accordion edged woofer). Those things sounded great!! Made around 1984-85 I think.
 
Another part of the hi-fi era were the stores that sold the top brands. In the Seattle area Magnolia was one such store. You could go in and check out the latest equipment and just drool. There were other stores as well. Some had real nice listening rooms where you brought in your own music and listened to it on stuff you couldn't afford.

Then the chains came in and took over.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Another part of the hi-fi era were the stores that sold the top brands. In the Seattle area Magnolia was one such store. You could go in and check out the latest equipment and just drool. There were other stores as well. Some had real nice listening rooms where you brought in your own music and listened to it on stuff you couldn't afford.


Haha yep I remember those days well!! The local mom and pop stereo shops that had the ultra high end stuff!! We'd go in there and knew we were only dreaming.
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm

Nice! I have three of those Pioneer Dynamic Processors hooked up simultaneously to mine
laugh.gif



I got two RG-2's total, and the reverb unit that came from that same generation. Never got why some wanted the reverb, I never used it. On the RG-2, I'm actually running it as a pre-amp before it plugs back into the amp. It self adjusts with volume. Find that it gives better range when you crank it up to about 10W's or more. Now, at low volume, doesn't really do a whole lot.
 
Malo83Picked mine up at AFB Kadena said:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/graemlins/frown.gif[/IMG]

Never made it there, but took a lot of EML flights out of Andersen to Hickam.
 
Originally Posted by Malo83
My big regret, selling my JBL L112 speakers
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I still have my JBL 4311 studio monitors but they don't make good home theater speakers so they are all boxed up and replaced with Boston's all the way around except sub which is a Miller Kreisel.

Old equipment I still have but boxed up.

Phase Linear amp, preamp and tuner.
Carver CD player - still hooked up but never used
Teac C-3 cassette
Soundcraftsman equalizer
Dual turn table
DBX 128 encode/decoder
 
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