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JANUARY 2008
Christmas has come and gone once again. As always, Christmas brings
with it that universal, timeless, unfathomable, and immutable question:
how can Christmas lights that were working when they were put away, not
be working when they are unpacked eleven months later?
Martha Stewart does not fear us.
We are not very good at decorating at our house, realize it, and therefore
do not do much of it. Our exterior Christmas decorating consists of blue
icicle lights strung inside our living room window. They look pretty good in
the dark.
When I got the icicle lights out this year, the middle third of one strand
was out as was the end third of the other. How is this possible?
As I started to work on the strand with the non-functioning end third, I
found that jiggling the wire brought the lights back on. So I went ahead
and put this strand up. When I plugged it in again, after hanging it, the
end third was out but jiggling it brought it back on. So far, so good. No
jiggling, bulb-tightening, or twisting of wires did any good with the other
string so I started substituting bulbs, one-at-a-time into the non-working
middle section. Those little bulbs are miserable to pry out. My fingers
were sore well before I finished the last drooping icicle section, but at least
when I finally finished they still were not working.
I tossed both strands and bought some new ones. There is a point where
even my time is worth more than a string of cheap icicle lights.
While I was engaged in this futility, I was listening to the living room
system. In particular, I listened to the SACD of the complete Nutcracker
Ballet by Dorati on Mercury. (Mercury Living Presence 475 6623)
I had sold the Infinity Primus 360 speakers a few days earlier, so I was
listening to a pair of JBL L26 Decade speakers that I also had up for sale.
The JBLs date from the early 1970s. The sound was not good. I had
tested these speakers when I brought them home by hooking them up to
a receiver and making sure everything functioned, but nothing further. I
did not worry too much at that point about how they sounded. Now that I
had them hooked up to the living room equipment, there were some
things about their sound with which I was not too thrilled. Click here for a
photo.
First, they sounded muffled from top to bottom. The treble managed to
sound both muffled and somewhat strident at the same time. There was
very little bass.
On the positive side, there was actually good center fill between the
speakers, if minimal depth, and when a soloist popped out of the
orchestra, he or she sounded pretty good and was well-located in the
sound stage.
I removed the grill cloths. I intended to turn up the treble level slightly and
see how that affected the overall balance. Turning the level control on the
left speaker resulted in some nice crackly noises. I rotated the control
from stop to stop about a dozen times until the crackling disappeared.
The right speaker control did not crackle but I gave it the same treatment.
The resultant sound was substantially better. Most of what I had heard as
stridency cleaned up noticeably while the treble sounded subjectively
louder. I toed the speakers in slightly toward my position on the couch
and there was no question that things sounded much better, clearer, and
more detailed. So much for listening with the grill cloths on and with dirty
level controls.
The JBLs still did not have much in the way of bass impact. These are two-
way speakers with a tweeter and ten inch woofer. Given the woofer size,
you would expect good bass but given the box size you would not. And
that is pretty much how it shakes out. I would guess there is not much
happening under 60 Hz despite the box being on the large side for a
“bookshelf” speaker.
Continuing with the Nutcracker, the JBLs' performance on large orchestral
climaxes was mixed. They went loud very well but lost pretty much all the
details in the performance. I would characterize the resultant sound as
generic “loud orchestra.” Some of this fault probably lies in the recording
itself as well as with the speakers.
Naxos' Christmas Concerti (Naxos 8.550567) produced a noticeable
improvement in the sound. Here, a smaller ensemble plays primarily
stringed instruments. This worked much more favorably with the JBLs’
strengths. It has a good tweeter and this was apparent with this music.
Its weak bass performance really was a non-issue given the more limited
bass content of the music.
It was interesting to spend some time with these speakers in the context
of a good system and compare their performance to the Infinity Primus
360s that have been the living room speakers for the past couple of years.
While it was fun to check them out, I would not want to have to listen to
the JBLs all the time. The Primus 360s are much more transparent from
top to bottom and their bass is both deeper and better defined. They also
image better, particularly where the sound stage depth is concerned. On
the other hand, for thirty-five year old speakers, the JBLs are not terrible
either. While most modern two way speakers using a six inch woofer will
outperform these speakers in midrange clarity and bass output, the JBLs
still do as well and maybe better in terms of treble clarity. Additionally, the
build quality of the JBL tweeters and cast-frame woofers is not easy to
duplicate today.
I did sell these speakers and while I was warming the system up waiting for
the buyer to come by, I listened to Diana Krall’s, Christmas Songs (Verve
B0004717-02). This is a great sounding CD and makes just about any
system sound good. Here, her vocals were slightly recessed but had good
presence and reasonable atmosphere around them. The piano sounded
good as did everything with treble content such as the cymbals. I had to
work to find the bass player. Still, it sounded pretty good and Diana’s
voice was located solidly between the speakers.
Overall spending time with the JBLs was a lot like spending time with the in-
laws—it was pleasant enough as long as it was kept brief. There has been
a lot of progress made in speaker technology since the JBLs were
manufactured. Not everything vintage is as good as we would like to
remember it.
So at the moment, I do not have any living room speakers. My speaker
plans for that system have depended largely on selling my PT DAC pair
(plus the JBLs and Primus 360s) and that is not happening. I have been
doing some research, however, and will report on what I finally decide to
do.
I assume everyone on the planet has seen the iPod commercial where
different colored iPods are moved off of the screen as a female voice sings,
“One, two three, four…” I had to ask my daughter when she got home
from college who actually sings this song. Just in case you were curious,
the song is called “1234” and the singer is a young Canadian woman
named Leslie Feist. It is on her third album, The Reminder
(Cherrytree/Interscope B0008819-02). Target had the CD on sale for
$7.98 so I picked up a copy. I have only listened to it briefly through the
home theater system but have found what I have heard enjoyable. She
reminds me somewhat of Emiliana Torrini with more upbeat lyrics. I am
looking forward to hearing this CD on the main system.
AV Note: The Bourne Ultimatum is excellent. If you have it, though, re-
watch the Bourne Supremacy before watching the Ultimatum as the
Ultimatum starts immediately where the Supremacy ends. If you do not
have the world’s greatest memory, you will be glad you did this.
After my daughter heads off for college next week, my plan is to get as
much time on the Cullen modded PS Audio DAC III as possible so that I
can report on it reasonably soon. I have recently discovered some
interesting speakers being built nearby in University City, Missouri. I hope
to have something to report on them also.
It is hard to develop any optimism for the new year any more; things just
seem to get worse. Al Gore’s Nobel acceptance speech laid out just how
bad things are but did offer some hope for the future. www.AlGore.com
The problem is that virtually no one, politically or individually, is going to do
any of the things that need to be done. Still, Happy New Year. Let’s hope
for the best.
Kent Johnson
December 29, 2007
Christmas has come and gone once again. As always, Christmas brings
with it that universal, timeless, unfathomable, and immutable question:
how can Christmas lights that were working when they were put away, not
be working when they are unpacked eleven months later?
Martha Stewart does not fear us.
We are not very good at decorating at our house, realize it, and therefore
do not do much of it. Our exterior Christmas decorating consists of blue
icicle lights strung inside our living room window. They look pretty good in
the dark.
When I got the icicle lights out this year, the middle third of one strand
was out as was the end third of the other. How is this possible?
As I started to work on the strand with the non-functioning end third, I
found that jiggling the wire brought the lights back on. So I went ahead
and put this strand up. When I plugged it in again, after hanging it, the
end third was out but jiggling it brought it back on. So far, so good. No
jiggling, bulb-tightening, or twisting of wires did any good with the other
string so I started substituting bulbs, one-at-a-time into the non-working
middle section. Those little bulbs are miserable to pry out. My fingers
were sore well before I finished the last drooping icicle section, but at least
when I finally finished they still were not working.
I tossed both strands and bought some new ones. There is a point where
even my time is worth more than a string of cheap icicle lights.
While I was engaged in this futility, I was listening to the living room
system. In particular, I listened to the SACD of the complete Nutcracker
Ballet by Dorati on Mercury. (Mercury Living Presence 475 6623)
I had sold the Infinity Primus 360 speakers a few days earlier, so I was
listening to a pair of JBL L26 Decade speakers that I also had up for sale.
The JBLs date from the early 1970s. The sound was not good. I had
tested these speakers when I brought them home by hooking them up to
a receiver and making sure everything functioned, but nothing further. I
did not worry too much at that point about how they sounded. Now that I
had them hooked up to the living room equipment, there were some
things about their sound with which I was not too thrilled. Click here for a
photo.
First, they sounded muffled from top to bottom. The treble managed to
sound both muffled and somewhat strident at the same time. There was
very little bass.
On the positive side, there was actually good center fill between the
speakers, if minimal depth, and when a soloist popped out of the
orchestra, he or she sounded pretty good and was well-located in the
sound stage.
I removed the grill cloths. I intended to turn up the treble level slightly and
see how that affected the overall balance. Turning the level control on the
left speaker resulted in some nice crackly noises. I rotated the control
from stop to stop about a dozen times until the crackling disappeared.
The right speaker control did not crackle but I gave it the same treatment.
The resultant sound was substantially better. Most of what I had heard as
stridency cleaned up noticeably while the treble sounded subjectively
louder. I toed the speakers in slightly toward my position on the couch
and there was no question that things sounded much better, clearer, and
more detailed. So much for listening with the grill cloths on and with dirty
level controls.
The JBLs still did not have much in the way of bass impact. These are two-
way speakers with a tweeter and ten inch woofer. Given the woofer size,
you would expect good bass but given the box size you would not. And
that is pretty much how it shakes out. I would guess there is not much
happening under 60 Hz despite the box being on the large side for a
“bookshelf” speaker.
Continuing with the Nutcracker, the JBLs' performance on large orchestral
climaxes was mixed. They went loud very well but lost pretty much all the
details in the performance. I would characterize the resultant sound as
generic “loud orchestra.” Some of this fault probably lies in the recording
itself as well as with the speakers.
Naxos' Christmas Concerti (Naxos 8.550567) produced a noticeable
improvement in the sound. Here, a smaller ensemble plays primarily
stringed instruments. This worked much more favorably with the JBLs’
strengths. It has a good tweeter and this was apparent with this music.
Its weak bass performance really was a non-issue given the more limited
bass content of the music.
It was interesting to spend some time with these speakers in the context
of a good system and compare their performance to the Infinity Primus
360s that have been the living room speakers for the past couple of years.
While it was fun to check them out, I would not want to have to listen to
the JBLs all the time. The Primus 360s are much more transparent from
top to bottom and their bass is both deeper and better defined. They also
image better, particularly where the sound stage depth is concerned. On
the other hand, for thirty-five year old speakers, the JBLs are not terrible
either. While most modern two way speakers using a six inch woofer will
outperform these speakers in midrange clarity and bass output, the JBLs
still do as well and maybe better in terms of treble clarity. Additionally, the
build quality of the JBL tweeters and cast-frame woofers is not easy to
duplicate today.
I did sell these speakers and while I was warming the system up waiting for
the buyer to come by, I listened to Diana Krall’s, Christmas Songs (Verve
B0004717-02). This is a great sounding CD and makes just about any
system sound good. Here, her vocals were slightly recessed but had good
presence and reasonable atmosphere around them. The piano sounded
good as did everything with treble content such as the cymbals. I had to
work to find the bass player. Still, it sounded pretty good and Diana’s
voice was located solidly between the speakers.
Overall spending time with the JBLs was a lot like spending time with the in-
laws—it was pleasant enough as long as it was kept brief. There has been
a lot of progress made in speaker technology since the JBLs were
manufactured. Not everything vintage is as good as we would like to
remember it.
So at the moment, I do not have any living room speakers. My speaker
plans for that system have depended largely on selling my PT DAC pair
(plus the JBLs and Primus 360s) and that is not happening. I have been
doing some research, however, and will report on what I finally decide to
do.
I assume everyone on the planet has seen the iPod commercial where
different colored iPods are moved off of the screen as a female voice sings,
“One, two three, four…” I had to ask my daughter when she got home
from college who actually sings this song. Just in case you were curious,
the song is called “1234” and the singer is a young Canadian woman
named Leslie Feist. It is on her third album, The Reminder
(Cherrytree/Interscope B0008819-02). Target had the CD on sale for
$7.98 so I picked up a copy. I have only listened to it briefly through the
home theater system but have found what I have heard enjoyable. She
reminds me somewhat of Emiliana Torrini with more upbeat lyrics. I am
looking forward to hearing this CD on the main system.
AV Note: The Bourne Ultimatum is excellent. If you have it, though, re-
watch the Bourne Supremacy before watching the Ultimatum as the
Ultimatum starts immediately where the Supremacy ends. If you do not
have the world’s greatest memory, you will be glad you did this.
After my daughter heads off for college next week, my plan is to get as
much time on the Cullen modded PS Audio DAC III as possible so that I
can report on it reasonably soon. I have recently discovered some
interesting speakers being built nearby in University City, Missouri. I hope
to have something to report on them also.
It is hard to develop any optimism for the new year any more; things just
seem to get worse. Al Gore’s Nobel acceptance speech laid out just how
bad things are but did offer some hope for the future. www.AlGore.com
The problem is that virtually no one, politically or individually, is going to do
any of the things that need to be done. Still, Happy New Year. Let’s hope
for the best.
Kent Johnson
December 29, 2007