In honor of our showroom grand opening, we have the privilege of having a loaner pair of JBL Project Everest DD66000 from Harman. I say the privilege because I don't know how to phrase taking delivery of these 320 pound monsters, with a total retail price of $65,000! The sample we have is a one-of-a-kind Cherry finish that did not go into production:
If you are not familiar with these speakers, they are a four-way design. One bass driver goes from 150 Hz down, the other up to 700 Hz. After that, the main 4" Beryllium compression driver takes over and carries the load up to 20 Khz so nothing in the critical hearing range is interrupted by a cross-over point. A 1-inch Beryllium compression driver finishes the rally, going from 20 KHz to 50+ KHz! Don't ask why such extension is needed; I am but a messenger here
. Sensitivity is rated at 96db. Low frequency extension is down to 35 Hz (-10db).
As noted, this is one heavy beast. Its grill alone weighs 10 pounds! That said, it is rather chunky but surprisingly low profile given its short height and blends better and looks more beautiful than one imagines from the pictures. The retro look is really neat. The form follows function as the horns nicely land at your ear level.
I had about an hour of listening with them. Oh boy. If there was ever two versions of "audio truth" comparing this to Revel Salon 2s, is it. They both sound superlative but in such different ways. I don't know that I can yet fully describe the difference but one thing the JBL does exceptionally well is bringing out detail even at lower volumes. While the Revel has lower distortion, you couldn't tell it from listening to the Everest. Its detail is startling. As its dynamic power. You constantly hear things that make you go "ooh!" The entire staff was mesmerized as we played clip after clip.
We have a new reference drum track from a Chinese CD. It is a solo instrument with more dynamics than I have ever heard in any track of music. It is not only high range but also has wide bandwidth from sharp cymbals to low, low pounding. We blasted this track with the Everest, driven by the Mark Levinson Reference 532 amplifier (source was the PC driving through Berkeley DAC). A soon as the track started to play, it started to snow in our showroom! Snow in Spring in Seattle? Yes, if your ceiling is made out of tiles and the vibrations pound out the dust.
Right in the middle of the demo our mailman (mail person?) walked and you should have seen her jump and nearly turn around and leave the store! You could feel the bass and impact in your chest. I am not talking home theater loud here. I am talking dynamic, dynamic, dynamic. I am talking clean spikes without compression. All this, in an open showroom with zero treatment of any sort.
I believe in the entire US there is maybe a single dealer who is showing the Everest on the floor. So even if you are not interested in buying one, I heavily encourage you to come and take a listen. It is rare, educational event as it was for me, to hear this other reproduction method and marvel in what it can do.
If you are not familiar with these speakers, they are a four-way design. One bass driver goes from 150 Hz down, the other up to 700 Hz. After that, the main 4" Beryllium compression driver takes over and carries the load up to 20 Khz so nothing in the critical hearing range is interrupted by a cross-over point. A 1-inch Beryllium compression driver finishes the rally, going from 20 KHz to 50+ KHz! Don't ask why such extension is needed; I am but a messenger here
. Sensitivity is rated at 96db. Low frequency extension is down to 35 Hz (-10db). As noted, this is one heavy beast. Its grill alone weighs 10 pounds! That said, it is rather chunky but surprisingly low profile given its short height and blends better and looks more beautiful than one imagines from the pictures. The retro look is really neat. The form follows function as the horns nicely land at your ear level.
I had about an hour of listening with them. Oh boy. If there was ever two versions of "audio truth" comparing this to Revel Salon 2s, is it. They both sound superlative but in such different ways. I don't know that I can yet fully describe the difference but one thing the JBL does exceptionally well is bringing out detail even at lower volumes. While the Revel has lower distortion, you couldn't tell it from listening to the Everest. Its detail is startling. As its dynamic power. You constantly hear things that make you go "ooh!" The entire staff was mesmerized as we played clip after clip.
We have a new reference drum track from a Chinese CD. It is a solo instrument with more dynamics than I have ever heard in any track of music. It is not only high range but also has wide bandwidth from sharp cymbals to low, low pounding. We blasted this track with the Everest, driven by the Mark Levinson Reference 532 amplifier (source was the PC driving through Berkeley DAC). A soon as the track started to play, it started to snow in our showroom! Snow in Spring in Seattle? Yes, if your ceiling is made out of tiles and the vibrations pound out the dust.
Right in the middle of the demo our mailman (mail person?) walked and you should have seen her jump and nearly turn around and leave the store! You could feel the bass and impact in your chest. I am not talking home theater loud here. I am talking dynamic, dynamic, dynamic. I am talking clean spikes without compression. All this, in an open showroom with zero treatment of any sort.
I believe in the entire US there is maybe a single dealer who is showing the Everest on the floor. So even if you are not interested in buying one, I heavily encourage you to come and take a listen. It is rare, educational event as it was for me, to hear this other reproduction method and marvel in what it can do.
