• On CBS MoneyWatch: The perfect car for a teenager

The Audiophiliac

Read all 'Japanese audiophiles' posts in The Audiophiliac
August 21, 2009 7:15 AM PDT

The K2: JBL's new $30,000 speaker

by Steve Guttenberg
  • 21 comments
Share

JBL's best speaker, the K2 S9900.

(Credit: JBL)

Most of you probably think of JBL as a manufacturer of affordable high-performance speakers, but the company offers a truly vast range of consumer and professional models.

The K2 S9900 ($15,000 each) is the best consumer speaker JBL makes. It's a massive thing, weighing in at 182 pounds, and it's armed with a 15-inch woofer, 4-inch magnesium, horn-loaded midrange, and 1-inch magnesium horn-loaded tweeter. It can handle amplifiers as large as 500 watts a channel.

The JBL K2 S9900 will be equally at home in ultra-high-end music and home theater systems.

The K2 was originally developed for the seriously finicky Japanese audiophile market. There it has already achieved legendary status, and it was years before JBL brought it home. American hi-fi at its best.

I haven't heard this latest version of the K2, but I'm somewhat familiar with the previous K2 S9800. That one's sound was huge, incredibly effortless, and capable of delivering truly lifelike dynamic range. That last quality alone goes a long way to making reproduced sound sound realistic.

If you can afford the best, make it your business to hear the K2.

December 13, 2007 6:43 AM PST

A Japanese audiophile's extreme hi-fi system!

by Steve Guttenberg
  • 1 comment
Share

The big round horns are amazing, but that thing in the center is a horn subwoofer.

(Credit: www.gokudo.co.jp/)

The site's mostly in Japanese so I can't relate much info, but these pictures tell me all I need to know. Oh, and it's not just extreme hi-fi, this guy's into cactus plants, antique lamps, and aquariums. I guess he's not married.

It must sound amazing!

(Credit: www.gokudo.co.jp)

What a collection of great stuff!

(Credit: www.gokudo.co.jp)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
advertisement

The yogurt makers of tech: Gadgets to avoid

Don't buy these one-trick ponies--unless you like gizmos that gather dust.

Google wants to unclog Net's DNS plumbing

The Net giant, ever eager for a faster Internet, debuts its Google Public DNS service. With it, Google could become even more central to the Net.

advertisement

About The Audiophiliac

Ex movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has more or less successfully hitched his future to home theater, but he still pines for the clickity-clack of 35 MM projectors and all the stale popcorn he could eat. Between projectionist gigs he worked as a high-end audio salesman for sixteen years, and produced records for an audiophile label. Oh, and one more thing, nothing annoys Steve more than being confused with the other Steve Guttenberg, the washed-up Police Academy actor. The wordsmith Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to a number of magazines and websites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

Add this feed to your online news reader

The Audiophiliac topics

Most Discussed

advertisement

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right