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Review 1 of 1
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I auditioned these on the 35th floor of the Venitian in the Harmon suite during the 2011 CES show. The electronics were all Mark Levinson, including their 300 watt per channel stereo power amp. I was expecting them to sound like the other horn loaded speakers I've heard over the years, blarey, colored and harsh. The first cut I heard was of a piano, and I was shocked at how real it sounded. It really sounded like a piano was in the room. I was impressed, but I was sure they would still sound colored on voices. I couldn't have been more wrong. Next came a Frank Sinatra recording that just about knocked my socks off with the immediacy, total LACK of coloration and downright realness. Depth, imaging, dynamics are all superb on this speaker. Cut after cut sounded absolutely amazing to me. I left the room to hear several other more traditional audiophile systems costing many times more than the simple JBL/Levinson combo, but none came close to recreating the live sound of this system. I was particularly unimpressed with an absurdly expensive system that featured Wilson Alexandia X-2s and Lamm amplifiers that came in at around 700,000 dollars. The JBL/Levinson system probably cost less than the cables used in this insanely priced system.
If you don't think you like horn systems, or if you've heard some of the newer SET/Horn combinations and weren't impressed, give the 1400s a listen, and prepare to have have your preconceived ideas about "JBL sound" smashed to bits. These are the most real sounding speakers I've ever heard.
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