JBL PROJECT K2 S5800 Owner's Manual

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Contents

JBL PROJECT K2 S5800 Owner's Manual Manual pdf 4 page image

CHAPTER 1 – LEGACY: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OFTHE JBL PROJECT LOUDSPEAKERSOf those few who seek perfection insound reproduction, only a handfulhave actually achieved it. The priceis always high. It is a rare occur-rence indeed when an individual orgroup is able to triumph over theconstraints of economic and tech-nological reality even once.At JBL, this has happened eighttimes. In each case, its engineerswere told to build the speaker sys-tem they had always wanted tobuild. Whatever resources wererequired would be made available.Thus began an ongoing investiga-tion into new frontiers of soundreproduction, beginning in 1950,and continuing to the present day.The products that have resultedfrom this venture are now known asthe JBL Project loudspeakers. Eachrepresents the absolute peak ofevery technological, material andengineering innovation availableat that time, combined into asingle system. They are Hartsfield,Paragon, Everest, K2 S9500/7500 andK2 S5500. The newest models arethe K2 S5800 and K2 S9800.Although differing in performancedetails and physical attributes, eachof the Project loudspeakers hasshared a common objective: to ele-vate sound reproduction to levelsdefined only by the limitations ofexisting materials and technology.And despite a spread of nearly 50years, all Project loudspeakershave shared many commonfeatures – testimony to theirfoundation on the technology andmanufacturing techniques uponwhich JBL was built.DEFINING THE PROJECTCONCEPTThe Hartsfield began a tradition atJBL that continues today. First, engi-neer a product as close to perfectionas possible. When it reaches thatlevel, it is time to make it better.In 1954, the Hartsfield was signifi-cant in that it represented not newtechnology, but rather a new levelof the all-technical manufacturingapproach pioneered by James B.Lansing some 20 years before it.Like its Project series successors,it was a high-efficiency systemincorporating compression drivertechnology, one combining thequalities of high output, low distor-tion, exceptional stereo imagingand fatigue-free listening. Mostimportant, it was the first consumer-available listening system to do so.In this respect, Project K2 S5800is at once the most advanced andsophisticated loudspeaker in theworld today (save for the ProjectK2 S9800) and a speaker whosetechnology is deeply rooted in morethan 50 years of tradition. JBL’spresident in 1954, William Thomas,described the Hartsfield as “...thespeaker system we have alwayswanted to build...the finest compo-nents ever made available to seri-ous listeners.”He went on to describe the processbehind his creation: “Most peoplewho own and appreciate fine soundreproduction equipment look for-ward to the day when they will beable to assemble a system withoutlimitation in just exactly the waythey think it should be done.“Periodically, a manufacturer getsthis same feeling....The science ofacoustics has provided us withbasic principles – available to all forachieving precision reproduction.It is only a matter of incorporatingthese methods into a system design,and then taking every bit of troublenecessary to build a system pre-cisely to the design. It isn't easy, butthat’s the way it is done.”The Ranger-Paragon, JBL’s secondProject system, was the first seri-ous attempt at a reflecting speakersystem, and broke new ground inthe concept of stereo imaging.Essentially two independent full-range speaker systems installed ina handsome curved cabinet nearly9 feet long, the Paragon’s enclosurewas treated as an extension of itstransducers. In essence, the systemhad its own “built-in acoustics.” Inmany respects the Paragon antici-pated loudspeaker developmentsthat would occur years – and evendecades – later.For nearly 30 years, the Paragonremained the most acousticallyviable sound system for the home.Today, along with the Hartsfield,it is still the most sought-afterspeaker in the world.In 1986, JBL introduced a newProject system that retained theParagon’s overall sense of musicalitywhile upgrading its character byincorporating three decades’ worthof continuous development in everyfacet of its design. Its name reflectedthe pinnacle of achievement it rep-resented: Project Everest.For the first time, the rest of thesound reproduction chain – and notthe loudspeaker or its transducers –would impose limits on overall sys-tem performance. Like the Paragonand Hartsfield, Project Everestwas built around compressiondriver technology and addresseda more refined stereo image thanwas previously consideredtechnically feasible.4