RFP Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I never heard one of these... heck, I never even ever saw one 'in person'... but I always thought that they were drop-dead gorgeous! http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-JBL-Paragon-Speakers-D44000WX-Great-Condition_W0QQitemZ320016644727QQihZ011QQcategoryZ61377QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 'Bout the same price as a pair of 60th Anniversary K-horns (if, indeed, they were available!)... Which, by the way, are also drop-dead gorgeous!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Being a Paragon owner. The speaker has a couple of flaws.. Only the mid 375 driver/horns splay across the curved panel. The HF tweeter 075 is embeded in the large bass horn mouth. The paragon is a beautiful work of art....But JBL has now a better sonic statement called K2 S98000. & sonically mutch better speaker.....This fall is JBL 60th anniversary. I understand something great will be intoduced. I hope they dont send this to Europe like Klipsch co. did with there 60th anniversary Klipschorns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Funky Collectable K-2 sounds ............waaaaaaay better but nice furniture .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Awful Big............Awful Expensive..............Awful Nice Wood...........Awful Heavy....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Awful Big............Awful Expensive..............Awful Nice Wood...........Awful Heavy....... ....and I sure wouldn't mind having one. Not that it is realistic, but I have always had goo-goo eyes for this, as well as the S8R Sovereign/Olympus cabinets. If I ever became wildly successful financially, or just got lucky and found 'em cheap, I would sure make room for something like this. I'm quite happy with my Klipsch collection, and am not actively looking to swap/upgrade, but if I ever built a more thorough and serious collection of audio speakers and gears, I can damn well tell you that something with a JBL 375 midrange would be a part of that collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFP Posted August 18, 2006 Author Share Posted August 18, 2006 Nectar... Like you, I am quite happy with my Klipschorns, and would never actually own a Paragon. But, gosh, they are beautiful... at least to my old cynical eye! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Awful Big............Awful Expensive..............Awful Nice Wood...........Awful Heavy....... ....and I sure wouldn't mind having one. Not that it is realistic, but I have always had goo-goo eyes for this, as well as the S8R Sovereign/Olympus cabinets. If I ever became wildly successful financially, or just got lucky and found 'em cheap, I would sure make room for something like this. I'm quite happy with my Klipsch collection, and am not actively looking to swap/upgrade, but if I ever built a more thorough and serious collection of audio speakers and gears, I can damn well tell you that something with a JBL 375 midrange would be a part of that collection. I don't have a problem with JBL speakers, knew about them long before Klipsch. I could think of many other speakers I would rather own than that Awful Big system, it is unique to say the least, just not my taste...........that's what makes this hobby interesting.............different tastes......different views..........I can just about imagine trying to bring that Awful Pretty Wood Big Thing in the house...........it will be hard enough to get little Khorns in the door past the Mrs.................but I will when it's time...............starting bid $7100............wow.............JBL-100's were the speaker in their day, atleast around here, Advents, KLH, Bozak, and yes Bose 901's led the pack, but JBL was the standard.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capo72 Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 The lady I bought my Thorens from was selling lots of vintage audio equipment for an old friend to fund his nursing home stay. She had just sold a Paragon to someone in Japan for $8k, and she said it was $4k to ship it over there. Pretty neat vintage piece! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 "I can just about imagine trying to bring that Awful Pretty Wood Big Thing in the house...........it will be hard enough to get little Khorns in the door past the Mrs..." It's times like this when I realize just how "rich" I am. You see, my wife LOVES furniture grade vintage speakers and shiny vintage Mac chrome.....I show her pics of Sovereigns, EV Patricians and old school Klipschorns and her eyes just light up[] That is, until I tell her how much those Patricians cost/are worth, and then she realizes how much we have accomplished with what we have here. She's got good ears, too[] I also agree that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I have to ask: Have you ever had a chance to play around with/listen to JBL compression driver midranges (like the 85/175/375s)? Cuz I gotta tell ya, JBL compression driver stuff is sure fun to listen to - the energy from those midranges is just reeeeeediculous! Now I love Klipsch stuff (especially the bang for the buck that you get), but if I were operating on high budget, I would have LOTS of vintage JBL in house. The L100 is a classic speaker - but the BIG JBL is another league entirely. ESPECIALLY the midrange. And then there's Altec, which just added another room to the dream museum, and Tannoy, and EV, and........[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan krajewski Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 From what I gather, JBL used top of the line hardware (Paragon & Hartsfield) and produced mediocre results while Klipsch (Khorn) used mediocre hardware and produced spectacular results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 AUDIO, just saw the Sovereigns you speak of..............they are nice, much better looking than the Awful Big other one...................much nicer............I'm not looking to run them down or argue about them..........they are just big, and almost 700 pounds they are very heavy, and really what is the point............they are not the best, they are at best unique, and when I mention JBL-100's I speak of speakers average working Joe can afford, and own, just not dream about................I mean no disrespect to JBL or yourself.......just my take on it............I'm too old to play with a speaker of that mass..........too cheap to buy something that expensive......used at that............I'd rather buy NEW Khorns......probably can't afford the Jubilee's......................but those Sovereigns, now maybe............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 stan......The Hartsfield is not mediocre results...It can stand up to the Klipsch Jubilee with ease. I use the JBL 375 or 2450 or TAD 4001 for the mid horn driver all the time on my Klipschorns The Parogon was origionally designed for pro use Mid cinema channel. But the home use became very populer & the sonics are quite impressive. Its also a great piece of sculpture in wood furnature design. Of course surrounding furnature must be comprable in modern design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 When I was 19yo I went to a thrift store to get a used sofa for a slum apartment I was living in and I remember seing this funky cabinet but I thought it was a rip because there was no console amps etc. They wanted $20 for it and later I learned it was a valuable paragon. I bought the $10 sofa. The sofa is in a dump somewhere I hope the paragon is not [:'(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Yeh ....those Paragon speakers now go for $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 depending on condition.. There is a rosewood finished one in ST Louis I,d like to get my hands on. the owner had a audio store & had that one special made at JBL in that veneer. very rare.. Remember JBL only made about 1000 units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnBob Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 When I brought mine home, I was in "la chateau de la chein" for some time. It was several weeks before I could convince my wife to let it in the house. Let's just say Danish Modern was not her cup of tea. Bass was just so-so, midrange wonderful and treble a bit problematic - I wonder why they buried the tweeters way back in the bass horn. I remember the first Hartsfields I heard - at the late lamented Hi-Fi Showroom. Each one had 075s on both sides of the venetian blind lens. Most impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 From what I gather, JBL used top of the line hardware (Paragon & Hartsfield) and produced mediocre results while Klipsch (Khorn) used mediocre hardware and produced spectacular results. !! !! !!! !!!! !!!! !!!!!! !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! other than agreeing that Klipsch used cheesy components.. I am at a total loss for words....!! ever Hear a L-300...?? 4430's ..??? 2540/ 2360 ...?? Everest ..?? 250 Ti ..??? obviously ...Not ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan krajewski Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 When I brought mine home, I was in "la chateau de la chein" for some time. It was several weeks before I could convince my wife to let it in the house. Let's just say Danish Modern was not her cup of tea. Bass was just so-so, midrange wonderful and treble a bit problematic - I wonder why they buried the tweeters way back in the bass horn. I remember the first Hartsfields I heard - at the late lamented Hi-Fi Showroom. Each one had 075s on both sides of the venetian blind lens. Most impressive. II have heard/read the above Paragon review before. Duke, I am referring to the Hartsfield and Paragons ONLY. But I do own AR3a's and have extensively listened to JBL100's (my buddy has a pair for 30 years) and I'll take the AR3a's any day. I don't own a corner horn but I DO plan on having one in the future. So I read every listener response and every article that I can get my hands on. So far, the Klipschorn is my choice. There was an extensive thread here maybe a year or so ago in which very few agreed the Hartsfield was all that and more. What has changed? Don't need deja vu all over again, do we? http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/3/535817/ShowThread.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 There was an extensive thread here maybe a year or so ago in which very few agreed the Hartsfield was all that and more. What has changed? Don't need deja vu all over again, do we? http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/3/535817/ShowThread.aspx I think those metal fangs, er vanes, look scary for a living room. I wouldn't want to be alone with them at night. PWK's genius is seen in his timeless 1950's design of the K-horn. It still looks fresh where most contemporary competitors like Patricians, Jensens, etc., look dated today. lc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Stan, I personally have never heard the Hartsfield I have listened to a Paragon, that vintage JBL stuff is ..well.. collectible, but not the End All in sound ..... Now ... I have personally owned All the JBL's i mentioned the L-300 goes toe- to- toe bass wise with the KH the MIds Kill the KH then we get onto the Everest, and, the foolishly sold 250 Ti's .... now, i have also grown fond of the Klipsch sound as you may see from my signature too many speakers made in the last 30 years, to little time ...to listen to them all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Stan I remember talking to Kloss (when he was alive) He mentioned he used a cheap $1.50 tweeter when they designed that AR3 ....From a TV set.... The Hartsfield today uses TAD driver components. 1601A woofers, 4001 mid drivers with the same horn lens as the JBL units and the TAD ET-703 tweeter going out to 45000hz. The speaker is constructed by Classic Audio Reproductions.....Sounds better than ever.. If you dont like these babys you aught to get out of this hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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