(My dog and) I spend lots of time with this audio system. JBL L300 Summit (circa 1980) create the sound waves. They are my pride and joy in the hobby. The electronics are nice but not state of the art. A Marantz SACD 30n is the only source component. In addition to playing optical discs, the Marantz is also a network player. I like its sound character. The room is not especially small or large, and it’s well-treated with ASC TubeTraps, SoundPlanks, and Acoustic Soffit.
Listening to music through this system is so enjoyable. I have a grander system in a larger, also well-treated room, representing a much bigger investment than the system shown. The grander system does all the cool audiophile stuff: throws a soundstage perceived as extending beyond the room walls, surround-sound effects from only two channels, speaker disappearing act, realistic timbres and transients, highly revealing of musical details, etc. The JBL system doesn’t do any of that stuff as well, but overall I like it just as much as the grander system…maybe even more. The JBL’s fast, full, lively, and dynamically explosive sound scratches an itch and keeps me engaged in the music for hours-and-hours. This is all to say that my experiences with the two systems make me reflect on the hobby often. I perceive the JBL system as over-achieving and accept all its shortcomings, while I sometimes nitpick the grander system despite its exemplary attributes across the board. The mind games in this hobby are so interesting.
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