New Speakers: expensive and not like the old ones

[Feanor]

What it boils down to is the market moving beyond the vintage JBL sound, ....

Around 1971-72 I heard a pair of JBL bookshelf speakers and quickly fell in love with them. I seem to recall they were the Lancer 77's. I liked the bright, aggressive sound. I didn't get them right away because they were, the princely sum of $700, (compare $3000-3500 today).

However a few weeks later I had the opportunity to compare them directly with the AR 3a's. It was pretty clear that it was the 3a's that hand the more resolved and natural sound. (The AR's were cheaper too, <$600).