NooB Looking to Upgrade Bose Accusimass 10

[jocko_nc]

Damn. Get the JBL's, if you don't want them others will. I understand those JBL's are newer, not particularly "vintage". However, they seem to be of a vintage bloodline. ???.

From experience, using them in a HT may be require quite a lot of effort and become quite a massive project. The result, however, should be outstanding and noteworthy. You mention being a car nut, some of which are vintage. What would be more outstanding than a vintage home theatre?

The problem is voicing the center, and to a lesser extent the rears, to the JBL's. I believe they are old-school big-box jobs, probably close to 100 dB. Real screamers, which is cool for HT. Those 15 inch woofers are going to sound FAT, unlike anything else. If you go this route, you will be looking for other vintage JBL's to fill out the room. Best bet for a center would be another CF150. That's a lot of speaker up front! (Did I mention that FAT sound?) For rears, you could look at the smaller ones from the same family. Ebay is your friend. You could get crazy and look at a DIY project using scavenged matching components for an in-wall or corner application. ???. You are in luck, there is a huge following for JBL equipment and information is plentiful. You could very easily fall into a user group of people who would help you out along the way. Vintage HiFi is cool.

I mention all this because I recently switched to Klipsch. The old ones, first model Heresys from the mid 70's. They are a hoot, I got seriously bit by the vintage bug. They really, really crank. Heresy is the small model, but as large as I can accomodate in my setup. Thus, I am using them as satellites with dual subwoofers. Heresy with a subwoofer is a pretty nice combination. Problem, I had no way to place a center channel (Heresy) and had to go to extreme. With some help, I managed a DIY that voices very closely a Heresy but in a configuration I could live with. Rears are still on the drawing board, however they cannot be horns like the others. It a huge, ongoing project, but well worth it, IMO. They sound completely unlike the usual HT setup, powerful, punchy and crunchy with a midrange presence that will peel paint. Furthermore, it is one-of-a-kind and I created it. If you like a project...

I'll try to post a couple of pics...

Also... I say "fat" sound from the big woofers because that is how they sound. Note, they are not "subs", rather full-range woofers with crossovers that go pretty high up into the midrange. They are not about high excursion and ultra low response, they are about wram, powerful bass. In that regard, all that surface area cannot be beat. Many of the true old-school designs used pro-audio drivers, I'd bet theatres to this day use the same. My Heresys roll off like crazy in the low-end and have little deep "bass" by modern standards. That is where the subs take over. They sure do kick, however.

jocko