Speaker Advice

 

New member
Username: Tweedled

Post Number: 1
Registered: Apr-05
I'm looking for a new set of front speakers.

Here's what I currently have:

Receiver: Yamaha RX-V757

Fronts: JBL Floors - Northridge Series E100
Center: JBL EC25
Surround: JBL Control 1Extreme
Sub: (Unknown brand 14")

One of my fronts is blown or damaged. At moderate volume, an audible buzzing appears in the high bass to low midrange area.

So I assume I have to replace both. I usually only use the 2 fronts for music. When I use the whole surround system, its usually at much lower volume levels so I'm not as concerned about the other speakers which all do fine at that level.

I liked my JBL floors although I felt the midrange sometimes felt a bit muddled.

So I was hoping I could get some input on a pair of replacement speakers in the $600-$1000 (pair) range. I know replacing them with the same model would be in that range and was hoping for some alternatives.

I've been told a lot of good things about Paradigm especially in terms of bang for buck. A local dealer has a pair of Version 3 Phantoms for $400 that caught my eye. Anyone have any idea how they might stack up with the JBL's?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jimvm

Gonzales, Louisiana U.S.A.

Post Number: 42
Registered: Apr-05
Mike - Have you considered looking into having the speaker repaired? It would probably be considerably less expensive than buying new speakers.
 

New member
Username: Tweedled

Post Number: 2
Registered: Apr-05
@Jimvm:

A friend of mine here at work just suggested the same thing to me. I guess he knows a place in town that will do that for < $100. I think I'll look into that, thanks for the advice.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jimvm

Gonzales, Louisiana U.S.A.

Post Number: 43
Registered: Apr-05
Glad to help.
 

New member
Username: Tweedled

Post Number: 3
Registered: Apr-05
I just went to JBL's website and they actually have repair instructions and allow you to order individual replacement parts. But this kind of threw me:

JBL lists their Northridge Series E100 at $499 on their website.

Here's their list of replacement parts:
Woofer (x2) $35.00
Midrange $21.84
Tweeter $21.00
Crossover Network $33.55
Grille $27.80

If I add it all up, I get: $174.19 This leaves about $320 for the case and the labor to assemble it.

Is anyone else surprised that a $500 speaker uses effectively $175 worth of parts INCLUDING the grille?

Seems like kind of cheap parts. Is this just a JBL thing or is this consistent with other speaker companies?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jimvm

Gonzales, Louisiana U.S.A.

Post Number: 44
Registered: Apr-05
I don't know a lot about the business of speaker making but I suppose JBL's cost-to-MSRP ratio is somewhere in the ballpark of other manufacturers. In addition to the cost of the box and the labor, they also have to pay the rent, electricity, phone bill, insurance, taxes, etc. and still have enough left over to fund their warranty service and customer service costs -- not to mention make a net profit for things like capital improvements, R&D, etc.). Perhaps someone who is more knowledgeable about this could chime in.
 

Silver Member
Username: Timn8ter

Seattle, WA USA

Post Number: 184
Registered: Dec-03
This is consistent with large manufacturers such as JBL. Start with the retail price, divide in half to get the wholesale price then subtract the typical mark-up. A $500 retail price speaker may cost $100 - $150 to manufacture. Very large companies like JBL can have their cabinets manufactured in large quantities in China for about 1/4 what it would cost to build in the USA so the actual cost may be even lower. The same applies to the components.
 

Anonymous
 
with that kind of money you could get a hooker like this
 

Bronze Member
Username: Claudermilk

Post Number: 89
Registered: Sep-04
Remember, those component prices aren't what they are paying for them, but what you are paying for them. Seems like a reasonable breakdown in general for manufacturing. There's lots of overhead to factor in, they probably aren't making a huge margin in the end.
« Previous Thread Next Thread »



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us