Opinions on JBL 2600?

Sansui Louie

Curmudgeon
Looking for some excellent smallish yet inexpensive (used) bookshelf speakers that are efficient and have a good low end response (for the size). What do you think of these?
 
I had a pair of 2500's for a while, they were not that impressive to me. The tweeter was not as smooth as I like, and although they were fairly efficient (they were ported) the low end did not strike me as being any better than what I get out of my Minimus 7's. The 2600's may have a better low-end, however, as I think they are a little bigger than the 2500's that I had.
 
... the low end did not strike me as being any better than what I get out of my Minimus 7's.
Violation: Low blow:

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Jbl 2600

Howdy,all. I am currently running a pair of 2600 with my Marantz 2015 and an Audiosource 10" powered sub. This combo sounds fine to me.

When I first got the 2600, I connected to a Technics SU-Z950 int amp &tried it out. This amp is an older rack system unit, have seen ratings of 100WPC. The combo really surprised me- very clear high-end, amazing bass- for a small speaker.Back into storage they went for about a year. When I moved, I needed a more compact system,so out came the 2015 & 2600s.


The 2015 pushed the JBL's well, but I wanted a more solid low end, and to ease the load on the Marantz...hence the AS sub.

The 2600s performance will depend (of course) on the room, power applied, and desired listening level. I feel confident saying that for a smaller room (bedroom, small office, etc.) and a decent source (20-25 W on up) they would work very well. Note: Deafening levels unlikely. They can play pretty loud, however. Strong point would be their clarity.

The strongest point, probably, would be affordability.(Hopefully) Mine were very resonable, mint, on craigslist. There seem to be a lot of these around, good deals should be easy.

Bottom line... I like mine just fine....I can't use my larger speaks right now,but these will do........willhowl:D
 
Well, according to the specs in the OM found at jbl.com, the 2500 and 2600 differ in freq response low end rolloff by about 25db, which is huuuuge, with the 2600 dipping lower, to around 50hz. So that might explain a lack of bass in the 2500's Rastafish had.

Willhowl, is the bass on your 2600's realistic and convincing enough for a small speaker, or does it sound lacking?
 
Fishing for Bass....

Hey,there Louie... Kinda a tough one...it's so subjective...(exit weasel phase)

I tried these speaks with high power quite a while back, but I was impressed with their low end. My recent use with 2015 left me feeling that there wasn't enough "juice" behind the woofs to produce fully at higher volume levels....also wanted to eliminate any chance of clipping from the amp, so I plugged in the sub.

I really feel like the 2600 bass is solid, and proportioned....with a little power behind them...So,the answer to your question would be "yes" (realistic and convincing)......and no,(lacking)..... close to weasel ville,here...

But... for a good size room at CONCERT levels...no,they won't rattle the foundation. How could they? 6.5 woof????.

I really like these,overall, consider them a very good value......if you find some cheap, try them....they are winners, for their size.... willhowl:thmbsp:
 
FWIW, Kegger and I hooked up a set of J216s out in the garage to test an amp he brought over and were pretty amazed at the sound; they certainly didn't come off as smallish bookshelves and sounded MUCH bigger than they are. I'm seriously thinking of keeping them out there, but may move them to the bedroom to reclaim some room up there.
 
S.L.,

I originally bought these to hook up to a 'low end' Kenwood receiver for my system at work (more money in the speakers should work). I now use them as rear surrounds for home HT, hooked to MC402's.

They should work for what you need. 2600's are spec'd at 45Hz, with 6.5" woofer. You mentioned "low end response". Food for thought, JBL also offered:

2-way 2800, 8" woofer, 40 Hz, 89 db sensitivity
3-way 3800, 8" woofer, 35 Hz, 89 db sensitivity
3-way 4800, 10" woofer, 35 Hz, 91 db sensitivity
 
my stepson has a pair in his room powered by a marantz 1120 integrated.. soundwise to me they are just eh but he chose them over a pair of cerwin vega d-1 which i felt blew away the jbl's on the low end 30 Hz for the vega's vs 60 on the JBL's

I also find the tweeter on the JBL to be very bright it really needs to be tamed with the tone controls. I've since added a passive sub to his room which seems to augment things nicely

personally I would only buy them for no more than $10 (because you'll probably need to refoam them as did I) only to sell them for no more than $30-35. To keep them - no.

in that size area I would try and find a set of used Pinnacles I've had three pair so far and I'm most impressed with the pinnacle PN-7's

pn70001mediumac7.jpg
 
Replace them, or refoam them? Most of the time, they only need new foam surrounds. BTW- there is a foam surround made specifically for these... it's easy, when you have the right ones.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
A good first speaker for neophytes. However, there are a lot better offerings out there.
 
Replace them, or refoam them? Most of the time, they only need new foam surrounds. BTW- there is a foam surround made specifically for these... it's easy, when you have the right ones.

Regards,
Gordon.

Would you know where i could find those surrounds online, Gordon?
 

Those look like an overpriced generic set as it is listed for several speaker brands. The foams on the 2600's I had were different from the generic foams I have bought. The 2600 surrounds are black instead of gray and appear to have a coating on them. If you decide to go generic instead of original you can get some nice ones for $3.00/pair from Bootapest2 on eBay. Search " 6 1/2" FOAM SPEAKER SURROUNDS-BEST QUALITY " I did a pair of Infinity RS2001's with them and they were pretty nice. You might want to PM Gordon to try for an exact match.

There are some close-up pics in my post on this project.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=331987
 
Refoaming project completed... (1st one) and I'm pretty satisfied with the result. Also, these JBL 2600 are not bad at all, especially considering the price I paid for them...zilch!

Now I guess I'll try my hand at refoaming my CVs 15"ers...
 
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