JBL L26 vs. Pioneer HPM-60

A long awaited sound off on two classic rock and roll monitors the ever so sought after JBL L26 and the not nearly enough respect, the Pioneer HPM-60. These comparisons are non scientific and are only conducted within my sound room on the same source equipment. So if you are looking for a bunch of technical graphs and what not, that is not happening here. This is just what sounds best to my ears.

To begin with this is really a 2 way versus a 3 way battle and the JBL's got a new Solen cap installed where as the Pioneer still has the original caps, so lets get that out of the way.

Aesthetically the JBL L26 wins hands down on the fact that the cabinet is a real oak veneer where as the Pioneer cut the corners and give you the vinyl veneer. I also like the cleanliness of the JBL's front baffle with the tweeter over the woofer, it just looks cleaner and much more visually pleasing. JBL wins in this respect.

Sound, there is something about how well the 10" woofer attacks and reaches into the bass region in the JBL over the Pioneer. You can feel the rumble of the JBL 125 woofers and it brings a rush of anticipation of what is going to hit you, no other woofer gives you that feeling. The HPM-60's woofers are just as fast on the attack but they do not give you the rumble that JBL's gives off. The nod goes to the JBL's in the bass department.

Mid range is a completely different story, hands down the HPM-60 is smoother across the mid range spectrum and it is not to hard to figure out why. The tweeter and the woofer on the L26's need to share this role where as the HPM-60 has a dedicated mid range driver. Hands down the Pioneer wins in this respect.

The high end also goes to the HPM-60 as one does get a bit of sizzle out of the super tweeter, the JBL tweeter tends to roll of faster than the HPM-60's.

Sound stage, the HPM-60's are of course more forward than the JBL L26's, both put out a great three dimensional sound stage, putting the instruments in the right places. Although the JBL's reach lower both speakers give you the bass punch where you can feel it inside of you. A note that should be taken with this, is that both these speakers are meant to give you that live feeling, like you are there front row center at a concert, these are not the speakers that reveal the finer musical passages that give off details in an airy sense. Some call it the West Coast sound versus the New England sound.

So who wins in the sound off? My nudge would go towards the JBL L26's. Although the mid range is not nearly as smooth, the bottom end along with the real oak veneer and the cleaner looking front baffle is the clincher for me.

As I write this the JBL's did move along to a new owner and the HPM-60's are currently listed for sale, the used market for JBL's when priced right is far more liquid than that for a pair of HPM-60's. That said the HPM-100's move much faster and are more sought after. Some argue the HPM-60's 10" woofer is just a bit more refined than the HPM-100's as it is easier to drive.

Pioneer HPM-60

I just picked up a pair of Pioneer's legendary HPM series speakers, the HPM-60.

In the golden days of vintage audio 1975-1979 (I think continued into the late 80's) the war for domination was lead by Pioneer. The king daddy no budget spared receiver of the day was the Pioneer SX-1280 and SX-1980 which competed with the Yamaha CR-3020, Sansui G-3300, Sony STR-V7 and another legend, the Marantz Model 2500. This was in the day of real "watts per channel" as in 200+ watts continuously, not peak power for micro bursts as receivers are marketed today.

It is fair to say that Pioneer and Marantz won the vintage war as today their receivers still command a big premium over their rivals, a true testament to their quality 35 years later. Here is an interesting article on why 30 year old receivers sound better than today's crap. And another interesting shootout between a Pioneer SX-1980, a Sony STR-V6 and a newer Yamaha RX-V1800.

Back to the Pioneer HPM Series speakers, 1n 1975 Pioneer scooped JBL's Vice President of Engineering, Bart Locanthi who developed JBL's most famous loudspeaker the JBL L100 Decade, remember these where the days when no expenses were spared to gain market share.

The Pioneer HPM-100 was a direct competitor to the JBL L100 with hints of the JBL 4311, the HPM-60 was designed to rival the JBL L36, the HPM-40 was targeting JBL's L26 and the HPM-30's was targeting the JBL L16.

Pioneer had to differentiate themselves from JBL so they added the "Super Tweeter" which was probably more of a marketing schtick than anything else. The Super Tweeter is a thin film foil over foam with to leads attached, no magnet just a current across the film. They do make noise but their output is very low, I bet the sales pitch was that it works but you just can't hear it.

The Pioneer HPM-60 have been playing for the past 24 hours and I can hear the JBL low end in these speakers, they sound like the JBL L26 in that sense but the mid range is there and the tweeter is not a harsh as the JBL tweeters.

I can understand why the HPM 100 and the HPM 60's still command JBL prices in the vintage market.

Update: I have been running these speakers all weekend and these are awesome monitors, very forward sound. Very much like JBL's.

Pioneer HPM-60 Speakers first generation

I picked up these first generation Pioneer HPM-60 about a month ago and finally got around to sourcing the proper surrounds of Ebay and re foaming the one woofer. The other woofer already had been done.

This pair was in better condition than the second generation HPM-60's that I had earlier.

The build quality of these speakers seems to be better with superior bracing on the inside and a cross over that uses polyester film caps than the second generation HPM-60's. The second gen used electrolytic capacitors.

I added more filling to the internals of the speakers as there was sparse material there to start.

For some reason the fake vinyl veneer seems to peel off this generation of HPM's as I have seen other images of the speakers in the same beige colour. Otherwise these speakers are in pretty mint shape and still have their spec sheets attached to the rear of the speaker.

So how do they sound?

Typical HPM rock sound with tight deep bass, very smooth lower to mid mid range and a sound that puts you in front and center in a concert, a rock concert.

These speakers were designed to to compete against the likes of JBL and Altec Lansing in the mid 70's

How do I like them compared to the second generation HPM's? Aesthetically, I think they look way better than the 2nd gen's. The sound is the same, this pair is starting to grow on me.

Heathkit AR-1214

I picked up an early 70's Heathkit AR-1214 receiver today that was in pretty mint condition. The pots needed to be cleaned out to remove the static build up. The tuning is a bit off on the FM dial but every station comes in clear as a bell.

Right now it is powering my Audio Spec Perseus speakers in my office and I really like the sound stage, surprisingly deep and warmth. Next I will try them with the Pioneer HPM-60's.

The Heathkit AR-1214 specifications are as follows:

Amplifier Section:
Power Output:  15 Watts RMS (8 Ohm Load), 20 Watts (4 Ohm Load)
Power Bandwidth:  5 Hz to 30 kHz (< 0.5% THD)
Frequency Response:  7 Hz to 100 kHz (+/- 1 dB)
Harmonic Distortion:  < 0.5% (@ 15 Watts output)
Damping Factor:  > 30
Hum and Noise:  -60 dB
Channel Separation:  55 dB

FM Section:
Tuning:  88 to 108 MHz
IF:  10.7 MHz
Frequency Response: 20 to 15 kHz (+/- 1 dB)
Sensitivity:  2 uV
Selectivity:  60 dB
Image Rejection:  50 dB
IF Rejection:  75 dB
Capture Radio:  2 dB
AM Suppression:  50 dB
Harmonic Distortion:  0.5%
Inter modulation Distortion:  0.5%
Hum and Noise:  60 dB
Spurious Rejection:  70 dB

AM Section:
Tuning:  535 to 1620 kHz
IF:  455 kHz
Sensitivity:  100 uV
Selectivity:  40 dB
Image Rejection:  75 dB
IF Rejection:  60 dB
Harmonic Distortion:  2%
Hum and Noise:  35 dB

JBL 82 Speakers

I picked a few pairs of speakers recently a pair of Pioneer HPM-60's and a pair of JBL 82's.

The HPM-60's need a re foam job and will be featured in an upcoming post.

The JBL 82's was just a curiosity for me to listen to.

These JBL's seem to have been manufactured for the mass consumer market relying on there reputation in the bass department. The speakers did put out the typical JBL style bass from the 8 inch woofers, the tweeters were a soft dome tweeter with a titanium laminate coated on top.

So how did they sound? Deep in the bass region, sparkly highs and hollow in the mid range. These speakers were really not worth keeping in the collection and where moved along pretty quick.

These speakers appear on a regular basis in the used market and should not be over paid for.

JBL L26 update

The JBL L26's got finished off last week and I have been enjoying them exclusively along side of the Pioneer HPM-60's.

There is something about the early JBL's that is wholly unique to these speakers. The bass is just super tight and full, the mid range is not the best on the L26's but the high end is clearly there and it is like a concert in your living room. The fullness and attack more than make up for the mid range. These are fantastic speakers to own and I am glad I am experiencing my second pair.
 

 Crossover before and after with Solen Fast Caps.

Woofer re foamed

JBL L26 Decade

Another pair of JBL L26 speakers arrived this week and these will need the full makeover. This project will include a re foam, re cap of the crossover, new banana plug terminals on the rear and a re finish on the veneer.

I look forward to hearing these speakers again and perhaps I will do a L26 vs. HPM-60 shoot out.....might as well since I have both speakers.

Sherwood S-8250 CP listening update

I had a good audio session last night with this receiver, the characteristics of this unit emphasis a bit more bass and a laid back mid range.

The Sherwood worked really well with my Mission 770 Freedom IV's and the Pioneer HPM-60's. The Paradigm Control Monitors are bass heavy and not as forward in the mid range so the sounds did not work well with these speakers.

The Dual CL390's finished off the night and these speakers brought out the true sound of the receiver, uncovering the warmth that receivers of this era give off.

I have a feeling this receiver will be around for awhile.