Interview with Greg Timbers - ex JBL designer

[nicoludio]

http://positive-feedback.com/interviews/greg-timbers-jbl/


Quote

Where do you see the ‘sweet spot' to be in a speaker? That is the midrange, bass, treble, sound staging, efficiency, etc.)?

As I mentioned, I believe that solid Dynamic behavior is most important to get lifelike sound. Dynamics require high efficiency since transducers are pitiful in energy conversion. I also believe that sound staging is extremely important. I think natural midrange and bass presentation precedes the treble range. Of course all things have to be balanced.

Unquote

Not unexpected, given his designs but he has fairly balanced comments on speaker design and approaches.

 

[Mike]

That's right! And what's the most dynamic? Horns!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mr Peabody]

I wish it would have come out what happened when he was ejected from JBL.

Interesting comment on Harmon's DBT practice. They lost me when I learned they only used one speaker. Like if comparing a Revel to B&W, they only use one of each. They would exclude many of a set of speakers abilities like imaging/soundstage, depth, I even think it takes two to provide proper bass. But no one accused me of being an engineer, I just play one on TV.

 

[Mike]

I wish it would have come out what happened when he was ejected from JBL.

Interesting comment on Harmon's DBT practice. They lost me when I learned they only used one speaker. Like if comparing a Revel to B&W, they only use one of each. They would exclude many of a set of speakers abilities like imaging/soundstage, depth, I even think it takes two to provide proper bass. But no one accused me of being an engineer, I just play one on TV.

I agree with you on this one. I had dinner with a guy from Harman about a year ago. When I heard about the one speaker only, it was a major letdown.

TV? You were on TV? What show?

 

[Mr Peabody]

LOL, I wasn't on TV. That's one of those coined phrases/jokes, I can't remember where it originated, I think it was originally, "I'm not a doctor but I played one on TV".

I liked your FB page but haven't seen any posts on my news. Is it fixed like that or just nothing new?

 

[nicoludio]

I wish it would have come out what happened when he was ejected from JBL.

Interesting comment on Harmon's DBT practice. They lost me when I learned they only used one speaker. Like if comparing a Revel to B&W, they only use one of each. They would exclude many of a set of speakers abilities like imaging/soundstage, depth, I even think it takes two to provide proper bass. But no one accused me of being an engineer, I just play one on TV.

Since this thread about GT anyway, were you referring to the thread below or the actual reason (which I suppose is something privy to Harman management)?

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?37395-End-of-an-Era-43-years-with-JBL-is-Over

Wasn't aware of the single speaker DBT - Harman really made a big deal about it.

Having said that (and while I haven't tried it) their "How to Listen" software seems to be a good way to train oneself to identify distortions.

When I first started on this hobby and was listening to the Esoteric half width transport/DAC combo (think it was the Esoteric P500 / D500), something sounded odd to me. My dealer immediately said that unit was faulty and that it was excessive TIM (transient intermodulation distortion). While I can hear when something is not right, I can't say I am trained to properly identify the type of distortion.