The DSI Blog

My Love Affair with JBL Synthesis - Home Theater Audio Nirvana

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Let me start this off by saying, I am not one of those guys that falls in love with technology for technology's sake. I believe that technology exists only to improve our lives. No matter how clever or brilliantly crafted a piece of gear is, if it doesn't make my life easier or more enjoyable...I'm not interested.

So let's talk about what I think is the greatest home delivery system for movie sound...the mighty JBL Synthesis. And mighty does not just mean powerful (although JBL Synthesis defines powerful), it means insurmountable, impossible to defeat, an 800 lb. gorilla of audio excellence. It makes otherwise respectable audio systems quiver in its presence.

So why the love affair with JBL Synthesis? Let me expound. I have been captivated by movies my entire life. I'll never forget seeing Jaws when I was nine in my local neighborhood movie palace - The Waverly. It simultaneously thrilled and scared the crap out of me. I think my entire Jersey shore vacation was confined to the sand that Summer. In fact, I am sure of it. The following Spring I saw Star Wars on May 25, 1977 (opening day) in the Sameric Theatre in downtown Philadelphia from the second row. A day that would brand me an uber-nerd for life.

PICTURE ABOVE: Don't worry, we know how to make those speakers disappear!

These childhood experiences watching these classic epic films turned me into a movie fanatic for life. When the concept of a home theater was born and people were creating miniature movie palaces in their home, I knew I had to have one. So I began my lifelong quest to have my own Waverly Theater in my home. Being that I was in the consumer electronics biz I was in a unique position to audition an awful lot of A/V gear so I could figure out what would eventually be installed in my dream theater. If I am being honest, I heard a lot of nice gear but it all felt like I was listening to a really good stereo system. I never got the feeling that I was in the 20th row of the Mann's Chinese and that's what I really wanted more than anything else. I couldn't articulate exactly what I was looking for to my fellow A/V geeks so my quest continued.

Then one day at a trade show I stumbled upon the JBL Synthesis booth. I skeptically trudged in and sat down expecting more of the same. When the demo started I knew that it was love at first...well...listen? I couldn't put my finger on it, but this was exactly what I was looking for. I truly felt I was experiencing a film as it sounds in the movies...but it was actually better.
So after long conversations with the mad scientists at JBL Synthesis they helped me figure out what I liked and why I liked JBL Synthesis.

JBL's Pro Audio division supplies most of the commercial cinemas with their audio systems so the signature sound of JBL is what I (and all of you) grew up with. So when JBL started to realize that bunches of filmmakers were putting JBL Pro Audio gear in their home theaters, a bell went off. For one, JBL Pro is not really engineered for smaller rooms, it's meant for auditoriums. Secondly, JBL wanted to provide these filmmakers with the best experience that JBL had to offer for home theaters with 4-40 seats (not 400 seats). So using their mad scientists and gazillion years of audio experience, they created JBL Synthesis, a THX certified home theater system that took all of the best stuff from their commercial cinema speakers and all the best stuff from their home audio systems.

The result is one of the only real systems in the market that utilizes a speaker and electronics package that are engineered to work together. Typically us A/V guys will pair up a nice speaker package by one company and some nice amps and processors from a different company. Usually this comes out OK, but one listen to a JBL Synthesis system makes it easy to understand why engineering the electronics and speakers together makes complete sense.

Enough technical ranting and back to my love affair. So what I came to understand is that these are the audio qualities I really value in a home theater system:

Crisp, Clear Dialogue!  I love that in a cinema I could hear every bit of dialogue easily. Voices are full and crisp and don't get lost in the midst of cars and humans exploding. JBL Synthesis (and their Pro line) uses horns as opposed to standard tweeters in their speakers. This is fairly unique and reproduces that quality I love in a theater.

Incredible Dynamic Range!  I love how movie sound can make me jump out of my seat (as I did many times during Jaws). This is called 'dynamic range' - the ability to go from almost no sound to a very loud sound quickly. Most electronics cannot ramp up that quickly but this is another signature quality of JBL Synthesis.

A Visceral Movie-Watching Experience!  I like to feel the movie I am in. This is achieved by low frequencies that are felt as well as heard. A JBL Synthesis system is known for deep room-shaking bass that sucks you into the storytelling.

So needless to say I had found my system and subsequently had to blow my kid's college tuition on a JBL Synthesis system for my personal home theater. Since then, I have had the good fortune to delight many of my clients with JBL Synthesis systems for their home theaters.

So if you are jonesing for that thrill you got as a ten-year old watching whatever epic film shaped your childhood, call me and I will arrange a test drive of a JBL Synthesis system. When we fire it up for the first time, I dare you not to smile. To arrange your JBL Synthesis Test Drive, call Eric Thies @ 818.906.9940 xt109. If you'd like to read more about custom Home Theater systems, visit our main website's Home Theater page, which has links to videos and free Home Theater whitepapers.