Excellent. wide soundstage Timbre matched to PT800 Brilliant highs Exquisite midrange Powerful upper bass octaves Cabinet design: shape and rigidity Power handling Efficiency Distortion free at high volume Beautiful drivers

Hard to find

This is part of the JBL Performance Series, which is usually sold by authorized JBL dealers who carry the Synthesis custom install line. It is intended to work in conjunction with the PT800 tower and PS1400 subwoofer. Four PT800s, two PS1400s and a PC600 center comprise a basic 5.1 Performance Series system; add two more PT800s and you've got 7.1. The PC600 has titanium and titanium alloy drivers, so you might expect a metallic cast to the sound, but you'd be wrong. Surrounded by rubber and held in aluminum cast frames, the speakers are wonderfully smooth, clear, and powerful. They're bright but not harsh. They're full but not fat. They're precise but not mechanical. The PC600 has a presence and detail that reveals the music in a very realistic manner when in a multichannel music mode. As part of a HT system, the PC600 does very well at keeping voices and dialog clear. Because JBL has taken care to timbre match the center with the PT800s, the soundstage is very stable and wide. Transitions across the stage are uniform, consistent, and believable. In fact, the PC600 and the PT800 share identical tweeters and 4” midrange speakers in an exact vertical orientation, so the imaging is very precise. It’s very easy to listen to at low volume, and dialog stays clear, yet it will handle all the power from just about any sane amp without distortion, and it produces a LOT of undistorted sound. This speaker need to be broken in, reaching its potential in a few days, say after 20-30 hours of use. The cabinets are rigid, six-sided enclosures, plus the top and bottom, and they easily can be hung on the wall with the included hardware or placed on a stand or shelf. The drivers are quite attractive, sort of a pale champagne color, and completely inverted--no dust caps to mess up the concave dish. The 4" titanium pistonic drive midrange is identical to the midrange used in the vaunted Revel Ultima Salon (around $17k ea.). I'm driving this with one channel of a Soundcraftsmen PCR800 MOSFET amp, 210W/ch @8 Ohms, and it responds very enthusiastically to the power. It easily drives above 100db SPL, with no signs of fatigue or stress. This entire Performance Series system is a terrific solution for those of us who love great music and great HT. It has the stones to handle whatever music you throw at it with great control, clarity, and realism. Yet, it also delivers the goods with the hyperactive, super-real, wildly dynamic demands of DD and DTS movies. I'm a believer. After much research, auditioning, and searching, I chose this over more expensive alternatives, and it wasn't a matter of money. This JBL speaker line is worth more than it costs, and if you can actually find one to buy, give it very, very serious consideration.

Similar Products Used:

Many other JBL products, including L7 and SVA1800, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber, Fosgate Audionics.