pretty good looking

It is not really good at anything.

This speaker stinks!
The highs are very harsh on your ears, you get tired of listning to the music!
Middle to low end are almost nonexistent, or very drawn back.
Lows are "muddy" and not very welldefined.
I have tried this speaker with alot of different equitment, but have found out that this is just the nature of this speaker!

I feel sorry for the idiots who have bought this speaker. I was one of them!

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Many

Detail, control, the ability to play "fast".

Needs a big room to perform well.

Good speakers, that perform well with a powerful amplifier. The ability to disappear in the soundstage is very good. The sound form thease babies is very good indeed! Listen to these before you consider any other speaker in this pricerange.
I have had a good listen to the new model 826, and it seems to me that JMLab is trying to earn more money on the new Cobalt line by putting in cheaper drivers! The finish on the new ones also seems to be more "cheapo" then the previos ones.
Well perhaps is just me?
I definetly love my speakers and will never part form them!!!!!

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Because there is no place to review the spectral 909.1 I am using this location. I recently had the opportunity to listen to this speaker at high end dealer in Montreal Canada and was very impressed with it's smooth, detailed sound. When compared to a Paradigm Reference 100 in the same listening room, I felt the Paradigm to be a bit bright for my taste, while the JM seemed to do everything right. If anyone owns this speaker please submit your review under this same speaker title.

Exellent speaker for the money but not JM's best. However, I strongly disagree with the statement below. I would put any JM Labs speaker up against any Legacy speaker in the same price range any day of the week. Every Legacy speaker that I have auditioned has been average at best with a beautiful cabinet.The speakers are even wired internally with telephone cable for the most part. Check out the Legacy reviews on this site.I could keep going but it's not worth my time. Take the Pepsi challenge with these two brands and I am sure the JM Labs will take the checkered flag.

Speakers, JM Lab, Cobalt 820I find it interesting that "audio enthusiasts!" casually compare JM Lab's Cobalt 820 speakers and say "not their best" for if it was indeed their best I wonder how they con people into bying the rest of their line including the awe inspiring "Grand Utopia". Also to say they don't compare against any "Legacy" is unbased. Cost of a speaker like the physics of a speaker, can be bent, but not broken, there's no free lunch anywhere! It ain't so hard to build great speakers if cost were no objective. Leagacy does deliver better sound for the money but Cobalt 820 still wins the sound quality/Cost ratio.
I have had the opportunity, rather the privilage of auditioning to Legacy speakers at their company auditioning room in Springfield, Illinois. I have not known a piano physically "move air" as their grand "Whispers" can, but at their price point of $2500/pr. Cobalt 820's could have walked into that room that day and blown all their speakers that not only cost less than them but also the one that costs nearly a thosand dollars more.
I fell in love with this speaker and bought them when I first heard them. All of you out there please audition to as many speakers as you can before you buy them, I promise you there is one out there in your price range that just sounds right to your ears. Offcourse one never quits dreaming about a "Ferrari" just because we love our "Folk's wagon".

overall balance
quality drivers as well as cabinet

none

I diagree with the remarks made about de new Cobalt line using Chorus drivers.

The new Chorus uses the latest Polyglass units. It is the same material used in the '99 Cobalt (915/920). It essentially replaces the older opal and tantal line. Magnets and voice-coils might be different among those units, but the cone-material is essentially the same.

The new 2001 Cobalt uses W-type units. The magnets and voicecoils are shared among more units. That is normal at focal/JM-lab. This also means that the new Cobalt uses more expensive units.

An all new Electra is also coming as well as a whole new line of seperate units (tweeters/mids/woofers).

Essentiall the whole line, you get more than the previous one. W-type was only for Electra and Utopia, now also for the Cobalt.

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Anyone who has heard the new Cobalt line knowns that the old line is better. Just take a listen!
By the way:
Like the Utopia line, the old Cobalt line had Trioxid tweeters (Same as Electra), new one has titanium. I don´t know if that is the reason why the new ones sound so damn hard!
I really don´t care about specs, only about sound!
So what if the new ones have W cone drivers -

JUST LISTEN AND COMPARE....OK?

imaging

maybe a little light on bass.

I embarked on a trip to Philly set on grabbing a pair of Paradigm reference 100's. I listened to Theil(too expensive), Deftech, Paradigm, and a few others. I was very impressed when listening to the JMLab 810's, just a real nice sounding speaker, not one distinct characteristic, just overall. Then I listened to the 820's and was sold on the spot. No more box on each side. The soundstage and imiging is just terrific. To my ear the paradigm is a great speaker, but more a muscle speaker and not quite as accurate. Kinda like JBL's in the 70's, as far as power speaker.
The 820's have a variety of wood selections and I went with the cherry wood - real nice.
I am using the 820's with a Yamaha rxv-995 along with a deftech pro100 system. The 820's are used for the fronts on 5.1 stuff. If you're in the market for speakers give these a listen, to my ear they were the best value. Picked up for $2,100.

System:
Yamaha Rxv-995
Deftech pro100 satelite w/powered sub
Yamaha cdc-775
Toshiba DVD SD-3108
RCA Satelite w/dolby digital

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I think they are a good speaker and have excellent drivers.But for about the same money a pair of Legacy Classics will cover all the bases.

I spent 3 full days running around town listening to everything I could and feeling generally disapointed with what I found and especially with the salesmen who had me questioning my ears when I hated something they thought was the greatest, eg: Paradigm. When I heard the JMLab 820's I suspected my search was over. They sounded alive and didn't have that dull tone I heard everywhere else. I may be a JMLab customer for life now. The price was amasing too as the dealer was clearing the 820's out to make room for the 826's. I got them brand new in sealed boxes for way more than I waned to spend initially but I just had to have them.

None

If you can find a pair for the clearance price then grab them fast. Regarding the previous review from the guy whose ears hurt, well, I guess you have to trust your ears. I love these speakers. Actually, the Dynaco A50 speakers I had 30 years ago hurt my ears after 20 minutes and people still rave about those speakers.

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