JBL Synthesis S9900 User Manual
Project K2 S9900
Product Commentaries
and User Guide
Thank you for purchasing the JBL® Project K2 S9900 loudspeaker system.
Before using the system, please take the time to read through this user guide
to understand this product well and also to use it properly.
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Table of Contents
Preface…5
Chapter 1
Legacy…7
Chapter 2
Project K2 S9900…11
Chapter 3
Unpacking…21
Chapter 4
Selecting Cable…23
Chapter 5
Amplifier Recommendations…25
Chapter 6
Placement and Setup Considerations…27
Chapter 7
Switch Operations…29
Chapter 8
Connections…33
Chapter 9
Care and Maintenance…37
Chapter 10
Troubleshooting and Service Guide…39
Project K2 S9900 Specifications…41
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Project K2 S9900
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PREFACE
Thank you for selecting the Project K2 S9900 loudspeaker system. It represents
the culmination of extensive research and development in sound reproduction
over the last half century. JBL engineers have labored to create a loudspeaker
system with no acoustical or electrical limitations whatsoever. While the
Project K2 S9900 is itself a new development, the goal that it achieves goes
back to the earliest days of the original James B. Lansing Sound Company.
However, it is the level of your listening pleasure that ultimately determines
how successful this endeavor is. To ensure a perfect listening experience, you
are asked to carefully follow the setup and operation procedures outlined in
this Project K2 S9900 user guide.
This manual serves several purposes. It contains all necessary background
information and detailed instructions for setting up your Project K2 S9900
loudspeaker system, including unpacking the loudspeaker, selecting the correct
location, speaker wire, wiring method and amplification, and connecting it to its
associated electronics. This information will be found in Chapters 3 through 8.
In addition, a detailed description of your Project K2 S9900 loudspeakers is
included (Chapter 2) so that you may become thoroughly acquainted with the
unique design and technical features.
Despite the formidable nature of the Project K2 S9900, the setup procedure for
this loudspeaker system is relatively simple. Again, you are strongly urged to
read this manual thoroughly before you begin, and then consult it frequently
throughout the process. Certain considerations must be made in placing the
speakers; their physical characteristics make it imperative that you become
familiar with the entire setup process in advance.
Also, the historical and technical information included will add immeasurably
to the complete enjoyment of your system. Project K2 S9900 is unparalleled in
the field of sound reproduction. The story and principles behind it are an
interesting, informative and fitting start to a lifetime of musical enjoyment.
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CHAPTER 1
Legacy – the Historical Development of the JBL Project Loudspeakers
Of those who have sought perfection in sound reproduction, only a few have
actually come close. For one thing, it is a costly process. It is rare indeed when
an individual or group is able to triumph over the constraints of economic and
technological realities even once.
At JBL, Inc., this has happened eight times. In each case, JBL engineers were
told to build the speaker system they had always wanted to build. Whatever
resources were required would be made available. Thus began an ongoing search
for new frontiers in sound reproduction, beginning in the mid-1950s and
continuing to the present day.
The results of this venture are now known as the JBL Project loudspeakers.
Each model represents the absolute peak of every technological, material and
engineering innovation available at the time, combined into a single system.
They are the Hartsfield, Paragon, Project Everest DD55000, K2 S9500/7500,
K2 S5500, K2 S9800, K2 S5800 and, most recently, Project Everest DD66000.
Although differing in performance details and physical attributes, all of the
Project loudspeakers have shared a common objective – to elevate sound
reproduction to levels defined only by the limitations of existing materials and
technology. The fact that all Project speakers have many common features –
despite a spread of nearly 60 years – is a testimony to the excellence of the
technology and manufacturing techniques upon which the JBL brand was built.
The K2 S9900 continues this trend.
Defining the Project Concept
The Hartsfield began a JBL tradition that continues today. First, engineer a product
as close to perfection as possible. When it reaches that level, make it better.
In 1954, the Hartsfield was significant in representing not new technology,
but rather a new level of technical manufacturing, in the spirit of the approach
pioneered by James B. Lansing some 20 years before. Like its Project series
successors, it was a high-efficiency system incorporating compression driver
technology and combining the qualities of high-output, low-distortion,
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exceptional stereo imaging and fatigue-free listening. Most important, it was the
first loudspeaker system available to consumers to do all this.
Project K2 S9900, one of the most advanced and sophisticated loudspeakers in
the world today, is the latest expression in technology that is deeply rooted in more
than 60 years of tradition. William Thomas, JBL president in 1954, described the
Hartsfield as the “speaker system we have always wanted to build [with] the finest
components ever made available to serious listeners.”
He went on to describe the process behind the creation of the Hartsfield:
“Most people who own and appreciate fine sound reproduction equipment look
forward to the day when they will be able to assemble a system without limitation
in just exactly the way they think it should be done. Periodically, a manufacturer
gets this same feeling.... The science of acoustics has provided us with the basic
principles available to all for achieving precision reproduction. It is only a matter
of incorporating these methods into a system design, and then taking every bit of
trouble necessary to build a system precisely to the design.”
He added, “It isn’t easy, but that’s the way it is done.”
The Ranger-Paragon, the second JBL Project system, was the first serious attempt
at a reflecting speaker system, and broke ground in the new concept of stereo
imaging. Basically two independent full-range speaker systems installed in a
handsome, curved cabinet nearly 9 feet (2.7 meters) long, the Paragon’s enclosure
was treated as an extension of its transducers. In essence, the system had its
own “built-in acoustics.” In many respects, the Paragon anticipated loudspeaker
developments that would occur years, and even decades, later. This “built-in
acoustics” concept is present in the Project K2 S9900.
For nearly 30 years, the Paragon, along with the Hartsfield, remained among the
most sought-after speakers in the world. In 1986, a new Project system was
introduced that retained the Paragon’s overall sense of musicality while upgrading
its character by incorporating three decades’ worth of continuous development in
every facet of its design. Its name – Project Everest – reflected the pinnacle of
achievement it represented. This was the original Project Everest DD55000.
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For the first time, the rest of the sound reproduction chain – and not the
loudspeaker or its transducers – would impose limits on overall system
performance. Like the Paragon and Hartsfield, the K2 S9900 was built around
compression driver technology and addressed a more refined stereo image
than was previously considered technically feasible.
Since the original Project Everest was introduced, sound recording and
playback technology has undergone a revolution of its own. With the advent
of the CD, extremely demanding recorded signals became the rule rather than
the exception; the typical source material used by the average audio enthusiast
was superior to the best demonstration material of even just a few years prior.
In overall dynamics and transient response, transducers became once again a
potentially weak link in the high-end audio reproduction chain.
It was in this environment that JBL engineers set out to create the fourth and
fifth Project loudspeakers, K2 S9500 and K2 S5500. As with the Hartsfield,
the simplicity of a two-way system was considered the most promising design
track. Advances in transducer design and low-frequency alignment would make
possible the construction of a two-way system of unprecedented physical and
acoustical scale. JBL engineers took the core components – the low- and
high-frequency drivers – and optimized them by redesigning their magnetic
structures, diaphragms and framework for greater linearity, dynamic capability
and transient response.
In the years following the introduction of the K2 S9500 and K2 S5500, sound
reproduction technology underwent another series of revolutionary changes,
with the introduction of DVD-Video, Dolby® Digital, DTS,® DVD-Audio and
Super Audio CD (SACD™) media. Frequency responses to 50kHz, as well as
three-digit dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratios, have now become commonplace. In order to faithfully reproduce such robust sonic properties, the
loudspeaker needed to undergo drastic improvements to its transducer, network
and enclosure technologies.
The K2 S9800 employed a three-way design, incorporating an ultrahighfrequency (UHF) compression driver and horn to reproduce high frequencies
up to 50kHz. With the UHF driver handling the higher frequencies, the highfrequency (HF) transducer could then be upgraded to a new design using a
3-inch (75mm) diaphragm for better reproduction of lower frequencies and
to blend better with the woofer than the older-generation 2-inch (50mm)
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diaphragm did. Both compression drivers utilized newly developed beryllium
diaphragms to provide the lowest distortion and flattest frequency response
possible.
In order to re-create the extremely high dynamic range provided by today’s audio
sources, a brand-new low-frequency transducer was developed from the ground
up, utilizing an alnico magnet, a 4-inch (100mm) edge-wound voice coil, and a
15-inch (380mm) cone. Extensive computer-aided engineering and design effort
were necessary to develop the optimized port tuning used in Project K2 S9800,
and has resulted in a significant advance in the concept of state-of-the-art
acoustic reproduction. As a result of the K2® efforts, a speaker system with
higher sensitivity and a wider dynamic range became a reality without power
compression or distortion, even at extremely high drive levels.
The K2 S9900 continues the tradition of the K2 S9800 and also incorporates
key design elements from the DD66000. Despite its 21st century power and
sophistication, Project K2 S9900 is a synthesis of tradition and technology.
It reflects the design, material, engineering and manufacturing expertise
developed and refined through nearly six decades of experience that are
the exclusive legacy of one loudspeaker brand – JBL.
Project K2 S9900
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CHAPTER 2
The Project K2 S9900 Loudspeaker – a Triumph in Acoustics and
Technology
The following sections describe the primary features and components of the
Project K2 S9900 loudspeaker system.
The basic system configuration is what has been referred to historically as an
augmented two-way. In the 1950s and 1960s, JBL engineers primarily built
two-way systems with a 12- or 15-inch (300mm or 380mm) woofer crossed over
to a large-format compression driver/horn combination. Some of the systems
would be “augmented” by a UHF device, usually the 075 ring radiator which
would operate above 8kHz. These systems would have only a single crossover
point in the middle of the audio range, to minimize any sonic degradation
caused by the dividing network. The K2 S9900 has a single midrange crossover
at 900Hz, blending one 1500AL-1 woofer to the 476Mg compression driver and
horn combination. The 045Be-1 UHF driver is brought in at 15kHz to cover 2
octaves of ultrasonic frequencies. Above 900Hz, the HF compression driver and
horn combination operates unassisted, all the way to 20kHz (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. On-axis response of the K2 S9900 system and of each of the
transducers through its crossover network (2.83V @ 1m).
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The transducers, horns and crossover networks are housed in a visually stunning
enclosure that is reminiscent of both the DD66000 and K2 S9800 systems. The
specially curved baffle provides the sidewalls for the main horn. The top and
bottom horn flares are accomplished by the attachment of precision-molded
SonoGlass® horn “lips” to the upper enclosure surface. The UHF driver is
mounted to a SonoGlass horn which is itself mounted to the back of the
die-cast aluminum housing.
The entire enclosure is constructed with 1-inch (25mm) MDF. The complex
bracing is used to precisely hold the curved panels in exactly the correct shape,
allowing exceptional fit and consistency.
The woofer baffle is 1-inch thick and is tied into perimeter bracing, constituting
an extremely rigid and secure structure. A painted outer baffle is then applied,
surrounding the woofer frame, giving the total combined woofer baffle a
thickness of 1-3/4 inch (45mm). The outer baffle is removable to enable repair
or replacement of the painted surface, should that ever be necessary.
The system is ported on the rear with a tuning frequency of 35Hz. A large
4-inch (100mm)-diameter flared port is combined with the input connections
on a massive die-cast aluminum structure. The entire enclosure rests on four
stainless-steel foot assemblies. Stainless-steel coasters are included to protect
wood and tile floors from damage from the spike feet. The grille assembly is
constructed of fiberglass-reinforced ABS to provide the curved shape. The
grille is securely attached to the enclosure with metal pins and rubber cups.
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045Be-1 UHF Driver
HF Network
Spiked Foot Assembly
LF Network
Die-Cast Aluminum Input
Plate/Port Assembly
1500AL-1 (380mm) LF Driver
UHF Network
476Mg 4" (100mm) HF Driver
SonoGlass HF Horn
Die-Cast Aluminum Housing
SonoGlass UHF Horn
Figure 2.
The 1500AL-1 and 476Mg are both designed to be absolute-minimum-distortion
drive units. Although they are capable of tremendous acoustic output, they are
designed to be completely linear in every way, up to a reasonable drive level.
This enables the system to sound the same, regardless of playback level.
Tr a n s d u c e r s
The 1500AL-1 Low-Frequency Driver
The 1500AL-1 low-frequency driver is very similar to the 1500AL used in
the K2 S9800 system. The voice coil length has been increased to 25.4mm
(from 20.3mm) and its milling width has been reduced slightly. This was done
to allow greater clearance from the outer diameter of the coil to the laminated
top plate and to provide a larger surface area of coil surface for heat dissipation.
The coil former perforations have been eliminated to allow greater forced
convection cooling from the pumping action of the diaphragm assembly. These
coil improvements allow the 1500AL-1 to handle up to 25 percent more power
than the 1500AL (Fig. 3).
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