Not so long ago, retro sound and a macho visual presence were considered the only virtues of heavyweight floor-standing speakers and buyers turned instead to pip-squeak satellite/subwoofer systems. But today, tallboys are making a comeback thanks to the growing popularity of Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. Smaller speakers squander most of the sonic advantages of specialised recordings; that's why professionals always mix and monitor with large full-range models.
Design
The Northridge E Series E90 floor-standing loudspeaker ($1499 per pair) will shine in a stereo system. When combined with a centre channel, bookshelf surrounds, and a subwoofer from the Northridge line, the tower will deliver a visceral home-theatre experience (see the Performance section for one such system).
The E90's computer-designed, lock-mitered cabinet minimises certain types of distortion; at 1024mm tall x 250mm wide x 381mm deep, this JBL certainly qualifies as a floor-standing speaker. That said, we found its 21.8 kg bulk a tad lightweight for such a large speaker; rap your knuckles on the E90, and you'll hear a rather hollow-sounding echo. The E90 is available in your choice of Black Ash, Beech, or Cherry vinyl finishes.
Trust us, you wouldn't want to squeeze these voluptuous beauties into an area smaller than 23 square meters; a tiny room will muddy the speakers' finely tuned bass. The JBLs need some space to fully exercise their awesome bass capabilities.
If the E90 doesn't quite match your needs, JBL offers two other Northridge towers: the E60 ($999 per pair) and the E80 ($1299 per pair).
Features
The E90 utilises technology developed by JBL's Professional division. The speaker is equipped with 19mm titanium-laminate dome HF, a 100mm PolyPlas cone woofer midrange, and dual 200mm woofers. JBL's simple Straight-Line Signal Path crossover network routes the incoming signals to the four drivers with minimal processing.
Two sets of sturdy gold-plated, five-way binding posts enable biamping (one amp drives the woofers, while the other amp goes to the midrange and the tweeter) or biwiring (running double sets of cables to each speaker), both of which can improve sound quality.
The E90's high 91dB sensitivity rating means the speaker will kick butt with as little as 50 watts and still handle upward of 110 watts continuous (and 440-watt peaks).
Performance
We explored the capabilities of the E90s by matching them with an all-Northridge E-class system: the EC35 centre speaker ($599 each), the E250P 12-inch powered subwoofer ($1199), and the E20 ($499 per pair) bookshelf speakers.
We were wowed by our first DVD-Audio test disc, Dr. Chesky's 5.1 Surround Show. The sense of sonic immersion was remarkable; on "Music for Cello, Helicopter, and Cars," we were in the midst of a cello quintet on a busy city street. Skipping through the disc, we landed on "Kenya," during which we could feel the texture and the impact of massive drums. Other tracks feature choirs, rock bands, and an assortment of "on location" sound effects, including an extremely well-recorded rain shower and thunderstorm. The soft to extremely loud dynamic scale of the sounds was huge; our only criticism of the JBLs' sound was in regard to their slightly flat and two-dimensional imaging.
We cranked Led Zeppelin's astounding How the West Was Won concert DVD-A up to 11 and thoroughly enjoyed the Northridge's fluent heavy-metal power delivery. You can't get those sorts of kicks on sub/sat speaker systems. Size still matters.
The E90 impressed on the big stuff, so we settled down and watched The Hours DVD. The speakers ably transmitted the flick's downbeat vibe and heavy emotional weight. Once again, the JBLs' largesse imparted an ease that let us focus on the story.
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