JBL M9500 (1993–1997)

The JBL M9500, also called the K-2 project, was the flagship of JBL's Professional Series. JBL built it in limited quantities from 1993 to 1997. It's a two-way, full-range horn-loaded monitor system, and about as serious as JBL got in the 1990s. This was not a mass-market speaker. JBL made relatively few of them, and the ones that exist tend to be found in Japan, where, as one owner noted, there are more of these than anywhere else and they rarely come up for sale.

The heart of the M9500 is the Model 475Nd compression driver. It uses a 101mm titanium dome lightly coated with Aquaplas damping compound. The aluminum ribbon voice coil works in a 1.65 tesla magnetic field. The driver sits on the H9500 horn, a design used only in this system, which loads smoothly down to 500 Hz with consistent horizontal dispersion. That driver handles everything above the crossover point of 650 Hz (at −18 dB/octave). Below that, the bass comes from woofers that a Russian listing describes as "4 громадные вуферы" - four huge woofers delivering clean, natural bass. Sensitivity is rated at 92 dB into a 4-ohm load.

The M9500 is flexible when it comes to crossover setup. It was designed for "Option D" biamplification, which requires a dedicated electronic dividing network. JBL recommended the DX-1, with internal compensation made specifically for the M9500, crossing over at 650 Hz. JBL also promoted what they called "imaginary Equivalent Tuning" (IET), a form of stagger tuning that, per JBL's marketing at the time, provided a better balance between the high speed of Bessel tuning and other alignment approaches.

There are a couple of caveats. The production dates are a bit fuzzy in the record. Most sources say 1993-1997, though one lists 1998. The finish on these speakers has also been known to develop a sticky texture in humid climates, a known issue with the Nextel coating that some owners have had to address. Still, the M9500's reputation among those who've heard it is substantial. Positive Feedback (2016) noted that a pair owned by a JBL production manager had excellent provenance. The system remains sought after by serious JBL collectors, and some of them are admittedly reluctant to take one apart, even in the pursuit of science.

Known specs, as documented:

Type: Two-way, full-range horn-loaded monitor loudspeaker system
Sensitivity: 92 dB (4-ohm load)
Crossover: 650 Hz, −18 dB/octave (Option D biamplification; JBL DX-1 recommended)
HF driver: JBL Model 475Nd, 101mm titanium dome with Aquaplas coating, 1.65 tesla flux
Horn: H9500 (exclusive to this system)
Production: 1993–1997 (one source cites 1998)

No original price, dimensions, or detailed frequency response figures have surfaced in the documentation available. What's clear is that the M9500 was JBL's statement piece of the mid-1990s — rare, technically ambitious, and built without compromise.