JBL Ti2K (1999)
The JBL Ti2K is an odd one in JBL's late-1990s lineup. It is a 2-way, bass-reflex bookshelf speaker with a rounded enclosure, which drops the boxy look of most of the brand's domestic offerings. It came out in 1999 at ¥160,000 per unit in Japan. It belonged to the Tik series and shared its low-frequency driver, the 16.5 cm 806G-1, with the larger Ti10K.
The engineering is interesting. The low-frequency unit has a polypropylene-coated cone with an injection-molded edge integrated into the cone itself. It sits on an SFG magnetic circuit with a 50 mm voice coil, a size you'd normally expect in a 20 cm driver. It also has a tapered cooling vent and a die-cast aluminum frame. The tweeter is a 2.5 cm dome type designated Ti025K. It uses JBL's pure titanium diaphragm with no reinforcing ribs, and pairs it with a large magnet and a lightweight aluminum voice coil to push response out past 30 kHz. The crossover sits at 3 kHz.
The enclosure is where the Ti2K really departs from convention. The gently sloped front baffle and smoothly curved side panels leave no parallel surfaces at all. That reduces internal standing waves and lets JBL use less sound-absorbing material. The baffle is 25 mm MDF. The curved side panel is built up from six layers of MDF plus two additional plate layers. JBL claims the curved side panel cancels rear-radiated sound and guides enclosure vibration to a single point on the back where it least affects sound quality. The front baffle width was also kept minimal to eliminate baffle resonance. A gold-plated input terminal sits on the bottom of the enclosure, wired directly to the network, and can be bi-wired or bi-amped with an optional gold-plated bus bar. Two finishes were offered: beach wood grain and semi-gloss black. A matching floor lamp was available as a separate option, and the dedicated Ti2K Stand sold for ¥60,000 per pair.
The manual recommends placing the Ti2K on a rigid, open stand roughly 40-60 cm (16-24 in) high. Rated sensitivity is 88 dB/2.83V/m with 6-ohm impedance and 100W (IEC) power handling. Frequency response is spec'd at 45 Hz to 30 kHz. Dimensions are 280 × 420 × 420 mm and each speaker weighs 13.1 kg.
Period documentation is thin. The retail price was around $3,300 including stands in the U.S., per an Audioheritage.org forum post, but no proper magazine reviews have surfaced in the research. A used listing described a pair as "function great, sound amazing," which is about as much as the public record offers.
- Type: 2-way, bass-reflex, bookshelf
- Low band: 16.5 cm cone (806G-1) · High band: 2.5 cm titanium dome (Ti025K)
- Frequency response: 45 Hz – 30 kHz · Crossover: 3 kHz
- Sensitivity: 88 dB/2.83V/m · Impedance: 6 Ω · Power: 100W (IEC)
- Dimensions: 280 × 420 × 420 mm · Weight: 13.1 kg
- Original price: ¥160,000 per unit (1999)
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