I see some questions by folk asking why the a type of design isn’t more common among manufacturers. My guess is the complexity. Complexity adds cost and time, and potential for failure.
I mentioned in post 50 that since I had bought my original 13 used, I had 10 of the 13 speakers that had a failed 8 ohm sandbox resister. ( I also got one that appeared to be seriously overpowered and caught fire inside, I returned that one for a replacement)
Here is that saga. (Got it all figured out with amazing community support from people so much more knowledgeable than me)
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-crossover-issue-polarity-seeking-help.3007478/
Suffice to say there is a very complicated crossover, and there are well over a hundred screws in each speaker, complicated wiring harnesses, loads of drivers to test in each speaker (20 drivers per speaker), assembly, and testing of each speaker therefore more complicated. Think how much more complicated this design is compared to a traditional monopole two or three way speaker. Complicated to design, complicated to manufacture, complicated to assemble, complicated to solder, complicated to troubleshoot, expensive to warranty/support.
Crossover board:
pulled apart
Tweeters removed for testing one speaker that had a dissimilar high frequency response, and I had to work through troubleshooting that.
32 screws to take the speaker apart and get to the main crossover board, 8 screws holding in the crossover board, 16 screws holding in the tweeter PCB panel, 16 screws for the four 5" woofers, 64 screws for the sixteen 1" tweeters. (and a few more various screws to hold in the varying wiring harnesses.) I assume these are human assembled. That's a lot of time testing, and just screwing stuff just for one speaker.
The screws in the two boxes are JUST the screws for a single speaker's tweeter array alone!
Post 60 here documents a call to JBL support, and attests to how complicated troubleshooting this design is:
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jb...ity-seeking-help.3007478/page-3#post-56996854
Given all this, it's kind of a minor wonder JBL can sell these at a MSRP as low as they do.